To resolve my dilemma,
I needed to know how “cultural appropriation” was defined. Noted art historian
and critic, James O. Young observed that as cultures intertwine, their cultural
motifs overlap. But he warned that using another culture’s motifs in art “carries
with it certain responsibilities.” For example, Paul Simon often used the
motifs of African cultures in his music. Since he approached the act of
composing music with respect, Simon kept the authentic voices of the Africans
intact. For that reason, people do not consider him a cultural appropriator.
Young concluded, “I urge everyone to
avoid making blanket pronouncements about cultural appropriation. As we have
seen, cultural appropriation has many forms. Some examples of certain forms are
certainly immoral. At the same time, many examples of all forms of cultural
appropriation are morally unobjectionable. … Cultural appropriation is sometimes
to be condemned but equally to be avoided is a restriction of artists to their
cultural homelands.”
Since many Neo-Pagans integrate the
beliefs of various cultures into their practices, Patti Wigington, in “About.Com Paganism/Wicca,” addresses the
issue of cultural appropriation. She states, “If you are incorporating a
practice into your belief system, ask yourself whether you’re doing it because
you’re truly called to do so, or whether you simply saw it in a book and
thought it looked appealing. Carefully evaluate the practices you borrow, and
make sure if you choose to use them, that you do so with respect and reverence
towards their original owners.”
In regards to Native American
cultures, Laura Donaldson (Cherokee) believes that cultural appropriation
“strips [them] of any historical specificity of contextual depth and interprets
them with a colonial logic of cultural commensurability.” Vine Deloria Jr.
(Lakota) adds, “It’s about what white people think Indians should be.” Others include
in their commentaries that careless people perpetuate the ‘noble savage’ stereotype,
lump diverse cultures together, or imply that Native Americans existed only in
the 19th Century.”
In her review of “Oracle of Shadows and Light” (Lucy
Cavendish & Jasmine Becket-Griffith, 2010), Cat discusses the misuse of
cultures in this deck. Kali, the Hindu Goddess of Destruction is displayed as a
soulful-eyed being who takes bad things away. Meanwhile Amara, the Menehune is
a stereotype of a Native Hawai’i an – soulful-eyed long haired girl, who wears
flowers. Since this deck does not provide any cultural context, Cat wonders how
Hawai’ians or Indians would react to these skewed depictions of their
respective cultures. Moreover, she asserts that the authentic voices of these
cultures (and others) are distorted and overwhelmed by “cuteness.”
In my examination of “The Star
that Never Walks Around,” I considered the following. (1) Did the deck
portray the dignity of the Plains Cultures of the Native Americans? (2) Were
the images of a particular stereotype? (3) Were the images taken out of context
to be used for various Tarot meanings? (4)
Does the authentic voice of the Tarot come through?
What
bothers me about this deck is how Bennett mixes the Tarot, Astrology, and
Native American cultures. For example, “The Tower (XVI)” of the Major Arcana is
represented by the Sun Dance, a sacred ceremony of the Lakota peoples. She writes
that “The Tower (XVI)” is a “breaking down of Karmic ties,” The message of this
card is “Liberating yourself from old ways and old belief systems will provide
the path to a higher place within your spirit.” This is troubling to me since
it takes a sacred ceremony out of its cultural context. The Sun Dance has a
superficial commonality with “The Tower (XVI),” but is contextually different. The
Sun Dance is a personal sacrifice for the welfare of the community. Since “The
Tower (XVI)” represents an outside catalyst to instigate change for the
individual, the Sun Dance is not appropriate for this card.
A culture can express unique viewpoints
of the Tarot, and not be shoehorned into the standard card meanings. I would
prefer seeing how the “The Tower (XVI)” is expressed in Native American cultures
than fitting those cultures into the “The Tower (XVI).” This is a subtle but
important distinction. Unfortunately Bennett removes the original context of
the Sun Dance and forces it into an artificial one. This ceremony sanctifies
personal sacrifice for the sake of community, and is not “a breaking down of
Karmic ties.”
Although Astrology and the Tarot are
a natural combination, Native American cultures are not. Bennett’s explicit
association of Astrology with the Major Arcana Cards implies that Native
Americans practiced this form of divination. She makes the logical fallacy that
since Native Americans watch the stars, they are astrologers.
Bennett
tried to share two important parts of her life. However, she seemed to use
Native American cultures to “fill in the blanks” for the Tarot. Rather than
depict the various Native American cultures of Montana, she lumps them into one
homogeneous group. In the process, she also skews the meaning of the Tarot
cards as well. Bennett equates the “Royal Road” of the Tarot to be “Trail to
Wisdom” in Native American cultures. This is a subtle form of stereotyping,
since it assumes that Native Americans today are the same as those of the 19th
Century.
I
find that Stella Bennett’s good intentions are not enough. In my opinion, she
violated both the dignity of the Tarot and Native American cultures. Based on my review, I decided that the ethical
thing for me to do is to shelve this deck.
