Category Archives: LAST 303

Week 4 Reflections

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Ayahuasca Shamanism: A Tourist Attraction

 

This week’s readings on the Shipibo- Konibo people was quite eye opening in terms of providing a great example of cultural appropriation due to globalization. As discussed in the readings, the rubber boom in the Peruvian Amazon had a direct relationship with Ayahuasca Shamanism becoming the million-dollar industry it is today. It was in the establishment of reducciones that resulted in the transfer and exchange of cultures in the region that soon expanded into the global sector of communication. As a lot of things in Latin America or in Indigenous cultures, the western world appropriates ‘traditional’ cultures as their own for capitalistic value.

Enter Gringo Shamanism.

Ethnotourism fetishizes the ‘authentic Indigenous experience’ and determines how Indigenous cultures can be ‘marketed’ to extract capital from western (and by that, I mean colonial) states. The affects of extracting and appropriating Indigenous cultural experiences are immense. Firstly, it dilutes the significance of Ayahuasca Shamanism and misinforms the masses about its role in Indigenous lifeways. Second, it boasts of the ‘authentic’ Indigenous experience without discourse on colonialism, the enslavement of Indigenous peoples or how cultural appropriation has had a role in the loss of Indigenous knowledge.

I think the second point is most important, as Prof Smith mentions as well, because it ignores the histories Indigenous peoples have had for over 500 years since the Conquest. It severs the New World from any responsibilities to acknowledge wrongdoings or to acknowledge the violent histories these peoples have had for centuries. More specifically for the Shipibo Konibo people, the ignores the incredible exploitation, past and present, of their communities.

This is a common trend in a lot of ‘other’ cultures especially as travel has become accessible over time. Tourism is all about the ‘authentic’ experience and immersing yourself amongst ‘the people’. It is less about appreciating the cultures and more about making it your own. This can be dangerous because it presents the idea that anything in this world can be occupied by anyone else regardless of their relationship to the culture. There is this inherent ownership western cultures have with the Indigenous cultures that silences their history and exoticizes their ‘humble’ lives like animals at a zoo. This requires the Indigenous communities to then perform their culture for the eyes of outsiders who are exploiting their culture for entertainment purposes.

https://www.audleytravel.com/ca/south-america/region-guides/the-amazon
https://destinationindigenous.ca/blog/

All that being said, one part about this week’s lecture challenges the idea of cultural appropriation and the idea of ‘authentic’ or ‘traditional’ experience: Part of Shipibo culture is about appropriating other cultural forms into their traditions and in their art forms. If the Shipibo people can borrow aspects from other cultures, when is appropriating considered good or bad? Is it even appropriating?

Obviously, there is a HUGE difference between shaping your lifeway to include elements from other cultures versus paying thousands of dollars to take ayahuasca for the ‘high’ of it. There is also a huge difference between going to the Amazon and supporting a community-based lodge versus getting the brew from some dude on the internet in the United States. But it does beg the question, can cultural appropriation have a positive outcome? 

Week 2 Reflections

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Great reads for this week!

There’s lots to talk about, which I am sure we will cover in our discussion section tomorrow, so I am only going to highlight the main takeaway from this week’s readings.

 

“Indigenous Knowledge, Traditional Knowledge and the Colonization of Indigenous Studies”

Last year I took an intro to Aboriginal Studies course at Langara. Coming from a place like the US, where indigenous culture and history is erased almost entirely from the curriculum, I thought it was incredibly important to participate in this class as a newcomer settling in Canada. (side note: take a look at Trump’s plan for a ‘Patriotic Education’ curriculum). One of the biggest topics we covered was the colonization of traditional knowledge. The idea of colonizing traditional knowledge stems from a “The West” vs “The Rest” idea of Eurocentric power over ‘others’. Over centuries of forced assimilation, colonizers attempted to erase traditional knowledge, mostly through violence. After stealing, appropriating and commodifying indigenous knowledge as property of the West, we are now attempting to decolonize education.

What the authors touch on briefly in the introduction, and obviously continue to break down the variables of colonized education in future topics, is the idea that “white settlers make their [own] experience the center of life and work.” (14). Researchers come in and ask indigenous communities for ‘contacts’ and ‘networks’ and to do the labour for them having not formally been invited or asked to be a part of their community (12). Because they are researching such a topic like decolonization, whether it be indigenous studies or anthropological, there is this sense of ownership over the indigenous knowledge in the community when in reality, they do not have the same relationship with the nature and culture nor is it their right to be there. These researchers can never fully grasp or understand that their presence in that moment of asking the community to perform for them IS colonizing their traditional knowledge. It is important to note that by coming into an indigenous community as a non-indigenous person means that your lens is obscured by your own cultural experiences and your being there is not for them but for your own interests. In fact, it is more about cultural appropriation than cultural appreciation.

The authors also talk about how decolonizing and decolonization are trendy terms with no backbone towards change. Doing ‘decolonizing’ research on indigenous land and people, even with a positive intention, is still building a insider/outsider relationship with the community. It is important to think about the many aspects that intersect in a settler/colonized relationship like language, resources, racism, stolen land and sexism. To begin ‘decolonizing’ anything, you must change the power structure within the relationship, and you must acknowledge the history that built this hierarchy in the first place. Most importantly, understand how you play a role.

 

So, my first ending question goes back to our first class discussion: What makes research ethical and how can we decolonize our course in a meaningful way?

 

Second, how can we relate the topic of performative decolonization to what is happening with the Black Lives Matter, Indigenous Lives Matter movement currently happening in Canada and the US?  

 

 

Works Cited (informally)

Tuhiwai Smith, Linda, and Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang. “Introduction.” Indigenous and Decolonizing Studies in Education: Mapping the Long View. Edited by Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Eve Tuck, and K. Wayne Yang, Routledge, 2018, pp. 1-23.

I am from Poem

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“I am from” poem (adapted from Rubí Orozco Santos)

 

I am from yuatía,

From concrete buildings of Brooklyn,

and the Puget Sound.

I am from pilon,

tough and essential,

aromatic and sweet.

 

From vast and demanding,

From Emilia,

and Hector.

from culantro,

and moss.

 

I am from the caldero,

searing and seasoned,

sofrito,

roots,

and making pasteles.

 

Hi Everyone, I am Grey Figueroa-Mercado. I am Puerto Rican and most of my family lives in Ponce, Puerto Rico or the southern U.S. states. I am currently living in East Van, in the Chinatown neighbourhood. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, but have spent a lot of my life moving around to all the corners of North America: Ponce, San Diego, Orlando, Houston, Portland, Wrangell (Alaska) and most recently Seattle. I spent 8 years in Seattle working mostly in the coffee and restaurant industry, where I primarily opened new coffee shops/concept. I moved to Vancouver in 2016, where I began working in the beer industry as a restaurant and operations manager. Now I work for a small family-owned brewery in Strathcona doing sales, social media and marketing.

My interests are in film and photography and I am passionate about food. I mostly make desserts and am obsessed with all forms of barbecue. I am always willing to swap recipes and talk tips.

I decided to go back to school 2 years ago for two reasons: I wanted to prove to myself and set an example to my siblings that academics are achievable no matter the time. I am the only Figueroa or Mercado to attend college. Second, to use this opportunity to learn and reclaim my culture and identity. My major is Spanish, and I will likely minor in Film Studies. After my studies, I plan to live in Puerto Rico with my family for some time volunteering in disaster relief and rebuilding communities. I am also working towards opening up my own food truck with my mom where we will bring Puerto Rican sandwiches to Vancouver (and soft serve, because why not).

Other fun facts: I have 7 siblings, my favourite food is apple sauce and soft serve ice cream (sometimes together); I have a pretty big lego collection; I want to make silent short films; I am named after Gandalf and my favourite style of beer is a brown ale.

 

I just want to say that I am super looking forward to sharing space together with each of you in whatever capacity we are able in these times. I am most excited for hearing people’s own perspectives and experiences on how food intersects in their lives and culture.

-grey

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