![\"lutzface\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/sarkeleng470\/files\/2016\/10\/lutzface.jpg\")
John Lutz’s article, “First Contact As A Spiritual Performance: Encounters on the North American West Coast” is not as thought out as it could be and is full of assumptions and at least one contradiction that undermines his own argument.<\/p>\nFirstly, let me apologize for posting this late. I have been through a lot of stress this this week. Case and point, my cabin on Ruxton Island almost collapsed and I’ve had to move out of it to Coquitlam.<\/p>\n
Now for this weeks assignment:<\/p>\n
John Lutz’s article, “First Contact As A Spiritual Performance: Encounters on the North American West Coast” is not as thought out as it could be and is full of assumptions and at least one contradiction that undermines his own argument.<\/p>\n
Lutz assumes that the participation of Indigenous peoples in spiritual performances during first contact \u00a0is difficult for his readers to comprehend, he assumes that his readers are of European descent.\u00a0This is not a fair assumption because the majority of people reading his work are most likely students, and in British Columbia over twenty percent of students attending post secondary institutions are international students, the majority of which are of Asian descent. Meanwhile \u00a0according to articles from popular news sources such as the Globe And Mail<\/a> and Maclean’s Magazine<\/a> approximately forty percent of UBC students are of Asian descent. Other Universities in Canada share similar statistics such as the University of Toronto. News sources tend to bend the truth so those statistics may not be completely accurate, but that is not the point. The point is that in an age where UBC prides itself for being the most International university in Canada, Lutz’s assumptions do not fit in.<\/p>\n Lutz’s assumption that Indigenous peoples understand performances of people of European descent better than vice versa is fair, but not completely thought out. The reason that Lutz gives is that the mythical identity of ‘the European’ in Indigenous cultures was force-ably shifted over a long period of time due to the implementation of European superiority over other cultures in Christian European spirituality. Meanwhile it is that same idea of superiority over other cultures that has kept those of European descent from understanding Indigenous spirituality and mythical performance such as contact zones fully. \u00a0The part of the his assumption that is not thought out is that he states that ALL people of European descent could not understand Indigenous performance fully. As people of European descent read his essay and understand it, they either begin or continue the process of decolonizing their outlooks. These outlooks make up part of their mythic identity as people whose ancestors were colonizers, and those mythic identities are shifted. Lutz undermines his own argument.<\/p>\n Professor Paterson is being fair when she points out Lutz’s assumptions. As an academic, Lutz is accountable for the research that he publishes an is released to the world. As we remember from an earlier week this term, once a story is told, it cannot be taken back.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Works Cited:<\/strong><\/p>\n Firstly, let me apologize for posting this late. I have been through a lot of stress this this week. Case and point, my cabin on Ruxton Island almost collapsed and I’ve had to move out of it to Coquitlam. Now … Continue reading Lutz, John. “Dr. John Sutton LutzShort Curriculum VitaeAssociate ProfessorUniversity of Victoria, History Department.” John Lutz’s Slow Blog (SLOG)<\/i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2016.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nKohler, Stephanie, Nicholas Findlay. “The Enrollment Controversy.” Maclean’s<\/i>. N.p., 22 Nov. 2010. Web. 7 Oct. 2016.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\nMason, Gary. “UBC Moves To Broaden Student Population.” The Globe and Mail<\/i>. N.p., 30 Jan. 2012. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"