Some Context for the Present Moment
Why this is Important: It demonstrates that the initial presentation and ongoing committee addressing cultural appropriation has many falsities in it; just a few of the many falsities are named and rebutted below. We want the Truth. ED.
The 2021 Presentation to the LB
In January of 2021 a presentation to the Leader Body was made by four men accusing MKP of a long list of cultural appropriation. The video, although sincere on its surface, contained so much false information and opinion masquerading as data that the impact was considered toxic and removed from circulation by the MKP Board of Directors.
I will give one example. One of the presenters showed a comparison photo of the MKP Talisman—a memento given on the NWTA constructed of a red leather disc tied into a ball containing stones and strung on a leather cord—with two containers that looked like they were made of rawhide with some sort of opening on one end. Without some sort of scale it was impossible to tell how large the items were. The viewer was told these were Shoshone medicine bags and that they were “proof” that MKP had appropriated the culture of Indigenous Americans.
The items shown had as much in common with each other as a soccer ball and a basketball in that they were both round. Furthermore, an MKP Coleader sought out a Shoshone Medicine Man and inquired about the “talisman issue.” He was told that Shoshone people do not use talismans, and that they carry those qualities within themselves.
Nevertheless, countless hours were spent trying to design some token that would not be offensive to anybody. MKP US has still not succeeded at this task. Perhaps if the Leaders had kept their commitment over many years to learn every process on the NWTA, including the Purification and Renewal Ceremony, they would have had enough context to have immunity to the falsehoods and rhetoric. I would guess that more than 90% never bothered to learn the P&RC despite many formal invitations and offers of support from the LKSI.
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truthbetold@spiritprotect.org