A Scathing Critique of New Age "Shamans"

by L. J. Williamson

The Lakota Tribe has declared war on New Age quackery, in particular, self-styled "Shamans" who co-opt and cheapen Native American religious practices for monetary gain.

Rather than paying tribute to Native American religious practices through New Age eclecticism, as many participants might believe they are doing, they are actually diminishing the meaning of genuine indigenous rites while perpetuating the myth of the Noble Savage as they pay shallow homage to a Hollywood version of Indian culture, say the Lakota.

The Lakota Declaration of War, a fascinating read, offers a harsh critique of what it calls "an offensive and harmful pseudo-religious hodgepodge."

The declaration denounces "the unspeakable indignity of having our most precious Lakota ceremonies and spiritual practices desecrated, mocked and abused by non-Indian 'wannabes,' hucksters, cultists, commercial profiteers and self-styled 'New Age shamans' and their followers" and also takes issue with "phony 'sweatlodges' and 'vision quest' programs," and "individuals and groups involved in "the New Age Movement," in "the men's movement," in "neo-paganism" cults and in "shamanism" workshops" that "have exploited the spiritual traditions of our Lakota people by imitating our ceremonial ways and by mixing such imitation rituals with non-Indian occult practices."

The declaration also asserts that "the absurd public posturing of this scandalous assortment of psuedo-Indian charlatans, 'wannabes,' commercial profiteers, cultists and 'New Age shamans' comprises a momentous obstacle in the struggle of traditional Lakota people for an adequate public appraisal of the legitimate political, legal and spiritual needs of real Lakota people."

Read more here.

| 01/25/07 | Beliefs