Commercial exploitation of Native American spiritual traditions has permeated the New Age movement since its emergence in the 1980s. Euro-Americans professing to be medicine people have profited from publications and workshops. Mass quantities of products promoted as Native American sacred objects have been successfully sold by white entrepreneurs to a largely non-Indian market. What is the motivation behind the New Agers obsession and consumption of Native American spirituality? Why do New Agers persist in consuming commercialized Native American spirituality? New Agers romanticize an authentic and traditional Native American culture whose spirituality can save them from their own sense of malaise. However, as products of the very consumer culture they seek to escape, these New Agers pursue spiritual meaning and cultural identification through acts of purchase. Although New Agers identify as a countercultural group, their commercial actions mesh quite well with mainstream capitalism. Ultimately, their search for spiritual and cultural meaning through material acquisition leaves them feeling unsatisfied. The community they seek is only imagined, a world conjured up by the promises of advertised products, but with no history, social relations, or contextualized culture that would make for a sense of real belonging. Meanwhile, their fetishization of Native American spirituality not only masks the social oppression of real Indian peoples but also perpetuates it.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 11:51:58 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015