We hear alot today about cultural appropriation and the stealing of native ways. Most of the time, I keep my peace around that issue, as I figure the ramifications of doing something like that will come back on the person doing it; but today I was incredibly shocked at something that happened to us and it showed me a clear example of how the dominant culture I this country thinks it has an absolute right to "appropriate" , take, or steal whatever they feel like.
I took Paul to Bay State Hospital this morning, as he has to have a surgery on his pacemaker. As we were getting him settled in, the lab tech came to draw blood. His medicine bag was lying next to him on the bed, as she was prepping his arm. She looked down and grabbed the medicine bag, without even asking, snatched it up and proceeded to hold it up and bellow very loudly..."Well...aren't you an earthy kinda guy! What is this?" It happened so fast, we barely had time to react. My husband said..."It's a medicine bag". The technician said "Oh...I love good leather work." She continued to hold onto the bag and turned to show it to the nurse standing beside her. (as if she had any right to do so!)
I calmly looked at her and said ... Perhaps you are unaware...a medicine bag is a sacred item and should not be touched by anyone other than who it belongs to...that can weaken the medicine. Probably in the future you might want to ask before just snatching something up like that" . She gave no apology...just put it down and said "Oh"....acting as though it were no big deal and went on with her work without missing a beat.
Now, I understand that this was her ignorance, indeed and I took the opportunity to quietly and peacefully let her know the right way, in the event she founds herself in this situation again; but it has been setting with me most of the day as a clear example of how cultural appropriation works, even in small ways and how entitled the dominant culture in this country thinks they are.
Eye opener!