[Jewelry making - Article 00566] - Re: [Orchid] Jewelry and "Cultural Property"

[lee]

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>     Perhaps they should pause and consider that nobody is going to try
>     to use a symbol such as a dream-catcher for any other purpose than
>     that for which it was originally intended: (if it worked for these
>     guys, maybe I should try it for my bad dreams).

    Come to Santa Fe, or any soutwestern tourist town. There, you can
    see Kokopelli, a fertility figure sacred to the Hopi, emblazoned on
    every damn thing from toilet paper dispensers to ashtrays. To many
    Hopi, it is beyond disrespecftul - it is as if, not being satisfied
    with stealing their land, we are stealing their religion as well, and
    desecrating it. 

    Basic principle, IMO- don't take it if it isn't yours. I use some
    symbols in my work which can be found on petroglyphs, such as
    spirals, waves, the lighning bolt, the sun symbol - but I have also
    studied enough to know that these symbols are found all over the
    globe and are in that sense the common property of all humankind.
    Appropriating symbols from a tradition which I don't embrace or fully
    understand, for purposes of ornamentation or decoration, besides
    being inauthentic, would be to treat with frivolity something which
    should be approached with respect.

Lee
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