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alexseanchai) wrote2015-09-23 08:08 am
alexseanchai) wrote2015-09-23 08:08 am
(no subject)
Speaking of moving things. The other day I found, in with things I hadn't touched in ages, one of those little leather-and-sinew dreamcatchers that one makes from kits bought at the Boy Scouts of America official store. I have learned things since assembling that dreamcatcher lo these many years ago. I do not think there is any way I can keep it that would be respectful of the Native traditions to which dreamcatchers belong; it would be appropriative of me to keep it and more so to display it, just like it was appropriative of me to buy the kit in the first place and appropriative of the BSA to sell the kit to begin with, and I'm 98% confident that no financial benefit ever accrued to any Native people or organization from me buying the kit. But I am also not sure of how to discard the dreamcatcher in a way that would be respectful of those Native traditions. What do?
no subject
I've found that a decent way to show respect to the item, without a) needing to keep it and its baggage around or b) disrespecting the traditions from which it came, provided those traditions don't have a "this must be destroyed by x method" attached.
NativeTech describes sinew-and-willow ones that are meant to wear out and collapse, as they were intended for children. I don't see anything about respectful disposal. (I can't hit several other sites while at work, due to firewall.)
Edit: I did this with a cornhusk doll who was important to me as a child, but I no longer wished to keep as an adult. Since there was very little glue used, I was able to thank her for her service, undo her knots, and gently take her apart.
no subject
That is a very good thought, thank you.