According to a Pew Research study, millennials have been increasingly identifying as spiritual rather than religious. However, as more and more young members of the population delve into this largely unmapped territory of belief, they must educate themselves on the cultural implications of their behavior.
Cultural appropriation is modern-day colonization, and it harms and directly oppresses members of the BIPOC communities.
It’s about time that we talk about cultural appropriation in the spiritual community, primarily the Native community.
In 2021, when people think about spirituality they imagine that white girl who wears a pretty crystal around her neck and asks boys what time they were born. Every Millennial and Gen Zer knows who I am talking about. She posts her Co-Star status on her Instagram stories, uses the caption “Namaste”, and blames her poor behavior on mercury being in retrograde.
What these white people neglect to acknowledge is that spirituality is not just an aesthetic or a quirky personality trait. Much of contemporary spirituality is rooted in ancient, cultural traditions. Many of these concepts and traditions do not come from white cultures, and they are often misrepresented, watered down, and stolen from underrepresented communities. All of this is done at the expense of the communities who have long-held traditions surrounding these beliefs.
Maisha Johnson defines cultural appropriation as “a particular power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group.” This is particularly relevant to modern-day spirituality, which is largely rooted in Native and Hindu cultures.
Before dream catchers and sage were cute accessories for your bedroom, they were complex and ancient cultural traditions in Native communities. The commodification of Native practices makes it harder for Native communities to practice their own traditions, because it makes everything more expensive and profit-driven. Many of the people selling dream catchers or bundles of sage are not Native themselves, but they are the ones receiving the benefits.
There are many Native traditions and stories surrounding dream catchers that are ignored by their white owners. They are traditionally made in intricate, ceremonial steps, including showing gratitude to the spirit of the wood that is used. All of this is ignored when they are factory-produced and purchased by white people for a “boho” summer look.
Conservationists, herbalists, and native groups also say that white sage is going extinct ever since it became trendy. Its new popularity in mainstream culture, largely white culture, has encouraged illegal trading groups to violate the plant’s habitat and threaten its extinction for a wider profit margin, all with little to no accountability.
These examples of cultural appropriation are especially disappointing in the spiritual community, because many of these people are simultaneously preaching free love, environmental friendliness, and open-mindedness. While they abuse Native traditions for their aesthetic, they have no respect for the group’s traditions, cultures, or even their environment. These “spiritual” people only care about appearing zen, a term that was also appropriated from Buddhism.
While white people are wearing dream catcher earrings, Native women experience the highest rates of violence and sexual assaults out of any racial group in the United States. While white girls buy bundles of sage off of Amazon, they are ignoring the history of genocide, forced cultural assimilation, and white-washing that many of their ancestors participated in.
Native cultures are beautiful and unique, but, more than that, they are a testament to the strength and resilience of a population that the United States tried to erase entirely.
Cultural appropriation is a difficult concept to comprehend, especially for those who are a part of the dominant group. To them, it looks like cultural appreciation. However, cultural appropriation is not about the intention of the perpetrator. It is about the grander context and larger implications. White people swoop into underrepresented groups, take what they want, and leave these groups behind. Then, they either continue to oppress them or ignore their oppression.
The same is true of other cultures that are appropriated by modern-day spirituality. TikTok might be teaching white teens about how to use feng shui in their houses, but Asian hate crimes are continuing to rise around the United States. The sorority girls at yoga might have Buddha tank tops, but the country of India still faces wealth inequality, political corruption, and other social issues as a result of white colonization.
There is no manifesting equality; it starts with each of us examining our own role in the current system and taking action.
White people need to not only acknowledge the ways that they are perpetuating and reproducing systems of oppression, but they must change their behavior. Even if it’s an inconvenience to them. Especially if it’s an inconvenience to them.
Rather than pretending to care about the world, today’s spiritual community must take tangible steps to make it a better place.
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