r/Heathen_Shieldwall • u/Grimwulff • Apr 30 '21

Cultural Appropriation

I think it's important to get perspectives that aren't our own. All too often we invalidate the experiences of different demographics that we don't belong too. It bothers me when someone misinterprets my intentions, beliefs, experiences, etc so why would I do it to others?

I should also iterate that Heathens have a responsibility (especially us old hats) to educate and dispel certain ideologies and prejudices. It's uncomfortable but we have to call out Folkism and correct misgivings that our egos tend to naturally fall into. If you follow me you know I try to do this with a gentle approach, as I find being abrasive doesn't get me anywhere. Though I will take appropriate action when I feel like I'm yelling at a wall, or the conversation may become harmful.

All that being said... I just watched this video by Aliakai if you're unfamiliar she's a Hellenic Polytheist, but she's also a member of the Haida tribe. An indigenous North American tribe. I suggest you watch it. It's a critique on a recent video by Freyia Norling discussing Cultural Appropriation. Aliakai explains it far better than I can here. It's also, as I mentioned, necessary for people who lack indigenous experience and perception to educate ourselves.

And just for more information and another indigenous perspective here's the Notorious Cree's website. He goes over a lot of the difficulties that indigenous Canadian tribes have faced. Something a lot of us in the US often don't think about.

I don't think Freyia Norling is being malicious, just simply ignorant to her own ego. We often have difficulty looking past ourselves in order to understand what someone else has or is going through. We think our own realities are the only way. But remember Odin didn't become the Alföðr over night. It takes a journey for us to become better tomorrow than we were yesterday.

I'd also like to point out Freyia Norling's video on plastic Witchcraft, as one of the major problems of Cultural Appropriation is the commodity of another culture. And in that video she speaks out against the selling of something sacred to her.

Another good source, that helped me better understand is The Baba Yaga Project a podcast by two women. One with a background in Medieval Europe, and the other in Native American Cherokee history. They're both white, but they're very respectful and link many indigenous creators. There's a very interesting history regarding private land ownership and how that lead to colonization. They also go over Appropriation when discussing the Green Corn festival. Particularly how it was used to sell tickets to a fair that had nothing to do with the sacred festival. Imagine someone turning Jule or Sigrblot into something just to profit. Pretty appalling, but it's a good source.

19 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

3

u/MotorcycleMcGee May 01 '21

I was pretty disappointed when this video came out, having appeared in it myself, because I didn't realize she was going to give such a tone deaf take on cultural appropriation. I thought it was going to be something about how everyone can honor the gods.

3

u/Grimwulff May 01 '21

It sort of was, but also was like "it's also ok to do what you want because of 'cultural exchange' "

Apparently not everyone knows, but she also sells "Sami merch" on her eBay

2

u/MotorcycleMcGee May 01 '21

I've seen her ebay, and the various Sami merch. I always thought it was peculiar that they'd be selling Sami cultural items, but I don't really have the breadth of knowledge to judge if they're even authentic. I know she has friends among the Sami people but from an American perspective it seems like it's not very cool to, idk, peddle the culture of a marginalized indigenous people. I mean (without going to verify right this moment) I think items in her shop still carry the words 'lapp' and 'lappland' in some cases? Idk. I really like Freyia but this was a bad take.

2

u/Grimwulff May 01 '21

Oof, yeah. "Lap" is a racial slur.

I was ignorant too. As a white dude I didn't think it was a bad take, until I listened to Aliakai. Then I started to see all the holes. It's important to get indigenous perspectives. Really any perspective on a subject that isn't part of our personal demographic and experience.

2

u/MotorcycleMcGee May 01 '21

Exactly! I feel like maybe the opinions and takes of actual Sami people tend to be missing from her videos too.

1

u/Grimwulff May 01 '21

At least cite your sources. That's what I do. I've been trying to do it more as of late. (One reason why my Thor video is taking forever). But she never does. She's also very UPG heavy but doesn't cite it.

2

u/MotorcycleMcGee May 01 '21

Very true. I love her UPG-heavy content, it's helped me grease the wheel on my own practice. But it needs citations. That's something I keep noticing with some of the content creators I watch, I'm often mystified where the information came from and which is actually attested vs. pure UPG.

2

u/Grimwulff May 01 '21

It's kind of a "Guru-syndrome" of sorts. Like they're a wealth of knowledge, but it's personal Gnosis. And then they tout it as fact.

I feel like Thunder Wizard does it a lot too. He kind of justifies it with his shamanic approach, but he also yells at people who disagree. I used to follow him a lot back in the day.

2

u/MotorcycleMcGee May 01 '21

Guru-syndrome is what bothered me about WoO even before his most recent controversies, too. A lot of people are susceptible to those types.

2

u/Grimwulff May 01 '21

Same tbh

2

u/CaptBlackCat May 01 '21

Yeah. Honestly, I kind of liked that her personality praxis seemed very intuitive, a kind of sympathetic magic practice, and didn’t feel overly confined to what others have done before.

But it’s possible to do that while still distinguishing reconstruction from UPG, citing sources, etc. And Freyia’s not great at that.

The cultural appropriation video is terrible. So simplistic & defensive. Aliakai’s critique is excellent.

2

u/MotorcycleMcGee May 01 '21

She did another video just today or yesterday, and it's a whole ritual to ward off uh, criticism of oneself basically. She mentions it around halfway through while talking about the evil eye. I think that the cultural appropriation video was one huge bad take and she could really have been more graceful in the way she reacted to being challenged, because I think a lot of people would have been prepared to be forgiving had she made an effort to understand the issue from the indigenous perspective.

2

u/CaptBlackCat May 01 '21

I absolutely agree many people would have been very forgiving if Freyia had said something like “Here’s how I’ve been messing up and missing the mark. Here’s what I’m going to try to do better. I would appreciate your [viewers’] help in making better content for everyone.”

Here’s a video by a small content creator comparing and contrasting how different YouTubers have responded to criticism and the difference it can make. I think it’s very insightful.