Alaska Native group slams planned shamanism event

Rachel D'oro, Associated Press
Updated 9:24 pm, Friday, January 19, 2018



Photo: Mark Thiessen, AP
Rosita Worl, president of Sealaska Heritage Institute, poses for a photo in Juneau, Alaska, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The Juneau-based Sealaska Heritage Institute is speaking out against a shamanism retreat as an event it says commercializes and exploits the spiritual practices of indigenous people.


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska Native group spoke out Friday against a shamanism retreat, saying the event commercializes and exploits the spiritual healing practices of indigenous people.

The Juneau-based Sealaska Heritage Institute voiced its opposition to the pricey June retreat in a letter emailed Friday to the event sponsor, Dance of the Deer Foundation. The event — billed as the 24th in Alaska — is scheduled for June 22 to July 1 at an undisclosed lodge outside Juneau.

In the short letter, Heritage Institute president Rosita Worl calls the event "a violation of a most sacred tradition of Native peoples." She asked that the foundation not come to the area that's considered the ancient homeland of a Tlingit group.

. . .

"They are taking a cultural practice, cultural knowledge. They're taking it away from a tribe," she said. "Then they are transforming it into a commercial enterprise to benefit themselves."

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Alaska-Native-group-slams-planned-shamanism-event-12511185.php




Sealaska Heritage Institute, grand opening exercises


Interesting images:

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