I chose the Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre because it is a great place for non Native Americans to go and learn about the history and view some of the culture belonging to Natives with having to go and get permission to visit a reservation and sit in on their culture. This culture is different from my own because, looking at my cultural background, I come from a plethora of European countries. I am very unfamiliar with the Native American culture and, because it is a big part of our State’s history and cultural background, I wanted to better familiarize myself with it to understand where we as a State came from. Though this location is just a building filled with art, historical and cultural references for Native Americans, it is in and of itself
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In one of the rooms they depicted the history of Native Americans beginning when the Spanish Conquistadors landed, through the colonization of America, through the Statehood of New Mexico and to present day. I spent the majority of my time in this room and took several notes on the different Acts passed by Congress that either oppressed the Natives or tried reconciling them from centuries worth of neglect. Some of the Acts passed were the Indian Citizenships Act of 1924, the Pueblo Land Act of 1924, and the Indian Civil Right Act of 1968. These acts helped show me that, though the Government oppressed the Indians, they have taken steps to compensate them and integrate them as part of the United States culture. I my opinion these don’t do full justice for all the oppression but at least the Government has recognized their mistake and have taken positive steps to accept the Native’s culture. After that, I went and sat in on a dance demonstration. This was the highlight of my visit because I got a short, personal, glimpse into what some of the ceremonial dances and songs look and sound like. This demonstration was put on by a man and a woman who were both dressed in their traditional ceremonial clothing. Before every song or dance, the male would give a brief history and the significance of the …show more content…
This concept deals with the taking of ones culture and using it to make a profit. A great aspect of this commodification of culture is the symbol of the Kokopelli. The Kokopelli represents a variety of things within the Native American culture but, perhaps most prominent is that of a fertility god. Despite having this cultural significance, we, be it New Mexicans, Whites, or Native Americans, have taken the symbol and used it to turn a profit. Richard Rogers (2007) wrote, “Shirts, hats, socks, paintings, sculptures, pottery, jewelry, stuffed toys, mugs, and an almost unimaginable variety of other tourist merchandise are composed of or adorned with Kokopelli imagery” (p. 233). Though this is just one example, the Kokopelli has become largely associated with Native American culture and, as Mr. Rogers wrote, has become a popular selling symbol used on just about anything. This portrays commodification of culture because we took the symbol, used it as our own, and printed it on anything we could in order to earn more. I noticed some of this at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre, The gift shop they had played into the commodification of the culture in that it was selling mass produced items of turquoise jewelry, small Native style pottery and, in line with the example, variations of the
In one of the rooms they depicted the history of Native Americans beginning when the Spanish Conquistadors landed, through the colonization of America, through the Statehood of New Mexico and to present day. I spent the majority of my time in this room and took several notes on the different Acts passed by Congress that either oppressed the Natives or tried reconciling them from centuries worth of neglect. Some of the Acts passed were the Indian Citizenships Act of 1924, the Pueblo Land Act of 1924, and the Indian Civil Right Act of 1968. These acts helped show me that, though the Government oppressed the Indians, they have taken steps to compensate them and integrate them as part of the United States culture. I my opinion these don’t do full justice for all the oppression but at least the Government has recognized their mistake and have taken positive steps to accept the Native’s culture. After that, I went and sat in on a dance demonstration. This was the highlight of my visit because I got a short, personal, glimpse into what some of the ceremonial dances and songs look and sound like. This demonstration was put on by a man and a woman who were both dressed in their traditional ceremonial clothing. Before every song or dance, the male would give a brief history and the significance of the …show more content…
This concept deals with the taking of ones culture and using it to make a profit. A great aspect of this commodification of culture is the symbol of the Kokopelli. The Kokopelli represents a variety of things within the Native American culture but, perhaps most prominent is that of a fertility god. Despite having this cultural significance, we, be it New Mexicans, Whites, or Native Americans, have taken the symbol and used it to turn a profit. Richard Rogers (2007) wrote, “Shirts, hats, socks, paintings, sculptures, pottery, jewelry, stuffed toys, mugs, and an almost unimaginable variety of other tourist merchandise are composed of or adorned with Kokopelli imagery” (p. 233). Though this is just one example, the Kokopelli has become largely associated with Native American culture and, as Mr. Rogers wrote, has become a popular selling symbol used on just about anything. This portrays commodification of culture because we took the symbol, used it as our own, and printed it on anything we could in order to earn more. I noticed some of this at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre, The gift shop they had played into the commodification of the culture in that it was selling mass produced items of turquoise jewelry, small Native style pottery and, in line with the example, variations of the