At least until recently, the word "shaman" was one of those terms which

would lead most indigenous people to figuratively "reach for their shields"

and assume a defensive posture. "Shaman" has been pretty much of a

dividing line word: those who use it are non-Native and/or

anthropological, or are ignorant of Native Americans' feelings. Indigenous

people refer to their own holy people and curers by other terms such as

doctor, medicine person, spiritual leader, elder, herbalist or

diagnostician, recognizing a wide variety of callings and skills.

Of course, before "shaman" became popular in the anthropological

literature, indigenous healers and religious persons were often referred to

as "witch doctors," "sorcerers" or other derogatory terms, words still used

reportedly in right-wing Christian missionary propaganda. But "shaman" is

not an innocent term either, because it rises out of a clear

misunderstanding of, and denigration of, non-European cultures.

According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (1981 edition), the word

is from the Tungus language of eastern Asia and refers to "a priest who

uses magic for the purpose of curing the sick, divining the hidden, and

controlling events." The dictionary goes on to define "shamanism" as "a

religion of the Ural-Altaic peoples of northern Asia and Europe

characterized by belief in an unseen world of gods, demons, and ancestral

spirits responsive only to shamans; also: any similar religion."

Quite obviously the above definitions present a culturally hostile picture

since the use of terms such as "magic," "demons," "gods" and "ancestral

spirits" will likely be interpreted as backward, evil or even "devilish" by

many European readers. Moreover, "shamanistic" religions have usually been

regarded as more "primitive" than other religions by cultural evolutionists.

Now all of this is complicated today by a new generation of

European-Americans and Europeans who not only are promoting the idea of

Native American "shamanism" but who wish to become "shamans" themselves or

study under "shamans," mostly white but a few of Native background.

Magazines, such as Shaman's Drum and Wildfire to name two, promote

"shamanism" while others promote witchcraft and various "pagan" revivals.

All of a sudden, as it were, "shamanism" has become fashionable with the

yuppies and cross-culture crowds, so long as the form of "shamanism" draws

upon non-European symbols and rituals (especially Native American and

Tibetan, but with concepts also liberally borrowed from Hindu philosophy

and from other "appropriatable" non-Western traditions).

But if we back off and take a look at so-called shamanism from a

multi-cultural perspective, instead of a Eurocentric one, we find that the

most famous "shamans" of the 20th century have been people like Amy Semple

McPherson (founder of the Foursquare Church), Oral Roberts, Billy Joe

Hargis, and the legendary Billy Sunday. Moreover, the day-to-day work of

"shamanism" in North America is carried mostly by Roman Catholic and other

priests who daily enact "shamanistic" rituals (such as Mass, a "magic"

ritual where wine becomes blood and wafers become flesh) or by charismatic

Protestant preachers (healers) who attempt to cure by the laying on of the

hands and other techniques of "faith-healing," or by religious figures

(preachers or priests) who attempt to "control" events, obtain wealth,

drive away death, or determine who gets into "Heaven" by means of prayers,

incantations or ritual. Millions of Catholics recite a ritual incantation

on their rosary beads every day while the church actively sells (or has

sold) "relics," medals, and other items which are thought to possess

"magic" powers. The Bible has apparently been used as a "talisman" by

fervent Protestants, and the cross is viewed as a potent object by many

Christians of different denominations. Being "born again," spirit

possession and other acts of "ecstasy" are regular features of some

Protestant sects.

The fact of the matter is that there is no such religion as "shamanism,"

since all of the religions of the world make use -- perhaps equally -- of

the tools of the "shaman" including liturgy (ritual), songs, incantations

(recited prayers or formulas) and direct contact with the spiritual world

(visions, ecstasy) in order to bring about changes on the physical plane.

But what about the idea that the "shaman" believes in "an unseen world of

gods, demons, and ancestral spirits..."? Roman Catholics believe in "an

unseen world" of Mother Mary, Father God, Jesus, the Holy Ghost, the Devil,

many angels and a pantheon of saints (ancestral spirits), plus various

demons which can be exorcised. Most Protestants believe in Father God,

Jesus, the Holy Ghost, the Devil, numerous angels and a certain number of

saints. All of these non-human, non-physical beings would be called "gods"

or "lesser gods" if we were being objective, that is, not talking about

supposedly "monotheistic" Christianity.

Modern anthropologists were originally all of European descent. Their

self-defined mission was to look at "exotic" peoples and to ignore European

traditions, by and large. Thus Christian cults and practices have often

escaped being the focus of anthropological theories. Roman Catholic

priests and pentecostal preachers have been spared being the objects of

close study (except for a few off-beat sects such as the rattlesnake

handlers of the Appalachians).

We should continue to object to the use of the term "shaman" as applied to

our indigenous traditional doctors, holy people, herbalists, wise people,

vision-seekers and diagnosticians. Most Native groups have a wide range of

individuals who participate, in some way, in the realms of healing and

curing, and virtually the entire community participates in the spiritual

life (praying, seeking visions, dreaming, helping others, organizing

ceremonies, feeding people at ceremonies, etc.). As White Buffalo Woman

told the Lakota people a thousand years ago, "every dawn as it comes is a

holy event, every day is holy, for the light comes from your father

Wakan-Tanka...." The entire world is "magic," all around us, all of the

time!

"Shamanism" is a new European game. Shouldn't they play it by themselves,

without stealing the symbols of indigenous cultures?

[Professor Jack D. Forbes, Powhatan-Delaware, is the author of Columbus and

Other Cannibals, Africans and Native Americans and other books.]

All Rights Reserved by Jack D. Forbes

Phone: (916) 752-3626/3237