The phrase “spirit animal” is a microaggression against Native Americans.
Here’s why non-Native people should stop using it.
After class, a white male classmate approached her.
And I was like, What?
What are you talking about?
And he goes, Yeah, all Native people have a spirit animal.'
journalist and co-founder of Well for Culture
I was like, Hold on, dude.
Dont tell me about my own culture,' says Luger.
Ive never heard anybody talk about this.
Any or all of these relationships can be spiritual.
Even so, in the mid-2010s the phrase started appearing everywhere.
In a lot of these cases, spirit animal didnt even reference an actual animal.
This makes it a damaging form of cultural appropriation.
You might be part of the Wolf Clan or you might be part of the Turtle Clan…
These are part of the complex ways that our communities were and continue to be organized, she says.
journalist and co-founder of Well for Culture
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Animal imagery is also sometimes used to share family, tribal, and personal stories.
Its this complicated thing because within Native communities, of course, we still use the term.
Its hard to erase the meaning of something that we have been using for 500 years.
A gathering or a meeting is not a powwow.
The frivolousness of interchanging this venerated event with a simple business meeting is disrespectful and belittling.
The terms tribe and chief also hold sacred significance.
Often, a tribe lives together in a defined territory and speaks a common language or dialect.
Tribal chiefs hold a revered cultural and spiritual leadership position within the tribe.
This, she adds, is an example of cultural appreciation.
For instance, when non-Native peopleburn white sage, its cultural appropriation.
The same goes if you sincerely want to express a kinship with a particular member of the animal kingdom.
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