Indigenous Cultures from a Global Perspective - Essay Example

Reflective Journal: Indigenous Cultures from a Global Perspective Globalisation has a revolutionary impact on various societies all over the world, particularly the indigenous and their cultures. As boundaries became blurred and indistinct, political, social, economic and cultural distinctions are increasingly diminished facilitating global assimilation where dominant forces can easily overrun weaker ones. Societies that were once closed to the world have opened their doors to partake of the economic opportunities offered by free trade and are now part and parcel of a unified global economy. As a byproduct, cultures are also exported from one society to another assisting and ushering in the possibility of cultural dilution and the homogenisation of Western culture (Casinader 2014). Colonialism, which was born centuries before globalisation, had also the same tendencies as globalisation, albeit they were conducted using political and brute force. Colonialism was an exercise by Western nations of their political and military dominance over weaker countries to exploit the natural wealth of the latter. In both the past and the present, Western incursion into countries of comparatively weaker political, economic and social structures, has greatly affected the Indigenous people and their cultures. Some materials in this course, particularly that of Said’s (2006) Orientalism, cited Western incursion into the third world during the colonialism period as having resulted in a Western perspective of non-Western cultures. This perspective, which now forms part of Western discourse, relocated indigenous cultures as simply something that is antithetical to Western culture. This seems a shallow way of looking at indigenous cultures and is thought-provoking. It immediately presents an opportunity for an examination of one’s own perspective of non-Western cultures. Particularly, this has compelled me to rethink my own perspectives of the ‘other.’ Now I am kept wondering whether I have been under the spell of this so-called Western discourse and my perspective of non-Western cultures are biased and tainted. Is my view of the other side of the world, particularly the East and eastern cultures, characteristic of a tailored and off-the-shelf view imposed on me by Western historians who simply labeled non-Western culture as something that is opposite to that of the West and nothing more? If indeed Western discourse, shaped from the time of colonialism, has subtly imposed a perspective that delimits one’s view of non-Western culture, postcolonialism discourse, in my view, becomes problematic. This is because postcolonialism, which is a critical perspective of colonialism and its impact on present realities (Dirlik 1994), must necessarily refer to such Western perspective to connect it to contemporary realities. Does this mean, therefore, that postcolonialism is also tainted by extension, like the fruit of the poisoned tree? All these have led me to think that the possibility of bias may be tarnishing my views of the world. Even contemporary events evinced the tendency to interpret indigenous culture from a Western perspective as validated by Meekison (2000) in his article “Indigenous presence in the Sydney games.” He noted that the indigenous people have been, more or less, exploited when the tourism industry used indigenous signs and symbols to promote the country’s tourism during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. The presentation of these symbols and signs, however, were made without the assistance of the indigenous people. The implication of those actions was that the signs and symbols were presented from a completely non-Indigenous view and that non-indigenous persons have appropriated the cultural representation of the indigenous people. Even the right to cultural representation has been wrested from the indigenous people by persons who may or may not have intentionally appropriated the right. The incident has made me think that people, without realising it, see the indigenous people from a different coloured lens not usually used to see non-Indigenous Australians. If it were non-Indigenous Australians, the advertisers, such as Nike and other big corporations, would probably go to the lengths of obtaining consent for their advertisement and perhaps, pay the right people for them. However, it seems to me that the indigenous people are excluded from the ambit of usual courtesy or legal necessities to the extent that they are viewed as commodities. The commodification of the indigenous population as a result of these advertisements reflect the tendency of Western culture to view the indigenous people as second-class citizens not worthy of the respect normally granted to Australian non-indigenous citizens. It is as if, the non-indigenous and indigenous people do not stand on an equal footing. One of the effects of colonialism was also to undermine the ability of the indigenous people for autonomy and self-determination and the undercutting of these rights are evident even to this day. I have reached this conclusion after reading several of the assigned readings. Gulson & Parkes (2010), for example, lamented the tie up of land use, access and ownership to social welfare and the targeting of Aboriginal Australians in remote places. The use of leasing agreements between the government and the Aboriginals that allows the former to make the major decisions regarding the use of the land essentially depriving the natives of the right to determine how the land is used. So long as the government continues to impose its decisions on the indigenous people on basic matters, the latter will never learn to fend for themselves, and learn what is good or bad for them. This is a fundamental and natural learning strategy that even parents with children understand is necessary to ensure that their children develop into thinking, independent and capable adults. The readings have also made me realise that although colonialism is long gone, its marginalising and undermining impact on non-Westerners and their cultures still strongly reverberate in the present. This was the leading intent of several readings in this course, such as those of Moreton-Robinson’s (2004) “Whiteness, epistemology and Indigenous representation” and Glauser’s (2011) “Being Indigenous: the concept of indigeneity, a conversation with two Ayoreo leaders.” Both these articles highlight the difficulties and the discrimination faced by indigenous people in a world that distinguishes between colours and races, and has prejudged the intellectual and moral capabilities of people on the basis of those distinctions. Moreton-Robinson’s (2004), for example, validated the perspective that elevated whiteness to a superior position over other colours. She called the phenomenon as “the universalisation and the normalisation of whiteness as the representation of humanity” (p. 77). In my opinion, however, this perspective should be attributed to a white man’s view only because although the white man considers himself superior, such a view may not be shared by other races who may also consider themselves as a superior race. To do otherwise would make one be guilty of appropriating the views of other races or the indigenous people. Thus, despite the exposition of the evil of colonialism in many contemporary literature and materials, its vestiges remain to haunt the descendants of the people that it victimised to this very day. I think that society should deliberately and consciously dispossess themselves of biases and prejudices accumulated through the years of looking at the indigenous people through a white man’s superior eyes. This is necessary so that civilisation can advance to the next step where colour and race are not the determining factors, but actual capabilities and qualities. Only then can man prove that he has gone a long way from the cave animal that he was to a genuinely advanced being that he is destined to be. All these forces – marginalising vestiges of colonialism, globalisation, and most of all the basic need to survive individually and as a people – acting in confluence must be very difficult to the indigenous people. Holding on to one’s cultural identity, for example, amidst the pervasive presence of western culture must be a formidable task. I used to think that if people simply acculturise themselves to the prevailing culture, i.e. the Western culture, there would be peace and harmony and wars will be a thing of the past. However, reading Halls’ (2007) “Politics, power and indigenous tourism” made me realise that indigenous culture plays a very important role in the sustainability and diversity discourses. Not only are the indigenous people often the custodians of diverse biological areas, they are also the keeper of traditional knowledge that form part of our history as a people. According to Hawkes (2001), culture consolidates and strengthens society, and keeps it from breaking down. In the sustainability discourse, therefore, the reinforcement of culture, particularly indigenous culture, is essential to advance the goals of sustainability. The bottom line is that society must learn to respect the indigenous people and their culture, despite the latter’s remoteness to theirs. Although I believe that Western culture have advantages that sustain advanced civilisation, it is also part and parcel of that culture to welcome diversity under its underpinning principles of democracy. It must always strive, therefore, to foster multiculturalism and be accommodative to cultural minorities. These accommodative gestures must go beyond the likes of the Sydney Olympics 2000 (Meekison 2000), which was a good symbolic show of unity between the indigenous and the non-indigenous Australians. Such a gesture is merely hollow, however, if the government and society will not do everything within their power to alleviate the plight of the indigenous people, who are often exposed to extreme poverty, illiteracy, high unemployment rates, which I think foster criminogenic tendencies. This approach is not only humane, but also practical. The impact of a sector of society on the rest is like a rotten apple as criminality can affect not only peace and order in general, but also the economic and social stability of a region. References Casinader, N 2014, Culture, transnationalism and schooling: Case studies in global schooling, Routledge. Benno Glauser “Being Indigenous: the concept of indigeneity, a conversation with two Ayoreo leaders” in Sita Venkateswar and Emma Hughes ed. The Politics of Indigeneity. Dialogues and reflections on Indigenous Activism Zed Books, 2011. Dirlik, A 1994, ‘The postcolonial aura: Third world criticism in the age of global capitalism,’ Critical Inquiry, vol. 20, no. 2 (Winter, 1994), pp. 328-356. Hawkes, J 2001, The fourth pillar of sustainability: culture’s essential role in public planning, Cultural Development Network, UniversityPress.com. Gulson, K., & Parkes, R. (2010). From the barrel of the gun: policy incursions, land, and Aboriginal peoples in Australia. Environment & Planning. Meekison, L 2000, ‘Indigenous presence in the Sydney games,’ in G. Ward & C. Smith (eds.), Indigenous cultures in an interconnected world, St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin, pp. 109-28. Moreton-Robinson, A 2004, ‘Whiteness, epistemology and Indigenous representation,’ in A Moreton-Robinson (ed.), Whitening race: essays in social and cultural criticism, Aboriginal Studies Press Said, EW 2006, 'Orientalism', in BG Ashcroft, G Tiffin & H Pages (eds), The post-colonial studies reader, 2nd edn, Routledge, London, UK, pp. 24-27. Read More