Boy Scouts of America and Indigenous Cultural Appropriation
Greetings,
I am an Eagle Scout and obtained that rank when I was in Troop 6 in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1981. I was a member of the "tribe" of Mic-O-Say, where I obtained the rank of "Fire Builder" a few years later. My "tribal" name was "Little Running Horse," named after my father, "Chief Running Horse." He is Parvin Bishop and was the "Chief" Scout Executive in the Pony Express District at the time. I'm sure there are still some in the organization who knew him. He retired as the Southeastern Regional Executive in Atlanta several years ago. He passed away in December 2012.
Encouraging the Light of Wellbeing (ELW) and its allies will not stand by while the “tribe” of Mic-O-Say continues to appropriate Indigenous cultures' sacred dances and rituals. Your appropriation doesn’t honor those cultures and it is causing harm to Indigenous youth. ELW is committed to disrupting and dismantling Mic-O-Say so this disrespect and inhumanness to Native youth is eliminated.
Mic-O-Say in St. Joseph has culturally appropriated Native traditions since the organization was founded. This is a form of racism. Cultural appropriation brings pain to Indigenous People, especially children and youths when they see white youths wearing "Indian costumes," chanting "Indian songs," beating "Indian tom-toms," and performing "Indian dances," just to name a few of the racist policies and "ceremonies" that go on within this so-called "honor society." The summer camp, Camp Geiger, is where I attended and where boys are initiated into Mic-O-Say. The Scouts were mainly from St. Joseph and smaller towns throughout Northern Missouri. It is important to understand that those Native traditions being culturally appropriated by white youths and leaders in Camp Geiger were done so on stolen land from the Lakota, Kickapoo, Kansa, and Osage Peoples in that area. That doesn't include all the stolen lands where the Mic-O-Say dancers travel to put on spectacles that undermine the dignity of Indigenous youth.
There is confusion when it comes to the so-called honoring of Natives by boys and men who wear non-Native costumes, and dance non-Native “dances” led by non-Native "chants" to the "beat" of non-Native drums. It’s the same thing as a non-Christian handing out the Body of Christ topped with Cheese Whiz at a picnic. What would you think if non-Christians were performing baptisms during a state fair at the dunking pool? How would you feel if you witnessed non-Christians using a triumphal cross to strike young boys which then allows them to join a secret society? And what if you were told that all these rituals were honoring God? Those men and boys inducted into the tribe of Mic-O-Say take part in “tribal” spiritual “ceremonies” where they wear cheap costumes, dance to inauthentic drums, and paint their bodies.
Yes, that is the analogy the Boy Scouts don’t understand when it comes to Indigenous appropriation. That is the analogy that the Boy Scouts refuse to understand when it comes to Native appropriation. Instead, they cling to rhetoric about Mic-O-Say being an "honor society" and that everything that is done is to honor Indigenous culture.
In the article, Boy Scouts Have Been One of the Worst Culprits of Cultural Appropriation, ELW stands with Echo Hawk’s research of her IllumiNative organization that directly addresses the negative impacts of Native cultural appropriation,
“IllumiNative’s groundbreaking research provides evidence how these practices of cultural appropriation, red face, dressing up
in faux Native American costumes and the practices of perpetuating false narratives and stereotypes about Native Americans does the opposite of honoring Native peoples. It instead fuels misinformation, bias, and racism."
Shelby Rowe, Chickasaw, who serves as the co-chair of the Indigenous Peoples Committee for the American Association of Suicidology told Indian Country Today in an email that such appropriation is a potentially contributing factor to Native teen suicide. Suicide is 70 percent higher than for any other group in the country,
“Cultural appropriation adds to the message we constantly get as Natives that our culture is dead, and that our existence is an inconvenience for society. It is not often seen as a public health issue, but I think that it should be. By presenting our cultures as that of a dying/extinct society, it leaves no space in the modern world for Native Americans to exist,” wrote Rowe.
“According to Dr. Thomas Joiner’s Interpersonal Theory of Suicidality, lethal and near lethal suicide attempts take place at the intersection of three risk factors: Thwarted Belongingness (I am alone), Perceived Burdensomeness (I have no purpose/my existence burdens others) and the acquired capability to kill (I am not afraid to die). For American Indians, centuries of genocide & policies to dismantle our nations, modern cultural appropriation and the persistent, ever present messages in media and society that show us as a dead/dying culture keep our people locked in the deadly intersection of factors that is claiming the lives of our young men.”
Sadé Ali, Mi’kmaq First Nation, is a Two Spirit elder. She wrote in an email that she has always had challenges with some of the doctrines and teachings of the Boy Scouts and says she considers them as “one of the most homophobic/transphobic organizations existing.” Ali also says she felt the cultural appropriation of the Boy Scouts was problematic.
When I was a Boy Scout and indoctrinated into the Tribe of Mic-O-Say, I did not know what appropriation was, especially what the appropriation of Indigenous Peoples' culture meant. A few years ago, I learned about appropriation and my complicity in it.
As the Executive Director of ELW, I know if my father were still with us and I explained how the practices of Mic-O-Say have caused and continue to cause pain to Native youths, he would agree. He supported kids all of his life, as a baseball coach; basketball coach; and high school teacher. Not to mention all the amazing things he did for Scouts, creating Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience (C.O.P.E.) on a national level. He did so many fun and exciting things with my Cub Scout and Boy Scout troops, such as taking us to secret caves to explore all day; a canoe trip; and preparing us for a ten-day hike in Philmont, the High Adventure Base in the mountains of New Mexico.
About 15 years ago, my father, as a beloved Chief Scout Executive was honored with the construction of a Mic-O-Say dance ring for the youth in Mic-O-Say to "dance" and "hold ceremonies" in. What should happen is that Indigenous youth be invited and welcomed to display their authentic dances, regalia, ceremonies, and anything else they would like to teach the Boy Scouts. My father was an educator, first and foremost.
My father would never want any youth to experience pain, especially pain that sends the message that Native youths live in a dead culture; dying society; and feel alone" with no purpose; as they struggle to live with life-threatening despair. No, my father encouraged youth in every way that he could.
Mic-O-Say must be banished.
In solidarity
Timothy Bishop
Founder/Director