Mana, Shamans, and the Cultural Misappropriation behind Fantasy Terms

[Jd Smith1]

I do not believe something as minor as hair or clothing are cultural appropriation. Unless it is something very specific with important meaning, like a Native American War Bonnet, but just some general hair style or clothing style? No.

That would actually be a Plains Indian war bonnet, and even then it had different meanings to the different tribes. Native Americans had nothing resembling a unified culture.

 

[Jd Smith1]

It only matters if the source community interacts with the appropriating community and finds it a problem.

Too often these days people take offense on behalf of others, often in cases where it's not aligned with what the "protected group" wants.

To me, that sort of action is inherently racist. It suggests that the people whom the word/item/concept in question are too child-like or inferior to fight their own struggles, or even to realize they have been offended.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

That would actually be a Plains Indian war bonnet, and even then it had different meanings to the different tribes. Native Americans had nothing resembling a unified culture.

True, but like I said, I would never dare wear something of that importance without being given the bonnet and the blessing of the tribe it came from, unlike certain reality tv stars who have rightly been called out on that.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I doubt that. WOW certainly demonstrates that the Polynesian lobby isn't all that militant.

Or, maybe, that WoW isn't particularly disrespectful to polynesians.

Or simply that you aren't aware of the pushback they've gotten.

Or any number of things.

 

[Jd Smith1]

True, but like I said, I would never dare wear something of that importance without being given the bonnet and the blessing of the tribe it came from, unlike certain reality tv stars who have rightly been called out on that.

I've never been in a social situation where wearing a feathered bonnet was an option, but if it did, I wouldn't hesitate.

There hasn't been a person entitled to wear such a bonnet since the 1930s (when the last one died), so the significance is no longer applicable.

You don't have to be a cowboy to wear a Stetson. You don't have to own a Ford to wear a gimme cap that has Ford on it.
I wear tee shirts with radio station logos on them I've never tuned in to.

This exaggerated delicacy about hats is IMO, dumb. A continent was taken from them by force; pretending that you care about a headgear that about three per cent of them occasionally wore is just silly. If you really care about the situation, pay them rent for the rest of your life.

 

[Aldarc]

You can't steal words

You can misrepresent a culture with misunderstood and misapplied cultural loanwords.

 

[pemerton]

@Aldarc @Doug McCrae

This thread seems like it might derail soon, but to try to stay somewhat on topic:

I think there is an interesting aspect of history - I'm most familiar with it in the context of European and East Aftrican history - when largely rural cultures (agrarian, pastoralist, hunter-gather) come into contact with urban/cosmopolitan cultures. This can be the result of colonisation/imperialism - certainly this is a significant part of the story for East Africa, but I would say less straightforwardly so for at least norther and western Europe.

This can make suitable material for FRPGIng, I think, and religion/"magical" practices can be a part of that. D&D's traditional vehicles for this are the cleric (urban/cosmopolitan) and the druid (rural). These sit in an uneasy overlap with eg human vs orcs which is another way of trying to capture the same cultural interaction (Romans vs Goths or Huns).

How do do this without essentially taking the urban/cosmopolitan perspective is tricky. I don't think 4e does a first-rate job of this, though it's better than AD&D I think. Rolemaster is actually not terrible. What about RQ?

 

[TheSword]

For the record, the game doesn’t suggest shamans are less than clerics. Shaman classes are balanced to be equal. If anything the game redressed the balance that these things aren’t seen as equal in the real world.

 

[Aldarc]

How do do this without essentially taking the urban/cosmopolitan perspective is tricky. I don't think 4e does a first-rate job of this, though it's better than AD&D I think. Rolemaster is actually not terrible. What about RQ?

One thing that I appreciate about RQ is that traditions of magic are not entirely presented in opposition, but in a more syncretic way. A warrior or even priest will be part of a temple cult, but also draw upon animistic practices that call upon spirits to bless their armaments and for other boons.

 

[Raduin711]

As others have noted, the existence of "manna" in the Old Testament makes this suggestion of single-source for the term... questionable.

I would just like to point out in case it wasn't already that the person who made the video is Andrew Henry who is a PHD candidate in early Christianty at Boston U.

sauce

He runs a great channel, very informative and scholarly.