I've been thinking a lot lately about repatriation because of the Queen's passing in the UK last month. There has been a lot of conversation about the legacy of the the British Empire and the Royal Family, as well as the role of the British Museum and Museums in general.In fact, John Oliver just did a fantastic breakdown of this very thing yesterday!
Before I became what I am now, I considered going into a Masters' programme for Museum Studies, and work in the realm of NAGPRA. Spoiler, I ended up not doing this for many reasons (one of which is that I do not have the right temperament for it). But, I digress. Most salient point being: repatriation is something I care about (and you should, too).
Repatriation includes but is not limited to the return of remains and funerary objects (under the NAGPRA definition). Our conversation surrounding Repatriation should also include #LandBack and the return of the original stewards of the Land. It should include returning traditional place names. It should include the return of sacred objects, not just funerary ones. It should also include handing back culture to the people whom it belongs to.
Which brings us back to, as always, Brer Rabbit.
Louisiana Creole and Hoodoo Heritage Month precedes Native American Heritage Month, and I think now is a good time to talk about both, since both of these are informed directly by the mass displacement of peoples both of the African Diasporic Peoples Descendants of Chattel Slavery, as well as the Indigenous to Turtle Island. There has been so much push in the last several years for "documentation" and against "self-identification," which, in theory would be fine, if they weren't rooted in Colonial paradigms, and refusing to recognize the displacement and that the "documentation" being touted as sacrosanct canonical law is actually deeply flawed and wholly arbitrary. Are self-identified Cherokees annoying AF? Of course they are. But for every Iron Eyes Cody and annoying Elizabeth Warren type, you just have someone who is disconnected from their family. Something which was done to them on purpose by colonial powers, which is later being weaponized against them by internet strangers.
The problem with paradigms is, whilst they are regarded as though they are sacrosanct canonical law, they are actually deeply flawed and wholly arbitrary, as well as easily refuted. They are less sturdy and unquestionable that we think. Which brings us back to, as always, Brer Rabbit.
Brer Rabbit exists outside of the Harris/ Remus paradigm, and yet, there is an outright refusal to acknowledge this. The people who are the least effected by this are, as always, the most eager to throw it away. This book is a Creole telling of the Creation of the World, starring our friend Brer Rabbit. What is dismissed as common "folklore" is better categorized under the classification of "oral literature" and "theology." There are a lot, and I mean a lot, of Black & Indigenous writers who are making content like this--the problem is that the pervasive cultural narrative has been over-run people people whose business it isn't (for profit, wouldn't you know?!). BIPOC are not given the space to talk about it. If this sacred cultural figure and god exists outside of the appropriation paradigm, why is there such a reluctance to give it that space?
Why is the knee-jerk reaction of non-Black and non-Indigenous people immediately to discard something that doesn't even belong to them instead of pushing for repatriation? Why can't these people just shut the fuck up for like 5 seconds instead of talking over the people who need to be heard? I mean, that question is partially rhetorical. I'm being partially facetious, I am very aware of why these people cannot shut up about this--as I have stated previously, they are absolutely fucking addicted to attention that it brings them. The quest for social capital is a very, very sick one.
Reclamation hasn't had a lack of trying. There has been, again, a lot of Black and Indigenous-based media trying to do this. I have seen very little effort to consume or elevate it. Instead of the "it's lost and gone forever," there's the Bayou comic series, Is'nana the Werespider Birthday Day, the Tristan Strong series, When Brer Rabbit Meets Coyote, The Wren's Nest in Atlanta-- etc. etc. etc. But no one wants to listen to these people. No one can accept that because THEY do not understand that this sacred figure exists outside of the Remus paradigm that it could not be possible for anyone else to, least of all, I guess, the people whose cultures....you get the idea. There hasn't been a lack of trying, but there sure has been a lack of listening.
They ask questions that have answers, and refuse to recognize that they're the only ones who don't have them.
I don't know as much as I do about Brother Rabbit because of any Harris or Remus, I know what I do because of my Ancestors--the other stuff is secondary. Just because you don't, doesn't me I also don't.
So, if one version of something is bad, and creates another subsequent version of something that is bad, why isn't the logical next step to revert it back to what it was before it became bad? I am not advocating for any theme park attractions, because what a multibillion dollar company who donates to Don't Say Gay does with their own property is none of my business. What IS my business is their contentedness, and everyone else's, to let a non-Abrahamic religion take the brunt of the responsibility for their own folly. (Side bar, is it so fucking weird to see people who grandstand about that attraction's theme in its current iteration crryyyyyiiinngggg because there's probably not going to be any "voodoo" in the retheme. Holy Fucking Lack of Self-Awareness, Batman. Every single depiction of voodoo we see in popular media is 10000% informed by racism. Voodoo is not 'ooky-spooky magic,' it's that syncretism again. The demonization Voodoo (and Hoodoo) is intrinsically related to the self-liberation of Haiti.)
Why are so many ready to place blame on Black actors who were in the dreaded movie that shan't be named or the religion it appropriated instead of, IDFK, blaming the appropriators? Like you realize that it's the same company who originally made the fucking movie, right? Make it make sense, it's all I am asking.
The difference between a flâneur and a feckless layabout depends solely on whether or not the person in question has money--it's a matter of perspective. We can all look at the same thing, and all see very different things. This is a situation that has a very clear and definitive answer--for the people who are meant to answer it. Mostly you see what you want to; if you go looking for trouble, you're sure going to find it. (Or you can be the Disney Brer Rabbit and just Candide your way through life,--not a bad option, honestly!-- but I digress).
Repatriation takes responsibility and accountability. Running away from trouble, or throwing something that doesn't belong to you away because you cannot handle the way your actions have had consequences for others---in a very big way--is just not it. I really do believe in my heart of hearts that because Brother Rabbit is something that intrinsically unites and bonds Black and Native people on a cultural, spiritual, and historical level, that he is also integrally entwined with #LandBack and other forms of repatriation. And once we all get on the same page, we can heal.
And we absolutely need to stop giving space in these conversations to people where they do not belong. FFS.
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