Shamans, Altered States, and Cultural Appropriation

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Magic, Spirits, Shamanism, and Trance" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This lecture will focus on the multifaceted world of shamanism. The presentation will show how shamans serve as vast repositories of traditional indigenous knowledge and native beliefs. The effectiveness of shamans as health care practitioners will be considered. The ingestion of mind altering substances by Amazonian shamans as part of their curing practices will be explored. Positive and negative aspects of shamanism will be discussed. Issues surrounding the ongoing cultural appropriation of various shamanic rituals will be documented. Lastly, how contact with the Western World threatens to destroy this form of traditional wisdom will be addressed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Magic, Spirits, Shamanism, and Trance   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37940.0