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Peyote, Acculturation and Cultural Appropriation
(Seminar/Conference)
The Department of History will host Dr. Martin Nesvig from the University of Miami. Nesvig's talk, on February 27, will discuss the colonial experience of cultural appropriation and acculturation in Mexico. His lecture will analyze the case of Mazatec ritual healer Maria Sabina, who was unwittlingly made famous by Ken Kesey, Albert Hoffman, Timothy Leary and Allan Ginsberg. Late in life Sabina expressed sorrow and regret that she revealed the secrecy of hallucinogenic mushrooms to Europeans and Americans, when she saw how hallucinogenic tourism and Orientalism cheapened her spiritual tradition. Echoes of this debate now rage as famous fashion designers appropriate the physical symbolism of indigenous peoples from Oaxaca, Chiapas and Guatemala for profit. Co-sponsored by the Center for Humanities, The Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention, American Indian Studies, El Centro, and CLAHS.
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