Warehouse 13: Full Inventory-"Elements"
I'm going to go into a bit more detail about the appropriation and misrepresentation of culture and history by looking at the artifacts mentioned in episodes of Warehouse 13. For a brief overview of what I'm talking about in this series, read "An Extraordinary Rendition of History; Items in Warehouse 13 that Don't Belong in "America's Attic". I won't be going into too great detail of research; if I prove something horribly inaccurate, I do so using only minimal Googling. Corrections and clarifications are thus welcome.
Remember how, earlier today, I was kind of impressed with the research and presentation of history in "Claudia"? Yeah, that's not going to happen again. "Elements" deals with several interconnected artifacts related to Native American culture, specifically, the Lenape tribe, also known as the Delaware. (It appears there are currently two tribes currently recognized by the U.S. government.) And it goes about as well as you would expect when you're dealing with agents of the United States government trying to take control of native culture and keep it "safe" without any actual Native Americans involved. The best thing that can be said about this episode is that it looked like somebody read a book before writing all of this horribly wrong BS.
Artifact: Buckskin Cloak
What does it do? Makes the wearer intangible, allowing them to pass through solid objects. They can also transfer that intangibility to people and items they touch.
Artifact: Artwork of Walter Burleigh (fictional)
What do they do? In combination, they lead to a secret cave created by the Lenape to hold powerful objects offered to the spirit creation.
Artifact: Lenape Elements of Creation
What do they do? They bestow great abilities on the person who claims them: Eternal life, incredible strength, control of the weather, and . . . something to do with fire that they don't say.
Are they in any way accurate? The show makes a special point that the elements of creation are Rock (not Earth), Fire, Wind, and Water, and that a key aspect of "Rock" is that it represents the solidity given to the world. This aspect of solidity is tied to how the cloak is able to move its wearer through matter. That does match up with published Lenape creation stories well enough to suggest that the producers of the show actually did at least a little research before writing the story.
On the other hand, everything else is terrible. The show also makes a special point about a feather that falls off the buckskin cloak. Artie: Looks Native American.
Myka: Yeah, we think it fell off something larger, a ceremonial object. A walking stick, a peace pipe maybe.
Pete: Or a bird.
But the feather looks like a feather, just a feather, no other adornments. The only person close to being right here is Pete ("We're looking for an art-stealing bird that walks through walls."). Later, they try to use the feather to narrow down which Native American tradition they're looking for (Burleigh's ties to the Lenape and the location in Manhattan wasn't enough to get them started in that area).Artie: Anyway, the feather was predominantly used by the Delaware Nations and also by the-aha-by the Lenape tribe.
Ok, first, as far as I can tell, the Delaware and the Lenape are the same group, "Delaware" being the name applied by colonizers and "Lenape" being the name they used for themselves. Second, "the feather was predominantly used by the Delaware Nations"? WTF? What does that mean? Nobody else on the entire continent used feathers? The Delaware were such feather-happy feather-masters that just seeing a feather somewhere, anywhere, means it's got to be from Lenape artwork? They don't even try to use CSI bullshit to say the bird the feather came from is only found in a specific area. No, sirree; feather == Delaware/Lenape. QED.
Does it belong in America's Attic? No no no no no no no no no no no. And no. There's all kinds of fucked up in this episode, which is basically "White People Fighting to Take Control of Native American Culture."
Let's start with the backstory.Burleigh was married to a Lenape woman, and the sculptures are some kind of key to a sacred underground cave. It contains four offerings to the spirits of creation.
It's not explicitly stated anywhere else, but we can assume from this that Burleigh was not Lenape. He did spend much of his life, though, searching for this sacred cave. When he finally manages to discover its location, what does he do? Does he tell the Lenape members of his family? Does he contact the Delaware tribes in Oklahoma to let them know that he's discovered an important piece of their history and culture?
Why would anyone do that? Instead, he keeps the secret to himself and creates four sculptures that create a map to the area. Then he sells his sculptures. Because the Western fine-art market is the perfect place for such information. He does give a part of the puzzle to his wife's nephew Lacell, but he doesn't tell him anything else useful, really.
And that all happens before we meet the two rich white American guys and the white agents of the United States government all trying to find the cave.
Now, you'd think that Lacell, being the only Lenape in the entire story and a nephew of the white artist who created the plot coupons, would be a pretty important character in this story. And you would be very, very wrong. Lacell, who's employed by the "well-intentioned" rich white guy to help spy on the totes evil rich white guy, has barely any presence in the story, existing only to provide a plot coupon to the evil rich white guy before an unceremonious death.
With the Lenape literally written out of the script, who can claim these Lenape artifacts? There's the evil rich white American (a real-estate developer, who has literally made his fortune by stealing other people's land), the well-intentioned rich white American (who inherited his money from his father, an evil real-estate partner of the evil rich white American), and the United States government. Of course, the well-intentioned rich white American teams up with the United States government to "keep the artifacts safe" from the evil rich white American. And also, you know, from the Lenape.
At the beginning of the episode, when a seventeenth-century Lenape creates the cave and its powerful artifacts, his words are translated:When He comes,
let these elements be
His strength and our hope
It seems like they were going for a prophecy thing. At the climax, the rich white Americans argue about whether the elements are "meant for" the evil rich white American or not. Maybe the whole prophecy thing got cut out of the script at some point. But while the well-intentioned rich white American and the U.S. government agents managed to prevent someone for whom they weren't intended to claim the elements, they have no concern for making sure they do get to the people they are intended for. Too dangerous (to white Americans) I guess.
White people: stealing land, culture, and hope from Americans since 1492.
Anything else? Oh right, a throwaway line:
Artifact: Items Traded with the Lenape for the Island of Manhattan
What do they do? Unknown, but Artie strongly implies that their actual value far exceeds the $24 value commonly ascribed to them.
Are they in any way accurate? Well, the original deal was for 60 guilders, not for $24 dollars of trinkets, and there is disagreement about what the terms of the agreement were and how they were understood by both sides. Still, this represents a bit of a historical retcon by implying that the "trinkets" were actually extremely powerful and worth an entire island.
Do they belong in America's Attic? On the other hand, since Artie's apparently gotten a hold of them, it means that both the land and the powerful artifacts were taken away from the Lenape. That's par for the course for the United States' dealings with native groups, by which I mean it is horribly fucked-up and wrong.
And, you know, if I'm going to keep doing these, I'm totally going to need an icon of the Crazy Mexican Murder Rock.
This entry was originally posted at http://tablesaw.dreamwidth.org/419400.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Remember how, earlier today, I was kind of impressed with the research and presentation of history in "Claudia"? Yeah, that's not going to happen again. "Elements" deals with several interconnected artifacts related to Native American culture, specifically, the Lenape tribe, also known as the Delaware. (It appears there are currently two tribes currently recognized by the U.S. government.) And it goes about as well as you would expect when you're dealing with agents of the United States government trying to take control of native culture and keep it "safe" without any actual Native Americans involved. The best thing that can be said about this episode is that it looked like somebody read a book before writing all of this horribly wrong BS.
Artifact: Buckskin Cloak
What does it do? Makes the wearer intangible, allowing them to pass through solid objects. They can also transfer that intangibility to people and items they touch.
Artifact: Artwork of Walter Burleigh (fictional)
What do they do? In combination, they lead to a secret cave created by the Lenape to hold powerful objects offered to the spirit creation.
Artifact: Lenape Elements of Creation
What do they do? They bestow great abilities on the person who claims them: Eternal life, incredible strength, control of the weather, and . . . something to do with fire that they don't say.
Are they in any way accurate? The show makes a special point that the elements of creation are Rock (not Earth), Fire, Wind, and Water, and that a key aspect of "Rock" is that it represents the solidity given to the world. This aspect of solidity is tied to how the cloak is able to move its wearer through matter. That does match up with published Lenape creation stories well enough to suggest that the producers of the show actually did at least a little research before writing the story.
On the other hand, everything else is terrible. The show also makes a special point about a feather that falls off the buckskin cloak. Artie: Looks Native American.
Myka: Yeah, we think it fell off something larger, a ceremonial object. A walking stick, a peace pipe maybe.
Pete: Or a bird.
But the feather looks like a feather, just a feather, no other adornments. The only person close to being right here is Pete ("We're looking for an art-stealing bird that walks through walls."). Later, they try to use the feather to narrow down which Native American tradition they're looking for (Burleigh's ties to the Lenape and the location in Manhattan wasn't enough to get them started in that area).Artie: Anyway, the feather was predominantly used by the Delaware Nations and also by the-aha-by the Lenape tribe.
Ok, first, as far as I can tell, the Delaware and the Lenape are the same group, "Delaware" being the name applied by colonizers and "Lenape" being the name they used for themselves. Second, "the feather was predominantly used by the Delaware Nations"? WTF? What does that mean? Nobody else on the entire continent used feathers? The Delaware were such feather-happy feather-masters that just seeing a feather somewhere, anywhere, means it's got to be from Lenape artwork? They don't even try to use CSI bullshit to say the bird the feather came from is only found in a specific area. No, sirree; feather == Delaware/Lenape. QED.
Does it belong in America's Attic? No no no no no no no no no no no. And no. There's all kinds of fucked up in this episode, which is basically "White People Fighting to Take Control of Native American Culture."
Let's start with the backstory.Burleigh was married to a Lenape woman, and the sculptures are some kind of key to a sacred underground cave. It contains four offerings to the spirits of creation.
It's not explicitly stated anywhere else, but we can assume from this that Burleigh was not Lenape. He did spend much of his life, though, searching for this sacred cave. When he finally manages to discover its location, what does he do? Does he tell the Lenape members of his family? Does he contact the Delaware tribes in Oklahoma to let them know that he's discovered an important piece of their history and culture?
Why would anyone do that? Instead, he keeps the secret to himself and creates four sculptures that create a map to the area. Then he sells his sculptures. Because the Western fine-art market is the perfect place for such information. He does give a part of the puzzle to his wife's nephew Lacell, but he doesn't tell him anything else useful, really.
And that all happens before we meet the two rich white American guys and the white agents of the United States government all trying to find the cave.
Now, you'd think that Lacell, being the only Lenape in the entire story and a nephew of the white artist who created the plot coupons, would be a pretty important character in this story. And you would be very, very wrong. Lacell, who's employed by the "well-intentioned" rich white guy to help spy on the totes evil rich white guy, has barely any presence in the story, existing only to provide a plot coupon to the evil rich white guy before an unceremonious death.
With the Lenape literally written out of the script, who can claim these Lenape artifacts? There's the evil rich white American (a real-estate developer, who has literally made his fortune by stealing other people's land), the well-intentioned rich white American (who inherited his money from his father, an evil real-estate partner of the evil rich white American), and the United States government. Of course, the well-intentioned rich white American teams up with the United States government to "keep the artifacts safe" from the evil rich white American. And also, you know, from the Lenape.
At the beginning of the episode, when a seventeenth-century Lenape creates the cave and its powerful artifacts, his words are translated:When He comes,
let these elements be
His strength and our hope
It seems like they were going for a prophecy thing. At the climax, the rich white Americans argue about whether the elements are "meant for" the evil rich white American or not. Maybe the whole prophecy thing got cut out of the script at some point. But while the well-intentioned rich white American and the U.S. government agents managed to prevent someone for whom they weren't intended to claim the elements, they have no concern for making sure they do get to the people they are intended for. Too dangerous (to white Americans) I guess.
White people: stealing land, culture, and hope from Americans since 1492.
Anything else? Oh right, a throwaway line:
Artifact: Items Traded with the Lenape for the Island of Manhattan
What do they do? Unknown, but Artie strongly implies that their actual value far exceeds the $24 value commonly ascribed to them.
Are they in any way accurate? Well, the original deal was for 60 guilders, not for $24 dollars of trinkets, and there is disagreement about what the terms of the agreement were and how they were understood by both sides. Still, this represents a bit of a historical retcon by implying that the "trinkets" were actually extremely powerful and worth an entire island.
Do they belong in America's Attic? On the other hand, since Artie's apparently gotten a hold of them, it means that both the land and the powerful artifacts were taken away from the Lenape. That's par for the course for the United States' dealings with native groups, by which I mean it is horribly fucked-up and wrong.
And, you know, if I'm going to keep doing these, I'm totally going to need an icon of the Crazy Mexican Murder Rock.
This entry was originally posted at http://tablesaw.dreamwidth.org/419400.html. Please comment there using OpenID.