Imagine my surprise when This American Life (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/) plugged my former hot spots, Greenwoods and Lake of the Woods Camps. Listening to it, I didn't remember any adolescent angst. Instead I reminisced about the summer escape with friends and the omnipresent sounds of nature. Curtailing my stroll down memory lane, the podcast touched on something I'd overlooked in my relative youth: the controversial appropriation of Native American culture for the names of cabins and camp ceremonies. Consequently, the counselors voices were heard and the annual pow-wow went on hiatus only to return a year later by resoundingly popular demand. The adjoining camps, and many others, have concluded that their business models are predicated on the tradition.
With that debate on cultural sensitivity at its end (for now), I'm torn as I reconcile great memories with policies that ride roughshod over a people's heritage. I write, I make art, and I endeavor to do both with respect. And the feelings stirred by the podcast have made strange bedfellows of nostalgia and contention. Luckily, I'm developing some appreciation for paradox and looking a little deeper may well be worth the mixed feelings.
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