Amanda Pretlow- Commercialization of religious art

When I think of religious art, I tend to think about the illuminated portrait of Jesus in my grandmother's house. However, religious art is so much more than this. Think of prayer beads, dreamcatchers, and religious symbols as pendents on jewelry. My sister and I tend to got to Native American festivals in order to learn more about this part of our heritage. While at these festivals we are exposed to all sorts of native arts. The interesting thing about these festivals is that the people of different tribes basically turn their sacred art forms, like dance and image, into a performance for the secular audience. Since the tribes had largely been converted to Christianity, their art has taken on new meanings. When they lost their old religion, I think that some of their dances lost their meaning. They no longer dance to the deities of their ancestors. This has made it easier to commercialize their art forms and traditions. It is not uncommon to see a car with a dreamcatcher dangling in the window or to see a tourist to Native American History museum in DC wearing a set of ghost beads. These sacred items have lost their meaning and therefore have been profaned, The only way to re-establish the sacredness of these items is to understand their history and use them accordingly.