Vera, thank you sincerely for your very thoughtful comment. I appreciate where you are coming from. You're very right that cultural appropriation is happening a lot, and I do indicate in the post that Maslow's not citing the Blackfoot influence may itself constitute appropriation. As Blackfoot researcher Narcisse Blood stated, there can be "storycide" - the killing of stories that come from particular people, erasing them.

I’ll say that in response to this post, I’ve been prompted to dig deeper, both into the Blackfoot perspective and into Maslow’s. There are many perspectives, even among the Blackfoot, ranging from "he definitely stole it" to "he did not give sufficient credit to us." I will likely be publishing a comment, revised post (with note about revision), or even follow up post to share the more in-depth research I’ve done or that has been shared with me by others. What I will say for now is that Ryan Heavy Head, a Blackfoot researcher who received funding to investigate the influence of the Blackfoot on Maslow, shares in this video https://www.blackfootdigitallibrary.com/digital/collection/bdl/id/1293 (at minute 7:08, video 13 of 15), which is a multi-hour overview of the influence of the Blackfoot on Maslow that, "The purpose of this presentation is not to slam Maslow, but to say that Maslow got a little glimpse, a fumbled glimpse...also, that he missed so much, and we’d like to open up the academy up so that we can bring that so much into the discussion." Though a member of the Blackfoot himself, he avoided a statement like "this is cultural appropriation" or "this is theft." I’m not sure precisely why that is, but I would defer to his way of articulating what took place.

Another gem that Ryan Heavy Head shares in this presentation is "When someone [in Blackfoot community] was deviant they didn't peg them as deviant. A person who was deviant could redeem themselves in society's eyes if they left that behavior behind." (video 7 out of 15 minute 15:44-16:08). So I am with you that I believe that we should very much honor the wisdom of Indigenous people. We should endeavor to cite our sources. We should avoid misrepresenting them to the best of our ability (and I know even in writing this post, I do take that risk also as someone who is not Blackfoot, but who has tried to study some papers and lectures shared by Indigenous writers here). And we should ask our leaders, thinkers, and scientists to provide due credit where it is due. But I also wonder if that is best achieved without leveling judgments or painting an individual or a system as bad, but instead having compassion or understanding for some of the context that led to that unskillful behavior. Should we understand that, perhaps we can offer people greater space to take accountability for their actions, to correct themselves when they discover that they are wrong. I welcome your feedback on this thought! ~Teju