Angry Navajo/Indian Girl

Question: Should I dress up like a Indian/Native American for Halloween?

noreply@blogger.com (KupKakeqt) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:49:00 +0000

It's that time of the year once again! When I must put on my overly cliche, stereotypical war paint in order to battle the onslaught of racist Native American costumes that will be hitting costume stores around the nation. Sigh! Yeppie! It's almost Halloween...

I must "Brave" through the Halloween Season AGAIN! Ugh

I received the following email from a non-native friend the other day. Her daughter wanted her to dress as the Lakota brave from the film Spirit. Here is her question and my answer:

My daughter decided a few weeks ago that she wanted to be a Cowgirl for Halloween. We are planning her costume and Trunk-or-treat theme. Then, she watched the movie Spirit (for the 1,000,000,000,000 time) this weekend and she wants to add a tee-pee to our trunk-or-treat decorations. Then, she asked me to dress up like Little Creek, the Lakota Indian, in the movie (except, she said, I will have to wear a shirt because I'm not a boy.) After talking to her, I realized that she is asking to dress like, and decorate our car like people that she admires, that she thinks are brave and have a good heart, which is exactly what I want her to do. I want her to emulate people with strong character, intelligence and moral worth. I am happy that she doesn't just want to be some silly princess or a cheerleader. So, my question is this, is there any way that I can honor her wishes without being offensive or perpetuating a stereotype?

My Answer:

You're daughter is too precious for words and it is admirable for her to want to incorporate the "spirit" of the Lakota people. However, after talking to a Dakota co-worker about your question, she believes that while your daughters intentions are innocent, it would be extremely offensive if you were to dress as the young Lakota warrior in this movie.
My co-worker mentioned that films like Spirit only continue the misconceptions of Native Americans to non-natives. I've never seen Spirit (I try to stay away from any films that aren't written/directed/produced by Natives), so I can't really tell you about the stereotypical nature of the film, but I was able to find this article:

Blue Corn Comics: Spirit the Nobel Savage
Also, she was worried about the connection between cowboys/westerns and Native Americans. While Native Americans have continued to thrive in American society, it is our existence as the enemy to western expansion that will forever be ingrained in the memories of non-natives. We have remained this way in the American conscience-historic,vanishing,savage,"uncivilized"

So, my suggestion is not to dress up like Little Creek or paint your car with a Teepee. I would explain to your daughter that while her intentions are admirable, it would hurt and dishonor the people that she admires. That the images she sees of Native American people in the film Spirit are not accurate and are actually harmful to contemporary Lakota people. I would then show her images of Lakota people today. Maybe a library book, such as Gift Horse. Let her know that she can admire the Lakota people by learning more about them, rather than dressing like them.There is so much diversity and a sacred meaning in Lakota Traditional Dress which is only worn by certain people within the tribe. I did a presentation about this last semester. You can check out the beauty of their clothing here:

IDENTITY BY DESIGN: Tradition, Change, And Celebration In Native Women’s DressesIdentity By Design: Online Exhibition
Surrounded by Beauty: Lakota Dress

I hope this helps...

If you have any suggestion to my friend or any other readers who are contemplating questions similar to this one, please comment! Remember: If you are able to pursue someone from picking up a racist Halloween Costume this trick-or-treat season than this blog has achieved it's mission!

Support Native Artist: Ed Natay Remix by DJ Djabel Rock

noreply@blogger.com (KupKakeqt) — Wed, 25 May 2011 15:01:00 +0000

<a href="http://www.facebook.com/#%21/DJABELROCK">Facebook-DJABELROCK</a>

A response to National Geographic's Navajo Cops

noreply@blogger.com (KupKakeqt) — Tue, 24 May 2011 04:31:00 +0000

This past week, I watched a rerun of National Geographic's newest show, Navajo Cops. You can watch a clip here The premise of the show is similar to Cops, but filmed on the Navajo reservation. Obviously, the show was littered with your average reprobates, thugs, trouble youths, etc. After watching the show, I couldn't help but cringe. The Navajo Nation, the largest American Indian tribe in the US, receives little if any national exposure. When we do, it's usually negative or stereotypical, for instance Oprah's visit to the Navajo Nation. Check it out here

So, to my dismay, Navajo Cops was just a reinforcement of negative stereotypes of American Indians.

We are drunks. We are vanishing. We are hopeless. We are destitute.

I posted a link to the video on my facebook wall, and many of my Native friends agreed with me. However, my Non-Native friends, felt that the show brought attention to current situation on many Indian reservations that often goes unnoticed by Americans. True. I agree, however, my issue with the show was that there weren't enough positive portrayals of American Indians in the media to offset the damaging stereotypes of American Indians in the mainstream media. Sure, the show Cops shows Whites in a negative light, but there are so many positive portrayals of Whites in the media to counter these negative stereotypes. Not so with many minority groups within America.

As you can see it is a double edge sword for the Navajo Nation and American Indians in general. On one hand there is exposure to the problems we face within our communities, but then the shows narrow focus only reinforce negative stereotypes. I for one wasn't hanging my head up high after watching this show! I felt extremely embarrassed for my nation and those unfortunate Navajo's who were seen in the show. Since the rez is such a small community, I know I must be related to one of them by blood or clan. I am sure I am going to hear about how my "cousin" was on Navajo Cops next time I return to the rez! Ugh!

American Indian Fashion

noreply@blogger.com (KupKakeqt) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 03:26:00 +0000

In response to the American Indian-Inspired fashion I am seeing these days, I decided to make a small short for one of my American Indian classes on the subject. Check it out!

Standing up against the Stereotype!

noreply@blogger.com (KupKakeqt) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 03:03:00 +0000

Ok so Halloween is over, but I did have a little skuffle with a lady at a thrift store which almost got me kicked out, Check it out:

So, yeah, I went to Savers to find a pink tutu for my Halloween costume (remember I'm going as a cupcake fairy) and I am flipping through the costumes MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS when a see a familiar pair of pants in the hands of a blond haired little boy.

(Ok. I must interrupt and inform those individuals who don't know my mom owns a Fabric Store and Halloween Costume Company. You see...way back in the distant past my mom used to make these god awful STEREOTYPICAL INDJUN costumes to sell to costume retailers across the country. You know the average buck skinned fringe, multicolored feather and pony bead number for little white boys and girls. Something you would see in a John Ford or 1950's Clint Eastwood spaghetti western. Anyhow, She would market these costumes as: "Manufactored by REAL INDIANS" and of course whitey ate it up, and she profited off the stereotype of Native people. shame shame. *tsk tsk*)

ANYHOW, the pants this little boy was carrying was actually one of MY MOM'S COSTUMES! As I watched in horror this blue eyed boy chucked the suede fringed pants into his shopping cart and said "Mom I want to be an Indian for Halloween"
*slapping forehead* I could have shot my mom right then and there!

Now, let me explain, many of you might think "no harm no foul" when whites dress up as Native Americans on Halloween, but to many Natives (like myself), we find it a slap in the face and a disgusting characterization of our Native culture. It is seriously the equivalent of a white person donning black face and dressing like a stereotypical hip hop gangster and saying "I'm going to be a Black person for Halloween". See the error in this? No bueno!
Ok Back to my LONG ASS STORY....

Anyhow, the conversation between the boy and his mom went like this:

Mom: "We will need to buy a bow and arrow for your costume"
Kid: "I don't want a bow and arrow, I want a gun!"
Mom:"Indians don't use guns, they use a bow and arrow or tomahawks"
(I kid you not!)
Me:(thinking to myself) "ok, keep your cool...just an ignorant mom and her bratty son..just continue shopping"

Next...the Grandma walks up...The mom explains the dilemma about the gun

Grandma:"Indians used guns, didn't you see them shooting cowboys in the old westerns?"
Mom:"I just don't like the idea of a guns..."
Kid: "I can't find the top!"
Grandma:"Indians don't wear shirts, they paint war paint on their chest and go..." (she proceeds to do the stereotypical indian battle cry as she beats her hand over her mouth)
ME: (Once again thinking to myself) OMG Are these people from Mars! Oh wait their uneducated, duh!
Kid: What about shoes?
Mom: Indians don't wear shoes, they go around bare foot.
Me: (I look down at my own feet and think...but i'm wearing shoes....)
Mom: ...and they don't know how to brush there hair because brushes came from AMERICANS and they didn't take baths either...Me: (*Sniff Sniff*...nope Zest fully clean!)
Mom:...so we have to paint your skin dirty brown and buy you a shaggy black wig...

Ok...so at this point...I decided I could do two things...
1)Walk away. Figure their ignorance is just that, and I shouldn't waste my time or breath re-educating them when they obviously don't care anyway.

2) Stand up! Invoke Kevin Costners Indian squaw name "Stands with a Fist" (once again stereotypical) and be an angry beaver and do what Ethan calls "FIGHT THE MAN!" and re-educate these poor white folks who are drowning in their cesspool of ignorance. I mean I bitch and moan about Indian issues this and that, but If I'm not willing to stand up then its not worth a hill of beans!

So I chose option Naaki (two in Navajo)...or numero dos

Me: Excuse, but I couldn't help but hear your conversation, but I must tell you the proper term is "Native American" (I invoked the bunny rabbit hand gesture) and I happen to be "Native American" (bunny ears again), more specifically I am Navajo. As you can see that as a "Native American" we do wear shoes (pointing to shoes), shirts (tug on shirt), brush our hair (point to hair) and also we take baths quite often. I must also let you know that I do not live in a teepee, hunt the buffalo, chase cowboys, or yelp like an idiot. So, on behalf of my Native people, I must say that I found your conversation very offensive, because to dress up like an "indian" is a direct insult to the many Native people who lost their lives and culture at the hands of White Americans.

Mind you..I was holding back my anger and talking to her as nicely as I could without sounding to sarcastic or condosending. Also, my voice was trembling because I had never done anything like this before and I was a bit terrified.

Mom: Uhh.....That's not what I meant. I didn't mean Native Americans...I meant Indians...not from America.

Me: You mean from India?

Mom: No, from the movies.

Me:Oh you mean "Injuns" from the AMERICAN western, therefore you mean Native Americans..

Mom: Yes....No...That's not what I meant. The Indians in the movies aren't real!

Me: Yes they are, because the white people in the films are very real, and it is portraying the white mans view of Native Americans which is not accurate at all.

Mom: Well that is not what I meant, I meant those Indians..Native Americans..that don't exist.

Me: So Indians are extinct?

Mom: No, they don't exist in real life.

Me: Well I just want you to know that they do exist in real life and you have a Native American standing right in front of you.

By this time the grandma decided to add her two cents...

Grandma: You know what!? I don't care if it is Native Americans or Indians this is AMERICA and we have any right to dress up anyway we want to!

At this point I laughed! Oh..the benefits of white priviledge and ignorance!

Me: Look you can do whatever you want to do, but I am trying to tell you that as a REAL "Indian" I found your conversation insulting. Thats all! Maybe you should think about that when you think its ok to dress up and ridicule someone's ethnicity or "race". I'm sure you wouldn't like it if I dressed up as a white person and said "Whites are greedy, Whites are stinky they don't wear shoes, Whites don't brush their hair". Thats all I'm saying, and don't be surprised if your son gets heckled for dressing up like that.

I started to walk away, and then the grandma shouted at me:

Grandma: I'm calling the security-you have no right to insult us this way...
I shrugged and went over to the book section, and a few minutes later a Savers manager walked over to me and said "A lady complained that you were harassing her and that she is going to call the cops "I told him I did no such thing and I told him what I told her, and the guy was actually very nice and said that he understood and walked off. Then that was it. The manager talked to the ladies and they walked out of the store without buying the Indian costume. ha ha ha.

A white lady stopped me and said she overheard our argument and said I had some "brass balls" for telling that lady off (which I wasn't trying to do) and if she were in that situation she would have done the same thing, she said, "some people think they can do and act anyway they want, and when you call them on it, they act as if they don't know what your talking about..but they know" I agreed with her, and I am proud I that stood up against that bullshit.

Anyhow, I bought my mom's sinful costume, and I'm going to burn it!

Thanksgiving...here we go!

noreply@blogger.com (KupKakeqt) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 02:52:00 +0000

O' How I love Thanksgiving!
The day where the nation commerates the contributions of Native Americans by doing this...

My people don't do Pow Wow-Western Navajo FAIR 2010 - Song N Dance 2

noreply@blogger.com (KupKakeqt) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 06:08:00 +0000

Token Fashion

noreply@blogger.com (KupKakeqt) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 06:12:00 +0000

Guess what everyone! I am in style! Yes! According to Seventeen Magazine:Navajo's are finally in style!

Trend Alert: Navajo Inspired Fashion

We're willing to bet that at some point in your life you either a) dressed up as Pocahontas for Halloween or a middle school history project, b) played cowboys and Indians, although we can't quite remember what that entails, or c) made a homemade teepee fort in your backyard and swore you'd never move back into your bedroom again. Well, looks like all those childhood Native American fantasies seem to translate quite well into our fall closets and we personally couldn't be happier – Navajo-inspired friendship bracelets anyone?

Whether you're channeling your inner Sacajawea in bold tribal prints, fringed booties, a shearling collared jacket, or beaded accessories, we're all for it – just stay away from the pigtail braids for now. There's plenty of time for more literal Navajo translations come October 31.

According Style Caster.com, Navajo’s are now in style! At least “Navajo Inspired Fashion” is anyway. The article points out the newest trend on the fashion scene and that is “tribal” “Indian” prints, clothing, and accessories. Yet, the articles of clothing produced by prestigious fashion designs are nothing but the styling’s of the stereotypical Indian. Furthermore, the blogger, Michelle Halpern, obviously has very little knowledge of Native American apparel or design, because anything with fringe and a geometric pattern is labeled “Navajo”. Her article degrades Native American culture by poking fun at the “cowboy and Indian” and “Pocahontas” cliché’s:

“We're willing to bet that at some point in your life you either a) dressed up as Pocahontas for Halloween or a middle school history project, b) played cowboys and Indians, although we can't quite remember what that entails, or c) made a homemade teepee fort in your backyard and swore you'd never move back into your bedroom again. Well, looks like all those childhood Native American fantasies seem to translate quite well into our fall closets and we personally couldn't be happier – Navajo-inspired friendship bracelets anyone?”

According to Michelle, Native American fashion and clothing has little to do with cultural heritage and pride, but more about playing dress up and reliving childhood fantasies of the historic American Indian.
While, I am an advocate of Native American fashion, clothing, and design, I find this article to be nothing more than a slap to face to more than 500 distinctive Native American tribes. While I can appreciate the designs she show, I fail to see how a Balmain black leather beaded sandal ($956) or leather Ralph Lauren fridge scandal ($342) has anything to do with Native America. There is no distinctive quality about the clothing presented in this article, only the confused designs of an ignorant American fashion trend. However, I adore some of the accessories and clothing presented in this article, such as Pendelton buckle bag ($258) and a Navajo rug design Cardigan from Free People ($168). However, these designs are few and far between and market for hundreds of dollars. Even IF I had the money to invest in such cute works of art, I still would refrain from doing so, because I am sure there are many Native American designers who produce authentic works of art to showcase their creative talents and cultural heritage. Fortunately, for many, “Navajo-inspired” clothing is not a trend. We wear our heritage with pride 365 days a year, and don’t have to buy cheap Pocahontas rip offs to prove it!

Race Card Strip Poker

noreply@blogger.com (KupKakeqt) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Nate decided to download the movie Avatar off the internet,
(therefore the movie was stripped of all its CG grandeur that has glamored the
unsuspecting masses), and I watched bits and pieces of the film that reinforced
the basic reasons why i resisted watching the film in the first place.
(I do have to admit that Michelle Rodergize kicked some major ass!)

Sure I laughed at ridiculous nature of the "going native"
premise that was a clear cookie cutter plotline from Dances with Wolves.
We also rolled our eyes and sighed with utter contempt and frustration at the
romanticized Pocahontas/John Smith relationship between Jake and Neytiri.

I can go one and on about how painful this movie was to watch. One of my friends
warned me not to watch it because he said I would be pulling the "race card" through
out the whole movie. The "race card" term, to me, seems to be a cop out explanation
to blame someone or something on race rather than taking personal responsibility for
a specific situation. To me, the "race card" also means to see certain things that
don't exist and that are not there in the first place.

To me, I saw some things about this film that comes from my personal background
as a Native American. There is a history and a culture that I can not strip myself from when I walk into a movie theater. When I watch movies like Avatar, Indian in the Cupboard, or Dances with Wolves, I see a portrayal of my ethnic group that I know is pure BS. I can't help that and I am not trying to pull the "race card" when I see something that others do not.

I don't know if that makes sense, but watching movies like Avatar and other
stereotypical, alien, or archaic portrayals of Natives really makes me sick. I really
can't explain it, and I know this is just my own personal opinion, because there
are many Natives out there who have no problem with these films.

Anyhow, A fiend of mine said that Avatar reminded him of me, most likely because I am his only Native fiend. Am I that stereotypical? LOL. It never occurred to me that I am that token Native friend for many people! LOL. Righteous!

So I am one the few people who doesn't want to watch Avatar...

noreply@blogger.com (KupKakeqt) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:34:00 +0000

As a fellow sci-fi geek it saddens me to say that I am not will not be seeing the film Avatar. Ugh. Despite the irrefutable parallels between the Na'vi and Native Americans, Avatar is another White Savior film like Dances with Wolves, The Last Samurai, or the Blind Side. I'm not a fan.

So, I have decided to save my $9 and watch the Fantastic Mr. Fox instead

Today, I came across blog today, and It basically sums my feelings about the movie Avatar.

http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar

When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like "Avatar"?

(more)

Critics have called alien epic Avatar a version of Dances With Wolves because it's about a white guy going native and becoming a great leader. But Avatar is just the latest scifi rehash of an old white guilt fantasy. Spoilers...
Whether Avatar is racist is a matter for debate. Regardless of where you come down on that question, it's undeniable that the film - like alien apartheid flick District 9, released earlier this year - is emphatically a fantasy about race. Specifically, it's a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people. Avatar and scifi films like it give us the opportunity to answer the question: What do white people fantasize about when they fantasize about racial identity?
Avatar imaginatively revisits the crime scene of white America's foundational act of genocide, in which entire native tribes and civilizations were wiped out by European immigrants to the American continent. In the film, a group of soldiers and scientists have set up shop on the verdant moon Pandora, whose landscapes look like a cross between Northern California's redwood cathedrals and Brazil's tropical rainforest. The moon's inhabitants, the Na'vi, are blue, catlike versions of native people: They wear feathers in their hair, worship nature gods, paint their faces for war, use bows and arrows, and live in tribes. Watching the movie, there is really no mistake that these are alien versions of stereotypical native peoples that we've seen in Hollywood movies for decades.
And Pandora is clearly supposed to be the rich, beautiful land America could still be if white people hadn't paved it over with concrete and strip malls. In Avatar, our white hero Jake Sully (sully - get it?) explains that Earth is basically a war-torn wasteland with no greenery or natural resources left. The humans started to colonize Pandora in order to mine a mineral called unobtainium that can serve as a mega-energy source. But a few of these humans don't want to crush the natives with tanks and bombs, so they wire their brains into the bodies of Na'vi avatars and try to win the natives' trust. Jake is one of the team of avatar pilots, and he discovers to his surprise that he loves his life as a Na'vi warrior far more than he ever did his life as a human marine.

Jake is so enchanted that he gives up on carrying out his mission, which is to persuade the Na'vi to relocate from their "home tree," where the humans want to mine the unobtanium. Instead, he focuses on becoming a great warrior who rides giant birds and falls in love with the chief's daughter. When the inevitable happens and the marines arrive to burn down the Na'vi's home tree, Jake switches sides. With the help of a few human renegades, he maintains a link with his avatar body in order to lead the Na'vi against the human invaders. Not only has he been assimilated into the native people's culture, but he has become their leader.
This is a classic scenario you've seen in non-scifi epics from Dances With Wolves to The Last Samurai, where a white guy manages to get himself accepted into a closed society of people of color and eventually becomes its most awesome member. But it's also, as I indicated earlier, very similar in some ways to District 9. In that film, our (anti)hero Wikus is trying to relocate a shantytown of aliens to a region far outside Johannesburg. When he's accidentally squirted with fluid from an alien technology, he begins turning into one of the aliens against his will. Deformed and cast out of human society, Wikus reluctantly helps one of the aliens to launch their stalled ship and seek help from their home planet.
If we think of Avatar and its ilk as white fantasies about race, what kinds of patterns do we see emerging in these fantasies?
In both Avatar and District 9, humans are the cause of alien oppression and distress. Then, a white man who was one of the oppressors switches sides at the last minute, assimilating into the alien culture and becoming its savior. This is also the basic story of Dune, where a member of the white royalty flees his posh palace on the planet Dune to become leader of the worm-riding native Fremen (the worm-riding rite of passage has an analog in Avatar, where Jake proves his manhood by riding a giant bird). An interesting tweak on this story can be seen in 1980s flick Enemy Mine, where a white man (Dennis Quaid) and the alien he's been battling (Louis Gossett Jr.) are stranded on a hostile planet together for years. Eventually they become best friends, and when the alien dies, the human raises the alien's child as his own. When humans arrive on the planet and try to enslave the alien child, he lays down his life to rescue it. His loyalties to an alien have become stronger than to his own species.
These are movies about white guilt. Our main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, AKA people of color - their cultures, their habitats, and their populations. The whites realize this when they begin to assimilate into the "alien" cultures and see things from a new perspective. To purge their overwhelming sense of guilt, they switch sides, become "race traitors," and fight against their old comrades. But then they go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed. This is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare. It's not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against people of color; it's not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It's a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive, white) outside.
Think of it this way. Avatar is a fantasy about ceasing to be white, giving up the old human meatsack to join the blue people, but never losing white privilege. Jake never really knows what it's like to be a Na'vi because he always has the option to switch back into human mode. Interestingly, Wikus in District 9 learns a very different lesson. He's becoming alien and he can't go back. He has no other choice but to live in the slums and eat catfood. And guess what? He really hates it. He helps his alien buddy to escape Earth solely because he's hoping the guy will come back in a few years with a "cure" for his alienness. When whites fantasize about becoming other races, it's only fun if they can blithely ignore the fundamental experience of being an oppressed racial group. Which is that you are oppressed, and nobody will let you be a leader of anything.

This is not a message anybody wants to hear, least of all the white people who are creating and consuming these fantasies. Afro-Canadian scifi writer Nalo Hopkinson recently told the Boston Globe:

In the US, to talk about race is to be seen as racist. You become the problem because you bring up the problem. So you find people who are hesitant to talk about it.
She adds that the main mythic story you find in science fiction, generally written by whites, "is going to a foreign culture and colonizing it."
Sure, Avatar goes a little bit beyond the basic colonizing story. We are told in no uncertain terms that it's wrong to colonize the lands of native people. Our hero chooses to join the Na'vi rather than abide the racist culture of his own people. But it is nevertheless a story that revisits the same old tropes of colonization. Whites still get to be leaders of the natives - just in a kinder, gentler way than they would have in an old Flash Gordon flick or in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Mars novels.
When will whites stop making these movies and start thinking about race in a new way?
First, we'll need to stop thinking that white people are the most "relatable" characters in stories. As one blogger put it:

By the end of the film you're left wondering why the film needed the Jake Sully character at all. The film could have done just as well by focusing on an actual Na'vi native who comes into contact with crazy humans who have no respect for the environment. I can just see the explanation: "Well, we need someone (an avatar) for the audience to connect with. A normal guy will work better than these tall blue people." However, this is the type of thinking that molds all leads as white male characters (blank slates for the audience to project themselves upon) unless your name is Will Smith.
But more than that, whites need to rethink their fantasies about race.
Whites need to stop remaking the white guilt story, which is a sneaky way of turning every story about people of color into a story about being white. Speaking as a white person, I don't need to hear more about my own racial experience. I'd like to watch some movies about people of color (ahem, aliens), from the perspective of that group, without injecting a random white (erm, human) character to explain everything to me. Science fiction is exciting because it promises to show the world and the universe from perspectives radically unlike what we've seen before. But until white people stop making movies like Avatar, I fear that I'm doomed to see the same old story again and again.

Dune image via leywad.

My Identity Is Not A Costume for You To Wear!

noreply@blogger.com (KupKakeqt) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:21:00 +0000

Dear Halloween Lovers,

Every year around this time, I see some idiot running down the street with an "Indian/Native American" costume (it gets worse during Thanksgiving). I have often wondered in this supposed "PC/Post Racial" country, why Americans insist on insulting the Indigenous Native American population by reducing them to mythical creatures of fantasy during Halloween?

I understand that to many Americans, Halloween is a time of blood-curdling fright, fantasy, and sugar candy coated fun! The purpose of the Halloween costume (according to Wikipedia):

"goes back to Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them..Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm"

Obviously, the pagan connections of Halloween are long forgotten, and today Americans wear costumes to not only scare, but "to portray the wearer as a character or type of character other than their regular persona at a social event..than would be socially unacceptable otherwise." So if you wish to dress up like mythical creature (Goblin, Spiderman, Unicorn (Heeyyy!), or larger than life celebrity or public figure (Glenn Beck, Paris Hilton, George Bush), than Halloween is your day to do so!

Boo Liv Tyler!

Now, what twists my trick-or-treat bag in a bunch, is where the heck Native Americans fit in all of this! Why is it socially acceptable to dress like the stereotypical Indian: "Brave","Chief", "Princess", "Squaw", "Maiden"? Pardon Moi, but when did the Native American enter the realm of Wizards, Fairies, Super-heroes, Goblins, or Ghouls? When did it become ok to reduce the diversity, language, and culture of nearly 500 different Indigenous tribes into a tacky "costume" of cheap suede, colored feathers, plastic beads, and fringe? Who decided that the history, identity, and lineage of Native Americans could be easily put on and taken off like greasy Halloween face paint? Who was the Native gal or guy, who gave the American people the "Okay" to do this? Who signed the treaty to allow such mockery to run a muck?

Any intelligent person knows that:

Native Americans are REAL people that don't live in Never Never Land, Fantastica, or some stupid Indian Cupboard. Need Proof? Well I am your proof! I live in Apartment in Arizona. Yep! I even wear shoes! Shocker!
The "Noble/Bloodthirsty Savage" stereotypical imagery is a myth.
There are many Native American tribes, which have their own distinct language, culture, and very importantly traditional attire (NOTE: I did not say costume). There are more than 500 Native American tribes in the US, and NONE of them traditional wear a skimpy faux suede fringey number with plastic neon beads, feathers, and a cheap geometric ribbon headband.
Also, the concept of Native American royalty (princess, kings, queens) is a complete bullocks! It was a European concept to simplify the complex social stratification of many Native American tribes. So will someone please yank Pocahontas off the Disney Princess list!? Thank you!

My point is that any intelligent individual knows that Natives (modern or historic) don't look, dress, (or act) anything like the stereotypical Indian get-ups at your local costume store or Wal-mart. Any perceptive person would either roll their eyes at the gross insult to Native American culture, or laugh at the tasteless, "hot mess" of a costume that supposedly passes as some generic Native American attire.

Yet, every year...every freaking Halloween (and Thanksgiving) I see "pale face" men and women prancing around in some stupid "Indian" costume, and behaving like some feral jungle book child; Beating their chest, doing the "Injun" war whoop, and spouting phases like: "How!", "Smoke-um-my-Peace-Pipe", and "What made the red man red?"

As a Native American, I am utterly appalled to see my culture lump together into some stereotypical Pan-Injun image, shipped and sold for the American masses to mimic my people and culture. I find it insulting my identity and heritage as a Native American, as a Navajo, is as easily acquired with few bucks, some nasty grease paint, and a loin cloth. That history of genocide and forced assimilation of Native Americans people in the US is not even an accessory to these supposed costumes! It's not important or even a consideration!!! What a privilege it must be to take the imagery of a people or culture without the social or historical baggage that goes along with it!

I hope you can understand my frustration; that the race and ethnicity of a group of people is not an acceptable Halloween costume!? No one in their right mind would dress up in black face to portray an African-American for Halloween! Hell no! Unless your blatantly racist, or damn ignorant about racial relations in the United States. I mean Michael Scott from the Office wouldn't do that, and that Mo-fo is the most ignorant White-American besides Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.

So Damn it! LISTEN UP! Halloween Lovers! I'm taking a stand (no DWW jokes!), and I hope that this blog encourages many of you to say:"NO" to wearing Native American costumes for Halloween. I hope you encourage your friends who are thinking about it to also do the same (Hell, spread this blog around!). If I see anyone in some stupid Indian costume (this goes for you Natives as well who think its funny to dress up like this!) I am going to go PETA on your ass with a bucket of paint! BEWARE! This also applies to all REAL Natives and the phony Natives who claim Native lineage! It's not cool! There is nothing more pathetic than a Native wearing an Injun costume! By doing so, you insult our culture, ancestors, and history, and are nothing more than the token Injun for the American guilty conscience.

Great! So back away from the obviously racist "Native American Costume" this year, and go with something less offensive and less gaudy. If you are an intelligent person already, then spread the word against such Halloween offenses. Its not cool to dress up like a Native American, or a person of Asian, Mexican, African decent or any other ethnic group ever lived for that matter!

Your friends will thank you, I will thank you, and you will be saving yourself from the ridicule or snickering from intelligent individuals and/or REAL Native Americans that see your racist costume as an insult to a group of people that inhabited this country before Columbus was even born!

If you are still clueless to why you should wear a "Injun" costume, please read this:
Question: Should I dress up like a Native American Indian for Halloween?

Thank you,

A REAL Navajo Native American

PMS. It's been two years since I wrote this blog and I am very happy to see that I was able to sway a few people from donning the Stereotypical Indian costume. I don't reply to comments below, but I think I will over the next few days in a separate blog posting, because some of the comments are down right insulting.

Halloween Hall of Shame!! Boooo!

Can I get a Whoop Whoop!? NO!

I think she is ready for some line dancing not a Pow-wow. UGLY!

Let me guess...White Witch from Narnia..in heels?

One little, Two little, Three little insults...

A Native American from Ancient Egypt

No comment..

Poke-your-han-tus

Pale face Red face insult