On Tuesday, I sent my local YMCA this letter asking them to remove an offensive picture in their fitness facility and to reconsider the overt cultural appropriation and racism in their “Indian Guides” programming, which I initially wrote about here.
I was pleasantly surprised that less than an hour after I sent the email, I received a response directly from the Executive Director:
Adrienne,
Thank you for writing this letter and bringing these most critical things to my attention. Please know I apologize on behalf of the Y and will do everything to ensure this is changed.
I am meeting with my staff tomorrow and will have a response to you then regarding the action we are taking.
Again, thank you.
That was Tuesday afternoon, so I’m still waiting to hear what was decided at the staff meeting, but a good first step, don’t you think?
Pretty cool.
UPDATE 6/10: The Associate Executive Director of the Y emailed me to ask if we could set up an in-person meeting:
Adrienne,
I am the Associate Executive Director for the [name] YMCA. My supervisor, [Executive Director] has shared with me your letter and we have met to discuss the issues in which you have brought to our attention. I have also shared your letter with [employee] who directly supervises the program.
We would like to set up a time to meet with you to further discuss and work together to accomplish a positive outcome. If you are open to meeting with us, please let me know your availability next week.
Thank you for your time,
Unfortunately, I’m in Boston, so I’m hoping we can set up a phone call to talk more. What I’m worried about is that they’ll ask for a compromise, because it doesn’t seem feasible to change the entire culture of a program like the Indian Guides overnight–but I don’t know what a middle ground would look like, or if it’s even possible. I’d welcome any ideas.
EDIT 6/10: There is some ongoing debate about the merits of the “Let’s Move” campaign’s focus on childhood obesity (ie fat-shaming) while ignoring larger contextual issues, and I wanted to present that side of the campaign as well. This post breaks it down (scroll until after the DWTS clip). I just liked the video because it featured Natives, Sam Bradford, and the fact Indians weren’t being ignored in a national program (though we’re being recognized for our high rates of obesity and diabetes…). Thanks to the commenters for clueing me in.
Next,a Dartmouth undergrad made this short video featuring Native students, powwow footage, and sound clips discussing the history of Indians at Dartmouth:
Then, on the more creative front, this poem by Ryan RedCorn and Dallas Goldtooth (of the 1491’s) in response to Osama Bin Ladin’s code name is absolutely beautiful:
Finally, Matt Leach Sterlin Harjo made this awesome mini-documentary about Michael Loman, also known as “Indian Elvis”:
Enjoy! Feel free to share any other inspiring clips in the comments.
On Friday, I wrote about the Indian Guides program at my local YMCA. I decided to write a letter to the director of the YMCA, as a community member and former employee–telling them exactly why the practices employed by the Indian Guides are so hurtful. I’m posting it here, but I also sent it directly to the Executive Director. (If some of it sounds familiar, it’s because I paraphrased myself)
Dear Ms. [Director],
My name is Adrienne K., I am a life-long [city name] resident, and former camper and employee at [this YMCA]’s summer programs. I am also a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and care very deeply about issues concerning Native peoples. Recently, I went to use the fitness facilities at the Y, and came across the picture I’ve attached to this email, of a mother and child wearing feathered warbonnets. I was extremely taken aback, because I knew that in 2001 the national YMCA had reformed the “Indian Guides” program and done away with the Indian theme out of respect for Native American communities. I know that your YMCA is dedicated to serving the community and does fantastic work, but I was very hurt by the image, and respectfully request that it be removed, for several reasons.
First, wearing headdresses promotes the continuing stereotyping of Native peoples. The image of a warbonnet and warpaint wearing Indian is one that has been created and perpetuated by Hollywood and only bears minimal resemblance to traditional regalia of Plains tribes. It furthers the stereotype that Native peoples are one monolithic culture, when in fact there are 500+ distinct tribes, each with their own cultures. It also places Native people in the historic past, as something that cannot exist in modern society. We don’t walk around in ceremonial attire every day, but we still exist and are still Native.
In addition, headdresses, feathers, and warbonnets have deep spiritual significance. The wearing of feathers and warbonnets in Native communities is not a fashion choice. Eagle feathers are presented as symbols of honor and respect and have to be earned. Some communities give them to children when they become adults through special ceremonies, others present the feathers as a way of commemorating an act or event of deep significance. Warbonnets especially are reserved for respected figures of power.
I see the wearing of a fake feathered headdress as akin to dressing in blackface—it is the donning of a costume of a racial group that is not one’s own, based off of stereotyped caricatures that allow for the continuing subordination of Indian people.
I know that this mother and child would probably say that they are “honoring” Native Americans or “paying respect” to Indians, but the reality is that most Native people find no honor or respect in taking sacred objects out of context with no regard to their significance or origins.
I am further saddened, because in a minimal internet search, I found an abundance of evidence that [this] YMCA groups have not ceased in the use of the Indian theme at all. I would encourage you to watch this clip of a 2007 guide encampment, and try to picture how it feels, as a Native person, to watch your culture being misrepresented, mocked, and distorted beyond recognition.
There are so many aspects of this video that are deeply rooted in stereotypes and racism, including the use of the terms “medicine man” and “chief” to apply to leaders, but the use of our tribal names is especially disheartening. The names of our communities are not just labels that can be applied to a recreational group; they are representations of our living cultures, our histories, and our contemporary nations–not something that should be able to be manipulated to fulfill Indian fantasies. The fact that all of these “tribes” are represented by the same plains “costume” is also very upsetting.
In addition, I take issue with the process of giving “Indian names” that the video highlights–traditional names are sacred, and in most communities only certain elders or community members can be entrusted to give out names. The reality is that very few traditional names follow the extremely stereotypical “adjective + animal” format that the guides seem to favor.
Your mission statement states that your YMCA is “dedicated to improving the quality of human life and to helping all people realize their fullest potential as children of God through development of the spirit, mind and body.” I know that the acts of the Indian Guides are not done with malicious intent, but as it stands, it feels like Native American people are not included in your concepts of “human life” and “all people”. The Indian Guides practices demote Native peoples to a sub-human status, something that can be reduced to a series of stereotypes and inaccurate representations. The reality is that there are 13 Indian reservations in San Diego County, meaning there are far more Native residents in our community than you realize, and these acts marginalize them from the very community in which they live.
The national YMCA released guidelines for the “responsible use of the Indian theme”—but it is clear that these groups have not reviewed them or taken them to heart. The guidelines make a number of very good points, but it is still my opinion that there is no way to “responsibly” play Indian. The “guides” program is supposed to be about parent-child bonding, and I feel the program would actually be stronger if it weren’t rooted in racist acts.
I urge you to remove the photo in question, but it is also apparent that the entire guides program needs a substantive review. I encourage you to deeply think about the consequences of allowing this type of programming to continue.
I also write a blog called “Native Appropriations” where I discuss issues of cultural appropriation and representations of Native people. I have written about the guides program here, and will also be posting a copy of this letter. Please feel free to read other postings to gain an understanding of how pervasive these issues are and their continued effects on Native peoples.
A few weeks ago I was home visiting my family in southern California, and went to my local YMCA with my sister to work out. They’ve done a lot of remodeling since the last time I was there, including adding oversize (like 4 feet tall) photos on the walls of staff, kids, members, and events. Most of them are nice, but as I was leaving, I stopped in my tracks at the photo above.
I don’t know if all readers are familiar with the YMCA “Indian Guides” program (check out this facebook note for a history), but the basic premise is that it is/was a Father/Son bonding activity. Kinda like boy scouts, but with way more cultural appropriation. There is/was also “Indian Princesses” (father/daughter), “Indian Maidens” (mother/daughter), and “Indian Braves” (mother/son). But don’t worry, it was started with the help of “Joe Friday,” an Ojibwe, so that makes it all ok, right?
Typing this out, I can’t believe how outwardly offensive it seems from the get-go, but this was SO normalized in my hometown growing up, that I didn’t even begin to question it until I moved away.
I say is/was because technically, in the early 2000’s, the “Indian” part was dropped and the organization released guidelines for the “respectful use of the Indian theme.” My research online is showing that this really meant nothing, and the picture shows that even YMCA’s are still supporting the “Indian theme”.You’ll see in a minute exactly what this entails.
In my community, our annual “Holiday Parade” is a big deal. We used to joke that we couldn’t believe there was anyone left to watch the parade, since every single kid in town was marching in it. Girl and Boy Scout troops, dance classes (I marched when I was about 4 with my “Robin’s Rhythm and Moves” class), local dog rescues, 4H, you name it. And a huge portion of the parade growing up was dedicated to Indian Guides.
The whole scene would make adult Adrienne K. cry, but at the time I just remember feeling a little confused and annoyed by how into it all the “tribes” got. We’re talking banners proclaiming their “tribe”–“Arapaho,” “Mohawk,” “Blackfeet,” dads (and moms) in full, floor length headdresses, everyone in war paint, fringed vests covered in “Indian designs” and dangling plastic pony beads. The leaders were called “chiefs” and I remember everyone always shouting “Hoya hoya!”–their “Indian Greeting.”
Of course, every tribe, regardless of region, was represented by the horrific buckskin and feathers routine.
Don’t believe me? Watch this video. Take a deep breath, I almost started screaming in my office. This was taken in 2007, at an Indian Guides encampment put on by my YMCA.
The video starts with a “roll call” of all of the “tribes” in attendance–by an MC in a full “buckskin” and a headdress. The “tribes” include real tribal names, like “Sioux,” “Yurok,” or even “Bella Coola,” mixed with stereotypical Indian names like “soaring eagle” and “wolf.” They each have a “cheer”–wait until you get to the “Bella Coola” (a small First Nations community): “Bella Coola, makes us hula!!” Then they pass the mic to the “Chief” who calls up a boy from the “Soaring Eagle” tribe, asking him “what’s your Indian name?”. As the boy hesitates, the crowd jokes that his name is “Sticky Bun!!”, but he answers with “Little Surfing Fox.” It’s his birthday, so the whole crowd sings Happy Birthday, accented with “Hoya Hoya!”, of course.
This video is one of those things that is so blatantly racist, the stereotypes are so deep and egregious, that I don’t even know what to say. The part that gets me is that this was in 2007. This was not in the 70’s. This is after Indian Guides supposedly “reformed” their ways. The scary part is these are my neighbors, my mom’s students, the folks I see at the grocery store and at the beach. I am a member of a community that supports this.
So when I’m walking around wearing my powwow shirts, or driving my car with a big feather sticker on the back, my neighbors are conjuring images of these “tribes.” That scares me.
People often argue that there is nothing wrong with playing Indian–that dressing up or donning headdresses does no harm. I find it hard to imagine that someone could watch that video and think that a young Native child encountering that scene would walk away unscathed.
I should add that I have been very involved with the YMCA through the years, I was a summer camp counselor at this very YMCA the summer after my freshman year of college, and I have been a camper, counselor, and director over the past 10 years at one of their camps on Catalina Island (not the one in the video above). That’s why this hurts me even more to know that all along I’ve been supporting an organization that condones racism against Native peoples.
I’m going to write them a heartfelt letter with the point by point breakdown, I’ll definitely post it here when I’m done.
American Indians were granted US citizenship. Ironic, right? The original peoples of this land were among the last to be granted citizenship (and along with it, voting rights). While the declaration was signed into law on June 2, 1924 by President Coolidge, most Natives were not given full suffrage until the late 1940’s, due to individual state laws.
The issue of US citizenship is actually one that still resonates in Indian communities today. American Indians have extremely high rates of military service (12,000 Natives served in WWI, before they were technically even citizens!), and many Natives are very proud to serve, protect, and be citizens of the United States. On the other side of the argument, some tribes believe that the automatic granting of US citizenship undermines tribal sovereignty. I have friends who actually refuse to vote in US elections because they see it as voting in an election of a foreign country.
This quote is all around the internet, but only attributed to “one Native American” (really? you couldn’t have recorded his or her name?), but I think that the message is clear:
“United States citizenship was just another way of absorbing us and destroying our customs and our government. How could these Europeans come over and tell us we were citizens in our country? We had our own citizenship. By its [the Citizenship Act of 1924] provisions all Indians were automatically made United States citizens whether they wanted to be so or not. This was a violation of our sovereignty. Our citizenship was in our nations.”
I’m even struggling with the language a bit as I’m writing this post–words like “granted” and “given” are words that I always avoid when talking about Indian sovereignty. We weren’t “given” sovereignty or “rights”, it was just that our sovereignty and rights that we always had were finally recognized by the US. They didn’t “give” us anything.
So it’s weird to type that Indians were “granted” or “given” US citizenship–what does that really even mean? To me, it again puts power in the hands of the US and takes it away from Natives, like that Indians didn’t exist in the US until they were formally “granted” citizenship by a foreign power. But I can’t really think of a better way to word it.
So whether you believe that the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 was a good thing, a necessary thing, or a bad thing, take a moment to reflect on the fact that it was in the very recent past that American Indians weren’t even considered full citizens of the land that had been theirs since time immemorial. I still find it hard to wrap my head around–my Grandma was born in 1927, had she been born a few years earlier, she would not have been born a US citizen.
I’m currently in NorCal (I was presenting at the NAISA conference in Sacramento–our Native Bloggers panel went really well, thanks for all your help!). I went to get a quick lunch in Palo Alto before I headed to the airport, and spotted this sign as I was walking down University Ave. Notice anything weird?
The local Lululemon store has a running club–cool. But today, Palo Alto High School (our favorite!) is hosting an Indian Run.
So what’s an “Indian Run,” you ask? It’s a conditioning exercise, where a group of runners jog single file at a steady pace, and then the last runner in line must sprint to the front of the line, taking the place of the first runner, and so on. There are videos on youtube if you need a visual.
My bootcamp class I took in San Francisco used to do these too, but my group graciously decided to rename them “last man sprints” when I pointed out how ridiculous the name was.
The internet has no consensus on the origins of the term, and I can’t really find anything about the exercise other than how it’s done, but I still find it kinda stupid. It has nothing to do with Indians. I think this one is a term that needs to be retired, much like sitting “Indian style” (just call it cross-legged!).
An Indian run is when a team (soccer, football, baseball, etc.) joggs in a single file line around a playing field field. It begins when the last person in line sprints to the front. When that person gets there, the next person at the end of the line sprints to the front of the line. This continues as the line jogs around the field. Very tiring.
Not sure if this is a racist term.
Yeah, pretty sure since it has no discernible origins in anything actually Native, we can deduce it’s based off of some stereotype, and therefore fairly racist.
Native writers, scholars, artists and activists are using a new venue to confront issues affecting our daily lives. Through blogs on appropriation, art, fashion, and education, these critics use their blogs to push the Native voice to the forefront and take institutions to task. By investigating the interstices between Native cultures, stereotypes, mass media, and academia, these authors make their research and observations accessible to a broader audience. They also cover holes in commercial/academic publishing and deal with issues at a faster pace than the timeline that it takes to publish a book, or even an academic article. Both Native and non-Native readers subscribe to these blogs and participate in a discussion that involves thinking critically about various topics that affect our daily lives, yet also have larger repercussions.
If you’re at the conference, definitely shoot me an email or tweet, I’d love to meet some of you! Our panel is slated for 8:00-9:45am on Saturday the 21st.
Now here’s the part where I unabashedly ask for your helpand bribe you:
I decided tonight that I would really like to incorporate some reader quotes or thoughts into the presentation, so if you’ve got a second, feel free to comment any thoughts about Native Appropriations, how you might have used it in school, or life, or wherever, your favorite posts, the ones that pissed you off the most, how you’d like the blog to improve, what you ate for breakfast, anything really–I just would like some more voices than my own in the presentation.
…and there’s a PRIZE! I’ll randomly select a commenter to win an Ours To Build On t-shirt (an awesome campaign I’m helping out with for the Cherokee Nation, and they sent me a bunch of fun goodies). Or maybe I’ll pick an anecdote I like best. Or maybe only one person will comment and you’ll get a shirt! omg! how fun!
Thanks in advance for your help and thoughts, this blog would be nowhere without you!
Last year about this time, I posted about some local high school girls who decided to dress up and play Indian at Stanford’s powwow. The post caused a huge ruckus, I ended up getting “legal threats” from the girls’ parents, and a lot of people hated me for a minute. But since the internet has a memory of about 2 weeks, if that, it blew over and everyone forgot. But being the person that I am, I’m stirring the pot again, and have a couple of offenders from this year’s powwow.
First we’ve got the guy above, all decked out in his floor length chicken feather headdress, warpaint, and a serape (equally opportunity appropriator–pulling in the south of the border Indigenous peoples). Spotted Friday night by a couple of the undergrads, and gladly posed for a picture with them.
Then this girl, taken on my cell phone, so much of the effect is lost. But she had multi-colored feathers in her hair and warpaint on her face, and right before I snapped the picture, was war whooping (hand over mouth, other hand in the air) to her friend across the way (who was also wearing feathers and paint). There were a couple more I spotted, especially out in the dance circle during inter-tribals (where everyone, including spectators, is invited to dance), including a guy wearing a poncho/serape with a cowboy hat, and beating a hand-drum, and another guy with an entire coyote or puma or something (very dead) draped over his back.
In the grand scheme of powwows, Stanford powwow tends to have a lower ratio of wannabes “liberally interpreting” Indianess (i.e. creating an image of what they think an Indian is based off things they read on the internet and supplies they can find at a craft shop) than some powwow’s I’ve been to, but it still makes me angry.
I still don’t know why people think it’s ok to don feathers and warpaint and come to a Native community cultural event. I still maintain that it would be exactly the same as donning blackface and wandering into a Black community event. These people are dressing up as a race other than their own, based off of egregious and racist stereotypes from hollywood and other forms of pop culture. All they have to do is look out in the powwow dance circle to see that they look nothing like “real” Indians. But the American narrative of “playing Indian” is so ingrained, people don’t seem to see it as taboo, the way blackface remains today.
The other big trend that everyone was sporting were these (really unattractive) feather hair-clips, which unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of, but they were kinda like this:
(if you really like it, you can buy it here for $9.50. Or you could go for a walk in the woods for the feathers and pick up some string and plastic beads and make it for less than a buck…if you like the look of dirty woodland feathers and cheap twine in your hair.)
The vendor booth of people who were selling them was overflowing the whole weekend. They came in a bunch of colors, and had more feathers and were (if you can believe it) more unattractive.
The feather clips don’t inherently bother me, much like these feather hair extensions that are all the rage right now don’t bother me as-is, but it’s the whole aesthetic that the powwow goers were buying into that bothers me. I can bet you anything that those people would not have been nearly as interested in the feather clips if they were at the Stanford Mall instead of the Stanford Powwow. They see it as a “safe” way of playing Indian–though most of them would say “oh, it was just pretty!”–I think it really runs a lot deeper than that.
So, clearly, the idea of dressing up as an Indian at a powwow is still alive and well. Excuse me, I think I’m going to go put on my blonde wig and pearls and go crash a WASP-y cocktail party. What? It doesn’t work that way? ::shakes fist:: Damn you, white privilege!!!
Spotted this on Pinterest, comes from a company in Omaha called Make Believe Clothing Co. Best part? it’s called the “Geronimo” shirt. Here, I wrote them a note, and re-designed their shirt for them:
Dear Make Believe Clothing Company,
You might need to sit down for this news. It might come as a shock. Guess what? American Indians are not “make believe.” There are real Indians alive today! Omg, I know, right? Your shirt seems to imply that we’re pretend or fantasy characters, so I thought I’d clear that up for you. When I first saw your shirt, I rolled my eyes and sighed really loud in the library. Like this. But then I decided that maybe you weren’t totally ignorant, and maybe you were trying to make some sort of social commentary about how this particular stereotyped image of a Native person is make believe and only bears minimal resemblance to the millions of Native peoples alive today, or even to Geronimo. Cause then that would be borderline cool! But you might need to make it a little more explicit. So I decided to help. Here’s my version of your shit shirt (typo, oops! lol!) :
My new obsession of the moment:“More Than Frybread”. From what I can tell from the trailer, it’s a mockumentary-style film that covers the “World Wide Frybread Association Arizona Chapter Frybread Championship.” It tells the story through following several of the finalists, who are all awesome characters. So far it reminds me a lot of the Christopher Guest movies, which are my fav, so I’m totally sold already. Check it out below:
Hope this helps you get through your Monday (or your finals…if you’re like me)! Can’t wait to see the finished film–the website says it’s coming out this summer.
