Native Appropriations

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.

Wado (thank you) for your time,
Adrienne K

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.