Take Back Columbus Day

In Columbus Day, Editorial, Indigenous Peoples Day, Yale Daily News by Adrienne K.October 11, 20104 Comments

(Yale Native students commemorating Indigenous Peoples Day. Photo source here)

AK Note: Repost from Yale Daily News, beautifully written editorial by Native student Michael Eagleman Honhongva. Article can be found here.

By Michael Eagleman Honhongva

Indigenous Peoples’ Day commemorates the resilience of indigenous peoples worldwide, throughout campaigns of exploitation, prejudice, and outright genocide. But this year, you might know it as something different: the 518th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ landing in San Salvador. Columbus Day glorifies a history of injustice and historical fallacy; Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a chance to reevaluate. Even Yale, a bastion of progressivism, only employs two American Indian professors among nearly 3,000 faculty members.

But rather than observe an anti-Columbus Day, we choose to remember our indigenous ancestors and their strength in the face of oppression, racism and hostility. The survival, adaptation, expansion and continuation of indigenous peoples are surprising given the catastrophic mortality rates, assimilationist policies and historical white-washing they have suffered. Still, indigenous peoples are thriving all over the world.

From the Ainu of Japan to the Maori of New Zealand, indigenous peoples constitute a considerable share of the world’s population. Their common characteristic is that they are marginal to the states that claim jurisdiction over them. However, the experiences of these people have also fostered resistance and eventual revitalization.

The need for a solution to the problems plaguing indigenous people in such areas as human rights, education and health has resulted in considerable progress — perhaps most important, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Unfortunately, the United States was one of four countries who voted against the declaration. Despite this setback, we still work to reveal historical truths and reverse the tide of ignorance.

No, Columbus’ voyage did not discover a new world and initiate American history. Rather, Columbus put two worlds into permanent contact, both with rich histories and cultures. The America of 1492 was not a wilderness inhabited by primitive peoples without complex civilizations and sophisticated systems of religious and scientific belief. And yes, people died after “discovery” — millions of them, from deadly pathogens, displacement policies and ruthless termination.

We cannot afford to trivialize or romanticize such a past. Certain events in history change forever our conception of who we are and how we see the world. Colonialism was one of them. The common historical practice of representing aboriginals as static relics, saved by the individualism and ambition of colonizers, is facile.

Today, Indigenous Peoples Day, is a day both to celebrate the resilience of indigenous peoples worldwide and to confront these distortions about the legacy of Christopher Columbus. It is a day to think about the land you stand upon and to consider those who inhabited it before you or your ancestors arrived. I hope students will reconsider celebrating one man, and instead, lend a thought to an oppressed, but hopeful people.

Though the stories of indigenous peoples are distinct, today our voices are united. As a collective of peoples, we celebrate our culture, our language, our songs and our lives. We recognize that our common histories and current realities may, ultimately, bind our fates together. Today we show that we are alive and we are strong.

Yale Daily News: Honhongva: Take Back Columbus Day

Reconsider Columbus Day

In 518 years of resistance, Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples Day by Adrienne K.October 11, 2010Leave a Comment

This is a fabulous PSA that was originally put together in 2009, entitled “Reconsider Columbus Day.” The project is associated with ReconsiderColumbusDay.org, which is another fabulous resource.

Video can be found on the site above, as well as here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il5hwpdJMcg

Debunking the Myths of Columbus Day

In Columbus Day, Columbus Sucks, Indigenous Peoples Day by Adrienne K.October 11, 2010Leave a Comment

(video can be found here)

This video, from Ian Clark Online, goes through all the myths and arguments in favor of Columbus, debunking each one in an entertaining and easy-to-understand video. Definitely a must watch.

Celebrating Indigenous Peoples, Not Columbus

In Columbus Day, Columbus Sucks, Indigenous Peoples Day by Adrienne K.October 11, 20101 Comment

All the banks near my house in Boston currently have signs on the door that say “Columbus Day is a National Holiday. This branch will be closed Monday October 12, 2010.” One even has a nice little picture of a boat. It makes me so angry every time I walk by, imagining all the kids in schools all over the US reciting the 1492 rhyme, learning about the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, and coloring in pictures like those on the banks. I hate that this narrative of “discovery” has been so ingrained into our collective American consciousness.

(my friend Jenny a couple years ago in front of the same bank)

I can wax eloquent about what this means for us as Native people, or what it says about our priorities as a Nation, but the bottom line is this: Columbus Day sucks. We’re celebrating a man who managed to “discover” a place that had already been inhabited by millions of people for thousands of years, who never actually set foot on the North American continent, who encouraged the raping and enslaving of Native peoples, and laid the groundwork for the ensuing centuries of imperialism and colonialism.

So basically, he didn’t “discover” anything. He didn’t “prove” the world was round. He was pretty dumb, actually. So why does Columbus get a National holiday?

Italian Americans have adopted the day as a holiday celebrating their heritage, and I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but Italians already have a whole MONTH of celebration. So why not use that time to celebrate some Italian-Americans or Italians who have done awesome things that have contributed to the betterment of society, rather than Columbus?

Today I’ve prepared a series of posts, linking to some great resources from around the internet–videos, articles, and political cartoons, that draw attention to the ridiculousness of this day and will hopefully stir some conversation and maybe even some debate about the meaning and power of this day.

So today, as you go about your lives, enjoying your day off, remember to stop and celebrate 518 years of resilience and resistance, instead of colonialism and genocide. Celebrate Indigenous Peoples, not Columbus.

Oh no, Khloe Kardashian.

In hipster headdress, Khloe Kardashian, twitter, warbonnet by Adrienne K.October 7, 20105 Comments

(source here)

Khloe Kardashian just posted this picture to her twitter, with the caption “I love playing dress up!”
If you can stomach it, read the comments. They’re already playing the “omg get over it stop being so sensitive it’s just a hat!” game.

This makes me sad. I like Khloe.

So if you still need to know why it’s wrong to dress up in a warbonnet:

But Why Can’t I Wear a Hipster Headdress?

I think this also drives home the point I’ve mentioned before of how Natives are often viewed as “fantasy characters”–something that you can dress up as, play pretend. Wizard, Princess, Indian. The problem is Natives exist, we are real, and putting Native people in the fantasy character category erases our current presence as actual human beings.

Here’s the link to the photo: http://twitpic.com/2vjzgc

and Khloe’s Twitter is here: http://twitter.com/KhloeKardashian

(Thanks Lanova!)

A Reminder of Why This Blog Exists: One Reader’s Experience

In indian mascots, stanford indian by Adrienne K.October 6, 20109 Comments

AK note: I wanted to share this email I received last week from a fellow Stanford alum, who let me know how this blog changed his thinking about Indian mascots and Indian issues. As might have been clear in my post about activist fatigue, it’s sometimes hard to keep fighting this battle day in and day out, but hearing from Ted (his email is printed with permission) gave me such a renewed sense of purpose and an excitement that there is space for change. Sometimes we all need a reminder.

Dear Adrienne,

I hope it is okay to write you directly at this email address, I don’t really have a question or a tip or anything, I just wanted to write and tell you what I’ve been thinking about for the past month or so and how you directly affected it.

It all started last month when I took my 12 year old daughter to a Stanford football game. A quick background, I was a Stanford faculty brat growing up on campus in the late 60’s and early ‘70’s. I went to the games as early as I can remember and continued going even after I graduated from Paly and moved to San Francisco to go to USF. So my memories, as a kid, were always of the Stanford Indians. I remember when the mascot was retired, I think I was 14 or so and while I always liked the mascot and “Chief Lightfoot”, I really didn’t care much either way on the issue. My dad told me that some students objected to the mascot and we had to respect their feelings. I always remembered the mascot fondly as a part of my childhood and never really gave much thought about why the mascot was retired.

So at the football game against Sacramento State last month I felt a wave of childhood nostalgia when I saw a tailgate party decked out top to bottom in the old mascot. My daughter wanted to know why the team wasn’t the “Indians” anymore, and not really knowing the history, I told her I wasn’t sure, but that I thought a small group of students in the politically active 70’s had it removed for not depicting the image of Native Americans appropriately. She asked about professional teams that still had mascots and I explained that businesses could make decisions about things that institutions, even private ones like Stanford, couldn’t. She didn’t think that was fair, and we tried to think of any other college examples, and came up with quite a few. We both kinda scratched our heads and shrugged our shoulders and went in to the stadium and enjoyed the game. I suppose I just chalked the whole issue up to some overly PC students raining on everyone’s parade.

After coming back home (we live in LA – ugh), I wanted to see if I could still buy a t-shirt with the old mascot on it so I Googled it and found a whole bunch of places where they were available. I also saw a link to your blog and thought I should see, from the other side’s (I wasn’t really aware there were “sides” until that moment) point of view, what the objection to the issue really was. (wasn’t really aware it was a big “issue” either!).

Before I go on, I should point out that I am the kind of person who doesn’t mind offending people as a general rule. I don’t really care what other people think about my personal views on things like religion or politics. I enjoy rubbing people the wrong way sometimes, especially if it can make them think for a second instead of just going along with the pack. I own t shirts like “Your Favorite Band Sucks”, “Are Your Cats Old Enough to Learn About Jesus?” even some with four letter words (but that’s about as far as I go, I mean I don’t ever really want to be offensive just for the sake of being offensive, offending-sure, offensive – no). Anyway, I was fully expecting to reject your argument with a shrug of my shoulders and a “screw ‘em if they can’t take a joke”.

But I couldn’t.

Partly because of your persuasive writing (I’m sure thanks in part to that awesome Stanford education!), partly because of the dialogue I read in the comments of many of your posts and perhaps just a little bit of a mutual distain for the current version of the hipster, I have really come to a very different point of view. Don’t get me wrong, I will never fall into the politically correct camp, but what I did come away from all of this is: haven’t we done enough to Native people, not only here, but everywhere, yet? I’m pretty sure we have. So childhood memory be damned, innocent as it may have been, I did buy a t shirt today… the t shirt from a link in your blog that says “Retire Indian Mascots”. And I’m gonna wear it when we go to the USC game next week (thank goodness it’s red and not gold!), and I’m looking forward to pissing off some alumni.

I’m certainly not looking for a pat on the back, I just wanted you to know that your writing has really changed the way at least one person thinks about this. This experience has caused our whole family to have a discussion of not only Native issues, but genocide and slavery in general and I think it is something we are better as a family for doing.

So I wanted to thank you Adrienne, for your insight, your bravery and your honesty.

Sincerely,

Ted

Earlier: Robin Lopez Wore a Stanford Indian Shirt, and 15,000 People Saw

(Thanks Ted!)

Project Runway’s "Squash Blossom" blouse

In fashion, Gretchen, Navajo, Project Runway, Squash Blossom, tribal fashion, Zuni by Adrienne K.October 5, 201010 Comments

I’ve been reading a few Project Runway recaps and watching some sporadic clips online (again with the no cable thing–you think I can get cable written off as a blogging expense?), and a couple of people sent me this image from last week’s episode.

From what I can gather, the contestants were asked to create a textile design, and then make an outfit centered around their creation. Gretchen chose the design above, which she called a “squash blossom” design, as a nod to her upbringing in the southwest.

So, it’s actually kinda pretty. I like it. But, it’s not a squash blossom design. This is a squash blossom design (or at least what I’ve always seen referred to as a Navajo squash blossom necklace):

(awesome picture, right? it’s from Life Mag’s archives, here)

Gretchen’s design is, to me anyway, a Zuni headdress/sunbonnet design:

I think this brings up a really interesting discussion. I think it is ok for designers to “draw inspiration” from Native cultures, but it can become very uncomfortable very quickly, and there is a fine line between what is acceptable and what could be considered otherizing, marginalizing, and cultural appropriation.

As it stands, Gretchen collapsed many distinct tribes throughout the southwest region into one “Southwest Native American Style”, and mis-characterized the design as a “squash blossom”. She didn’t attach an actual tribe to the design, which a quick google would have solved real quickly.

But also, like I said, I didn’t see the episode, so let me know if I’m giving her an unreasonably hard time.

So, if Gretchen had said “my design is a design taken from the Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico, it is a traditional headdress or sun bonnet design, and is often used on jewelry pieces by pueblo artisans…” or something of the sort, would it have been better? I’m not sure.

Where do we draw the line of inspiration and appropriation? Can “inspiration” be done in a way that is positive for the (almost always) marginalized communities that the designs or styles are taken from?

These are things I grapple with all the time as images come through my inbox…and I’m still not sure I have an easy answer.

Thoughts?

UPDATE: apparently Gretchen DID call it a “sunbonnet” design, and the “squash blossom” came from the bloggers who apparently don’t pay attention to the actual episode they are recapping. From my friend A.:

“Although I don’t pretend to speak for the propriety of Gretchen’s use of the sun bonnet pattern, I watched the episode, and she did say she was inspired by her mom’s sun bonnet jewelry (not squash blossom), with multiple references to having grown up “in the southwest.” The whole episode is available for viewing on mylifetime.com (it was an awesome episode, although not because of Gretchen).”

So thanks for filling me in!

(Thanks Maria!)

Mid-Week Motivation: Sherman Alexie’s "On the Amtrak from Boston to NYC"

In activist fatigue, identity, mid-week motivation, poetry, sherman alexie by Adrienne K.September 22, 20106 Comments

On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City

The white woman across the aisle from me says ‘Look,
look at all the history, that house
on the hill there is over two hundred years old, ‘
as she points out the window past me

into what she has been taught. I have learned
little more about American history during my few days
back East than what I expected and far less
of what we should all know of the tribal stories

whose architecture is 15,000 years older
than the corners of the house that sits
museumed on the hill. ‘Walden Pond, ‘
the woman on the train asks, ‘Did you see Walden Pond? ‘

and I don’t have a cruel enough heart to break
her own by telling her there are five Walden Ponds
on my little reservation out West
and at least a hundred more surrounding Spokane,

the city I pretended to call my home. ‘Listen, ‘
I could have told her. ‘I don’t give a shit
about Walden. I know the Indians were living stories
around that pond before Walden’s grandparents were born

and before his grandparents’ grandparents were born.
I’m tired of hearing about Don-fucking-Henley saving it, too,
because that’s redundant. If Don Henley’s brothers and sisters
and mothers and father hadn’t come here in the first place

then nothing would need to be saved.’
But I didn’t say a word to the woman about Walden
Pond because she smiled so much and seemed delighted
that I thought to bring her an orange juice

back from the food car. I respect elders
of every color. All I really did was eat
my tasteless sandwich, drink my Diet Pepsi
and nod my head whenever the woman pointed out

another little piece of her country’s history
while I, as all Indians have done
since this war began, made plans
for what I would do and say the next time

somebody from the enemy thought I was one of their own.

–Sherman Alexie

(Poem found here)

AK thoughts: Bree posted this in the comments on my post yesterday on activist fatigue and daily interactions, and I was so taken aback by the relevance and power. Especially since I live in Boston, and I deal with the “there is so much history here!” comments constantly. I do have mixed feelings about Sherman Alexie sometimes, but then there are moments of clarity and realness in his work, like this poem, that remind me why I loved his pieces in the first place. So, I found strength in knowing that even the arguably best know Native author out there struggles and deals with these feelings, just like me.

(Thanks so much Bree!)

Daily Encounters and Activist Fatigue: The Girl with the Headdress Shirt

In activism, hipster headdress, social justice, urban outfitters by Adrienne K.September 21, 201024 Comments

Yesterday morning I walked into my 7:15 am “Total Body Workout” class at the gym, laughing and joking with my friend. As I turned to get my hand weights and mat, my gaze fell upon a girl in the class…wearing this shirt.

I sighed and wrinkled my nose, but turned back to my friend to continue our conversation. A few minutes before class started, my friend whispered “Did you see her shirt?! Wasn’t that on your blog?” I nodded in response.

As class went on, in between sweating through sit ups and lunges, I kept catching her reflection in the mirror behind me. Each time sent a twinge through my stomach, a quick moment of discomfort and unease. I wanted to say something. I wanted to tell her how I was feeling. But the problem was, even in rehearsals in my head, I couldn’t think of how to go about talking to her about the shirt.

In the grand scheme of images on this blog, this particular shirt isn’t that bad. I mean, I can easily sit here and tear it apart–how it represents a stereotype, how the cartoon-izing (I think I just made that word up) of the headdress takes away from it’s sacredness and power, commodifying it and making it into a mass consumer good, how the blank, empty space where a head/face should be is representative of decontextualizing the headdress and separating it from the people and places where it belongs…but anyway, it’s not an image of an Indian holding aloft a beer bong, or a severed Indian head, or any number of other blatantly racist images. She wasn’t wearing a headdress. She was wearing a shirt that she probably bought at Urban Outfitters without a second thought.

But, as I’ve talked about so many times before, these seemingly benign images have just as much power to create and perpetuate negative stereotypes as the blatantly racist ones. Because of all these images she’s seen and encountered in her life, she probably never would have thought that the dark haired girl struggling with push ups in front of her was a Native person who might take offense to her shirt.

So, you’re probably wondering, what did I say? What did I do?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Even I, who day after day on this blog can spout the reasons why continued cultural appropriation and misrepresentations of our communities are wrong and harmful, couldn’t find the right words to tell an undergrad why her shirt is hurtful to me.

Not that I’m always silent. I once made a Harvard student in an Indian costume at a local pizza place almost cry when I confronted him, and another time at a football tailgate I physically ripped a headdress off a huge guy’s head and stomped on it in the mud, after he wouldn’t take it off when I asked nicely (That technique is NOT recommended).

But it’s often the daily encounters, the seemingly minor interactions, images, and subtle messages that give me pause. Do I call out every classmate that substitutes the word “powwow” for “meeting”? Do I rip down every indie band poster advertising their latest gig with an image of an Indian? Do I tell the girl in the headdress shirt at my gym class that her shirt hurts me?

Some days I do, some days I don’t–or I can’t, or I won’t–it’s a combination. Because this work gets tiring. It’s a never ending battle, and some days I’m too tired to fight.

My friend’s solution? She thinks I should make up business cards with my blog address on it, so I can just hand one to the offender and say something like “I think you should check out this blog, it might give you a reason to rethink your shirt choice.”

So I’m curious–since I don’t purport to have all the answers, I’ll turn it over to you, readers. Do you have any techniques for dealing with these daily interactions? Do you have a way of approaching someone that cuts defensiveness and allows for your voice to be heard? Stories of encounters with hipster headdresses?

I do have a few techniques I fall back on, but I think it’s time we have a step-by-step “how to” guide for dealing with these incidents. So let’s generate some thoughts, and I’ll compile it all together.

Next time, Girl with the Headdress Shirt, I’ll be ready.

Page 22 of 35
←
1
...
21
22
23
...
35
→