Bonus Round: All the Awesome Tips in My Inbox

In cage the elephant, fashion, link roundup, little marc jacobs, nelly furtado, NERD, shrinky dinks, tipi by Adrienne K.6 Comments

(screen shot from the new N.E.R.D. and Nelly Furtado video)

Welcome to a new Friday feature, where I round-up all the awesome tips I get in my inbox, but don’t have a chance to write full posts about.

Consider it a work-in-progress (I still need a name for it–ideas? let me know!). If anything in here strikes your fancy, and you’d like me to write more about it, post in the comments. Tips with highest number of “votes” will get a full write up!

Ready? Here we go…

  • Actress Erin Cummings has an image of her dressed in a headdress as her Twitter background, and when contacted about it, said the CBS producers liked it and approved it.
  • The Little Marc Jacobs Store in Manhattan uses a Tipi in its window display
  • Taylor Lautner, aka Jacob Black in the Twilight movies, comes to the shocking realization that Natives are just like everyone else! They hang out! They play basketball! Shocking!!
  • Zimbio has an image of Izia (a model)  and fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac at the launch of the new clothing line in Paris, France. Izia is wearing a full warbonnet and feathered dress.
  • Shrinky Dinks (yes they’re still around) is selling a “Wild West Party Pack“–i.e. Cowboys and Indians. Interestingly, the Indians have a range of skin tones, and are shown doing the “modern” activities, but also are all wearing feathers and doing stereotypical activities as well (peace pipes, tom toms, canoeing, etc)

I have more, but I thought this was a good start! Keep the tips coming, and thanks to everyone who contributed.

(Thanks Lici, Peggy, Sarah, Tanis, Liz, Katie, Laurie, Christina, Kannon, Denise, Ben, Mom, Mar, and Lauren)

Batman and Superman as Indian Chiefs?

In Batman, Batman Indian Chief, Comics, headdress, indian headdress, Superman by Adrienne K.2 Comments

Holy Headdress Batman! (omg I’m so creative I know).

Reader Brianna sent over this image of Batman, in a headdress, punching what appears to be an Indian (POW!). She didn’t know the context, but a little googling this morning led me to this blog, with more images of Batman, plus other superheros, all dressed up in racial drag: (all images courtesy of Everyday is Like Wednesday)

That’s the cover of the issue that the first image came from. Then there’s Superman:

And Captain Marvel:

and even Rex the Wonder Dog:

Everyday is Like Wednesday offers a plot synopsis of the Batman comic, filling in the gaps to demonstrate just how Batman ended up dressed like a stereotypical Plains Chief. Definitely head over for a read. Here’s a screen shot of the comic:

 (click to make it bigger and readable)

The main plot point is that Batman must disguise himself as an Indian in order to fight the bad guy. Awesome?

These were released in the 1950’s, so back at the height of Westerns and an American fascination with Cowboys and Indians, so I’m not surprised that the trend bled into the comic book realm. I’d love to see the full comics, I’m really curious to see the full portrayals of the Native people. 

For more: Everyday is like Wednesday: Chief-Man-of-the-Bats

(Thanks Brianna!)

"The Researchers Aren’t Taking Sides", But the AP Might Be

In archaeology, mashantucket pequot, Pequot war by Adrienne K.4 Comments

(image via Salon)

Welcome to guest blogger Kaeleigh H., who is a student at Indiana University in the Archaeology and Social Context Program. She sent this post over as a tip, but I thought it was so awesome I’d just go ahead and publish it. Want to see your writing on Native Appropriations? Just send me an email!

AK note: This summer, residents of the wealthy suburban  community of Mystic, Connecticut are playing host to researchers armed with metal detectors and shovels, as they scour the manicured lawns and tidy flowerbeds looking artifacts and remnants of the Pequot War, a bloody battle that took place in the mid 1600’s. The AP decided to cover the story, and Kaeleigh gives us her take on the language choices made by the reporter throughout: 

Archaeological surveys and excavations are taking place in Mystic, Connecticut on the site of a battle of the Pequot War. Members of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe and the Eastern Pequot tribe are taking part in the project, which is the joint venture of Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center at Foxwoods and the University of Connecticut.

It sounds like a good collaborative, community-based project, but the following statement from the article about the battle and the archaeological work being done on the site is where it gets problematic:

“Historians are split to this day on whether the Pequots were victims of cruel English settlers who wanted their land — or brought the attack on themselves by raiding a settlement a month earlier in Wethersfield, killing nine people and carrying off two girls. The researchers in Mystic aren’t taking sides.”

They “aren’t taking sides,” sure. This statement completely avoids any discussion of what right the English settlers had to be there in the first place. Oh, and what the author means by “the attack” is “the massacre of 400-700 Pequot people (mostly women, children, and the elderly, according to Wikipedia) and the enslavement of any survivors.”

The horrible question of “But did they deserve it?” implies that the Pequots’ killing of nine people and kidnapping of two in order to defend themselves from further hostile advances by the English is the same as the English settlers taking Pequot land and then killing and enslaving several hundred Pequot people, many of whom may not have been in a position to defend themselves during the battle. The very question/comparison shows me that they’ve already “taken sides”. In this limited and dualistic interpretation of events, it’s heads the settlers win, tails the Pequot lose. On one hand the Pequot are just victims of the English, and on the other they’re murderers and kidnappers who “brought the attack on themselves.”

And then there’s this:

“Some homeowners even worried that the wealthy Mashantucket Pequots could use the archaeology project as a way to take their property. McBride says convincing the landowners that the Pequots can’t do so has been one of his biggest challenges.”

Given the fact that archaeology was (and sometimes still is) a tool of colonization in North America–part of the legacy of widespread violence committed by western settlers against Native peoples in attempts to control them and their resources–it’s pretty ironic that the area homeowners are worried that the Pequot could use this project as a means of “taking their property”.

Obviously they see this as a real danger and had to be convinced that should they participate, the project’s findings wouldn’t negatively affect their lives in any way. This attitude is really troubling to me, because it seems that local people are very aware of the massacre and know the story of it, but archaeological “evidence” would somehow make it more real to them…real enough that it might change their lives. By denying the archaeologists permission to dig up the “evidence,” area residents are thinking that they’ll somehow be better able to dismiss the realities of the massacre and hang onto their own present-day reality, which involves living on Pequot land and not having to think too much (as one resident said in the beginning of the article) about the battle that took place there.

Notice also that the Pequot are referred to in the article as “powerful” and “aggressive” (in the past) and “wealthy” (in the present), the latter descriptor being a result of the “phenomenal success” of their casino, which annoys everybody else in the area because of all the extra traffic it brings. The last quote I used even kind of portrays the Mashantucket Pequot as some kind of greedy corporation out to get area residents (that might be a slight exaggeration, but it definitely wasn’t a positive tone).

I don’t mean to be overly negative about the article; I just wanted to point out and discuss some of the problematic attitudes I feel are represented within it. I think the project itself sounds really good, and I believe archaeology can be a really powerful and transformative force when communities are willing to collaborate, listen, learn, compromise, and respect one another. I hope that the archaeological crew will address some of the issues that area residents are bringing up.

AK note: Additionally, the “wealthy” Mashantucket  Pequot is actually a misnomer, as the tribe has been going through a ton of financial trouble as of late. The tribe is facing the repayment of a $700 million dollar loan, and restructuring over 2 billion dollars in debt. In addition, tribal members, as of August, will no longer be receiving “per capita” payments (individual payouts from casino earnings).  They are not the all-powerful rich casino tribe the article paints them to be.

(Thanks Kaeleigh!)

The Best Native Films (by or about Indigenous Peoples)

In best indigenous films, best Native American films, Native movies by Adrienne K.17 Comments

After my Dances with Wolves post, I held an informal poll over on the Native Appropriations Facebook page (are you a fan? you should be!) of the best Native films. I think the resulting list is a nice mix of documentary, comedy, and drama, and brings in some international perspectives as well. Let me know what you think. Here, in no particular order, are the films recommended by Facebook readers, with links, director, and year!

    I realize that some of these are made for TV movies, some are film festival picks, and some are just plain hard to track down. But try checking libraries, film institutes, etc. If anyone has resources, ways to get a hold of any of these films, or has any to add to the list, please put links in the comments.

    DISCLAIMER: I haven’t seen all of these films, so I can’t vouch for the whole list, but I trust my readers!

    Native-themed Banksy Street Art in San Francisco

    In apache skateboards, banksy, Native art, street art by Adrienne K.3 Comments

    (Click to make it grande, source here)

    I’m a huge fan of the street art movement, I love art that incorporates social commentary and appears in unexpected forms and places. UK artist Banksy is arguably the leader of the movement, with his pieces appearing all over the world, in galleries and sold-out shows, but also on everything from nondescript alleys to the wall between Gaza/the west bank and Jerusalem.

    I love the image above, from the Mission district in San Francisco, playing with the whole immigration debate. I like when artist’s juxtapose historic and modern, I think it calls into question some of the preconceived notions the public holds about Native peoples.


    Similarly, though not exactly the same, I really like the work of Apache Skateboards‘ founder Douglas Miles, because (clearly) I love anything that subverts stereotypes and allows Natives to exist as contemporary beings, instead of being situated in the pepetual past. Miles’ bio describes his art as:

    “Graphic imagery of Apache warriors and contemporary “Rez” portraits brings a Native aesthetic and sensibility to the skateboard culture. The Apache skateboards break through a seemingly closed mainstream boundary, reasserting and affirming Indian youth’s presence in the mainstream culture of today.”

    Love it. “…reasserting and affirming Indian youth’s presence in the mainstream culture of today.” Miles is also active in engaging Native youth in art and the art making process, which is even better.

    Here are some of his pieces:

    All images can be found on the Apache Skateboards website.

    For those of you interested in the Street Art Movement, I saw Banksy’s awesome documentary last week called “Exit Through the Gift Shop” about street art and the emergence of controversial artist “Mr. Brainwash”–a would-be filmmaker and friend of Banksy/Shepard Fairey/etc turned artist. Really calls into question the art world and the strange boundaries we as a society draw around what is deemed “art.” Definitely recommend it!

    If anyone has any other cool Native street art, send it over!

    Earlier:

    Masking Tape and Markers=Beautiful Native Street Art

    “I bead contemporary Native life”: The Art of Teri Greeves  

    Random Appropriation of the Day! (Eagle Medicine Woman Ball-Jointed Doll)

    In dolls, random appropriation, religious appropriation by Adrienne K.7 Comments

    Reader Dawn spotted this beauty through a Facebook ad, and just like our other fabulous Facebook find (the “Spirit Guides” tomahawk), it comes from the company “Collectibles Today.” Ready for the description?

    “With her Medicine Wheel and her eagle spirit guide, she has the power to bring protection and healing to her people. The Eagle Medicine Woman alone can unlock the secret of the majestic bird’s great strength. Now you can experience the deep spiritual meaning and stunning beauty of her essence with this collectible ball-jointed doll, available only from The Ashton-Drake Galleries. 13 individual ball joints bring this masterwork doll to life in endless posing options.

    Crafted in collector-quality vinyl, this poseable doll wears a beautiful, exclusively designed outfit showcasing thrilling full-color art of her eagle spirit guide in flight. Her custom ensemble is further lavished with beaded accents, graceful fringe, an authentic headdress and matching boots. She even comes with a quad-colored Medicine Wheel, perfect for posing with her. Strong demand is expected for this important achievement in the doll world, so order now!”

     I, personally, am partial to the lines “The Eagle Medicine Woman alone can unlock the secret of the majestic bird’s great strength.” and “authentic headdress and matching boots.” Below, “authenticity” at its best:

    As a light-eyed Indian myself, I appreciate validation of my authenticity as Native through the blue eyes. ha.

    But on a serious note? The appropriation of sacred religious symbols is effed up. Medicine wheels and eagle feathers are not child’s play.

    Wow, that was a bad pun. 

    Collectibles Today Eagle Medicine Woman Doll

    Earlier: Random Appropriation of the Day! (Spirit Guides Tomahawk)

    (Thanks Dawn!)

    I’m a true Indian now: I finally saw Dances with Wolves

    In Dances with Wolves, Hollywood stereotypes, imperialist nostalgia, reel injun by Adrienne K.9 Comments

    Last night marked a historic day in the continuing education of Adrienne K. I finally saw Dances with Wolves. How, you may be asking yourself, did I survive 24 years of life and 6 months of blogging about Native images in pop culture without seeing this piece of American history? Your guess is as good as mine. Frankly, I just never got around to it.

    So I won’t do a play-by-play analysis of the movie, there is a lot of good and bad throughout, and most of you probably saw it 20 years ago when it was released (20 years! can you believe it?). But one thing that struck me, after sitting through all 3 hours and 4 minutes? Nothing happens. There isn’t some elaborate plot line, there are two or three pockets of action, but that’s it. Yet, it was a critically-acclaimed film that won several Oscars. In the words of my friend H., “It won the Best Picture Oscar because it was 3 hours of straight-up imperialist nostalgia.*” and I agree.

    If you needed any proof, remember the final text of the movie? I.e. the last image movie-goers have in their mind as they leave the theater?

    “Thirteen years later, their homes destroyed, their buffalo gone, the last band of free Sioux submitted to white authority at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. The great horse culture of the plains was gone and the American frontier was soon to pass into history.”

    Yeah. What about all those Native actors that you used to make your fancy movie? What about the Lakota language used throughout that obviously someone had to teach you? While the movie made some important steps (for its time), that final screen negates it all for me. Solidifying, once again, that “real” Indians don’t exist anymore, that we are a part of history and not the present day, etc.

    I kept thinking back to the trailer for the documentary “Reel Injun” (I’ve mentioned it briefly before, and I can’t wait to see it). The film explores the origins and history of the created “Hollywood Indian”, but the trailer has a bit of analysis about Dances with Wolves (starts at about 1:04):

    I love when John Trudell says “It’s a story about a white guy. And Indians are just the T and A.” So very true.

    Next on my list of “important” modern movies about Indians I haven’t seen? Last of the Mohicans.

    *Imperialist Nostalgia: a mood of nostalgia that makes racial domination appear innocent and pure; people mourning the passing or transformation of what they have caused to be transformed. Imperialist nostalgia revolves around a paradox: A person kills somebody and then mourns the victim; or someone deliberately alters a life form and then regrets that things have not remained as they were. . . Imperialist nostalgia uses a pose of “innocent yearning” both to capture peoples’ imagination and to conceal its complicity with often brutal domination (R. Rosaldo, Culture and Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis) (AK note: embarrassingly I have this book within arms reach right now)

    The Music Festival Hipster Headdress Goes British

    In Glastonbury, hipster headdress, music festivalsm, playing indian, tipi by Adrienne K.10 Comments

    (image via Boston.com)

    Well, it’s official. The hipster headdress has gone British. Last week was the Glastonbury music festival in the UK, a huge music spectacular not unlike Coachella, or The Bamboozle, or Sasquatch! or Lightning in a Bottle here in the US. Boston.com posted an image of festival goers sporting the (no-longer) edgy hipster headdress, maddening, but pretty unsurprising, actually. It was only a matter of time.

    However, not to be out done by their former subjects across the pond, these British hipsters took playing Indian to a whole new level. Observe the “tents” at this year’s festival:

    Yeah. Those are tipis. A whole lot of tipis. So while you’re wasted, or high on something or another, gallivanting through the fields and communing with nature while rockin’ out, you can “authenticate” your wild-man experience by coming back to your tipi–living like the original bad asses, those Indians who didn’t give a damn, no rules, no “civilization”, just one with life, man.

    Snarky imaginative narrative aside, there is a really interesting dynamic of playing Indian in countries other than the US/Canada–there are “powwow” communities, especially in Germany, where participants make painstakingly “authentic” regalia, sing in drum groups, etc. That’s a whole post in itself, but it raises the question of how these actions are perceived and interpreted in a country without Native Americans, lacking both the genocidal history or contemporary culture to provide context and understanding of their actions.

    Not that people in the US, even with that context, have some greater understanding (or my blog wouldn’t exist!), but it reminds me of the incident a few months ago when Harry Connick Jr was a guest judge on a show in Austrailia, and participants came out in blackface to perform Michael Jackson:

    As an American, Connick Jr. was offended, and rightfully so. However, the Australian community shared no such outrage, because wearing blackface has no history in their country. There was a lot of back and forth debate, and there are any number of similar examples, but it goes to show that history and context is key in the understanding of racist actions.

    Does it make it ok? absolutely not. Just like I’m not ok with british headdress wearers or a tipi village at a music festival overseas. Perpetuating stereotypes and erasing the current presence of Native people is never excusable in my book, even if it occurs thousands of miles away.

    Boston.com Glastonbury slideshow: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/glastonbury_festival_2010.html

    Earlier:

    Educating Non-Natives at Lightning in a Bottle: http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/06/educating-non-natives-at-lightning-in.html

    But Why Can’t I Wear a Hipster Headdress?: http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/04/but-why-cant-i-wear-hipster-headdress.html

    The Hipster Headdress Abounds at Coachella: http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/04/hipster-headdress-abounds-at-coachella.html

    Headdresses and Music Festivals go together like PB and…Racism?: http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/06/headdresses-and-music-festivals-go.html

    (Thanks to Stephen from Drawing on Indians, who sent me the pics. He did a great post on the topic as well, which can be found here.)

    "The Potawatomis didn’t have a word for global business center"?

    In advertising, Chicago, language, native languages, potawatomi by Adrienne K.14 Comments

    I was waiting for my connecting flight at Chicago O’Hare, and spotted this advertisement on the opposite side of our gate. Close up on the text:

    It reads:

    “Chicago is the Potawatomi word for onion field. Apparently, the Potawatomis didn’t have a word for global business center.”

    This is an example of the use of Indigenous language and imagery that many people wouldn’t think twice about, or find any inherent issues with. But let’s look at this a little deeper:

    •  The use of past tense. It’s not “The Potawatomis don’t have a word for…” it’s “The Potawatomis didn’t…” Implying that the Potawatomi no longer exist or are using their language. 
    • The implication that “Indians” and “Global Business Center” aren’t in congruence. Which is assuming that Natives are static, unchanging, and unable to be modern and contemporary. “Potawatomi” and “Onion Field” are fine together, because American society associates Indians with the natural world, plants, animals, etc. But there is definitely not an association between “Potawatomi” and “Global Business”. 

    But, in reality, of course Potawotomis still exist today, are still speaking their language, and do have a word for Global Business Center (or multiple words…).

    Language is constantly evolving, adapting to new technology (remember when google wasn’t a verb?) and community changes.  I remember reading a long time ago in one of my Native studies classes about the Navajo Nation convening a committee to discuss how one would say things like “computer” or “ipod” in Navajo language, in an effort to preserve language and culture and promote the use of Navajo language among the younger generation.

    In fact, here’s an awesome video of a guy describing his ipod in Navajo, complete with concepts like “downloading” (there are subtitles/translations):

    To imply that Native peoples wouldn’t have the ability to describe a “Global Business Center” reeks of a colonialist perspective (we must “civilize” the savage! show him the ways of capitalism and personal property, for they know not of society!). Native peoples have been trading and communicating “globally” for centuries, long before the arrival of Europeans.

    Thanks, Chicago, for giving me one more reason to strongly dislike your airport, because all the canceled flights, lost luggage, overnights in airport hotels, and 10 hour delays (all true stories) weren’t enough.

    (Thanks to Hillary for taking the picture, since my sidekick pales in comparison to the iphone)

    Wisconsin Bans Indian Mascots!

    In indian mascots, mascot ban, wisconsin by Adrienne K.5 Comments

    As of this week, schools in Wisconsin using race-based mascots can be fined up to $1,000 a day. This law has been a long time coming, the first form of it was presented to the state over 30 years ago. The way the law works is that parties can submit complaints to the state, and after a hearing, if the school is found to be in violation, they can face fines of up to $1,000 per day if they continue to use the image and name.

    This is awesome news, and I can only hope that this is signaling a change that many other states will follow! Yay Wisconsin!

    Read the whole article here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127987743

    AK Programming note: I thought this was a fitting time to talk about Wisconsin, since I’m actually at the airport, en route to Wisconsin. I’m headed to Lawrence University, which is hosting College Horizons, an incredible program for Native high school students to learn about the college application process. I’m an alum of the program, and this is my third time returning as faculty. If you know of any Native high schoolers, encourage them to apply for next summer! They also host a graduate school version called Graduate Horizons for those of you a bit older. Seriously one of the best programs for Native students out there. 

    (Thanks Mom and Katie for sending the article!)