Dear Christina Fallin, Last night, someone tagged me in the comments of your post on Instagram, a picture of you wearing dark red lipstick and a coordinating warbonnet. Initially, I just rolled my eyes and closed the window, because since I’ve somehow become an “expert” on white girls in headdresses, I get sent pictures like yours pretty much every. single. …
They give out oscars for racism now?
Shhh. Don’t tell my committee I’m blogging. My dissertation is due, like, reallllllly soon. Just a quick post. I promise. Today, the list of nominees for the Academy Awards was released. I would just like to draw your attention to two of them. “Best Makeup and hairstyling”: THE LONE RANGER. (What?!?! arghabduVBIDslfdjlkm) and “Best Song”: “Alone yet not Alone” from the movie …
So your friend dressed up as an Indian. Now what?
Let’s set the scene. You walk into school/work/a halloween party and are having an awesome day cause it’s Halloween and you are wearing an awesome costume on that has something to do with a current event (without doing something like this or this), or a play on words, or a nerdy reference…because those are the best kind of costumes, …
Open Letter to the Pocahotties: The annotated version
As part of my Halloween series, I’d like to try something a little different. The last couple of days, my 2011 post, “Open Letter to the Pocahotties and Indian Warriors this Halloween,” has started to make the rounds again. The first time I posted it, it caused such a firestorm I had to shut down comments (after it hit …
Repost: Why Tonto Matters
AK Note: Hi Everyone, yesterday I posted my (rather scathing) review of The Lone Ranger, and reading through some of the comments I’ve seen here and on other outlets, I feel the need to repost this piece from 3/16/2012. I know there are a lot of new readers (welcome!), so I hope this helps you understand the lens with which …
I saw The Lone Ranger so you don’t have to
It’s been 12 hours since I saw The Lone Ranger, and I still have the darn William Tell Overture stuck in my head. I wonder how long that lasts. It’s like waking up with a Tonto hangover, I guess. I have so many thoughts on this film, and only maybe one of them is good. But I think we …
Armie Hammer apparently talked to some Natives who love Lone Ranger
Oh Armie Hammer. The guy who played twins in the Social Network, the guy who’s name sounds like baking soda. Now he’s playing the Lone Ranger opposite our good friend Johnny Depp as Tonto, and recently he said in an interview about the movie that all the Natives he talked to were SO SUPER STOKED that the film was …
Reflections on 3 years at Native Appropriations
This morning my brain woke me up wide awake at 5am, just opened my eyes, ready to go, like this were a normal and everyday experience. The reality is quite the opposite–most mornings I hit snooze more than I care to admit. My brain was whirring from the moment I blinked awake, and I decided to put to paper some …
We live in a culture of violence, and it needs to stop.
(Photo courtesy of Save Wįyąbi Project, who are doing truly amazing work) I sat in my apartment in a daze today, thinking about the poor babies in Connecticut, and how many families’ lives were irreversibly changed. I kept thinking about my mom, a second grade teacher in California, and how her only responsibility as a teacher for 23 beautiful 7 year olds should …
So you wanna be an Indian for Halloween?
I wasn’t going to do a Halloween post this year. I thought about it, but decided I was going to try and let my posts from last year stand on their own. I’ve tried many approaches–the emotional plea, the in-your-face-racism approach, the “I am not a Costume” campaign–but every year, the arguments are the same. No one listens, people on …