Eté Indien: French Glamour gets in on the tribal fashion trends

In "tribal", fashion, french glamour, photography by Adrienne K.2 Comments

Fashion Foiegras posted a first look at French Glamour’s new spread on American Indian fashion trends, with the caption: “American Indian is back in style! Rock the look with a first glimpse from French Glamour.” But my first question: did we ever go out of style? 😉

A lot of the Navajo-style jewelry is gorgeous, but (even with my limited french skills) it doesn’t look like they’re Native made. sad.

After the jump, more images from the shoot. (all taken from www.fashionfoiegras.com)

(Thanks to my fashionista friend Alicia!)

Random Appropriation of the Day!

In random appropriation by Adrienne K.1 Comment

Kinda like the hipster puppy, but worse. 
(Thanks Scott!)

North American Indians: a step by step guide to "playing Indian"

In American Indian, books, children's literature, Navajo, playing indian, scholastic, sioux, tlingit by Adrienne K.7 Comments

My friend Katie is currently in her first year of teaching 4th grade on the Rosebud Sioux reservation in South Dakota (go Katie!), and she sent me a scanned copy of this ridiculous book that was in her classroom library. I’ll let her give the context:

“I finally started going through my classroom’s library and was pretty appalled to find this book (along with the typical Indian the Cupboard and Little House on the Prairie-esque books).  I teach 4th grade on the Rosebud Reservation; 100% of my students are Lakota.  The book purports to give a history of Native Americans and a guide to Native crafts, but what it ends up being is a veritable handbook for white kids to “play Indian.”  All the photos are of white kids dressed up as Indians!  I can’t find one picture (other than the historical ones, of course) of a Native American child.  Even more disturbingly, the descriptions make it sound as if these white kids are authentic representations of Indian clothing, etc. The worst thing is that this book is (now was, ugh) in the library of a classroom full of Lakota children.  It’s like hey kids, these pictures of white kids can teach you how to be Indian better than your own people!”

After the jump, scanned selections of the book. Prepare yourself, it’s pretty bad. (All images can be clicked for a bigger version)

First thing of note: the title page says “Consultant: Anne Armitage, BA–The American Museum in Britain. So, there weren’t any qualified “consultants” who were actually Native? or I don’t know, maybe in AMERICA? Also, this is published by Scholastic–usually a well known and trusted name in children’s books. 
This page talks about “Indian clothing”. Everything is in past tense (as is the whole book), and it has instructions on how to make a “war bonnet” along with a historic photograph. 
“Hairstyles were important ways to look different but still fit in with tribal traditions. Some groups smeared their hair with mud and sculpted it into different shapes.” Um, really? 
The descriptions of the tribes (not to mention the accompanying images) make me so upset. The past tense and historic descriptions would leave any child thinking there was no way a Nez Perce, Chumash, Tlingit, or Navajo person still lived today. 

Katie pointed out that the caption with the boy reads: “Plains warriors carried spears and hide shield and wore elaborate headdresses for ceremonial occasions”, implying that he IS a “plains warrior”.

More tribal descriptions–the description of the seminole is especially interesting. It’s mostly about North American settlers and influence rather than the tribe. 
look at the boy’s stance. Sitting “Indian style”.
A couple of things: I like the fact the “Plains Warrior” and the “Seminole” are playing stickball–complete disregard for regionality of the game. Also, the one reference to traditions continuing today mentions that a form of this game is still played today “called lacrosse.” Not that tribes still play the traditional form, which they do. 
“Early European Explorers and settlers tried to write down the sounds of Indian words, but some could not accurately be conveyed using our alphabet.”
The caption reads “a sioux boy and a nez perce girl would have been able to speak to each other using sign language”. 
So, overall, I’m a bit at a loss for words. I can’t believe scholastic decided this was a great book to promote “hands on learning,” and that someone decided this was a good book to put in a 4th grade reservation classroom. I mean, this is straight up, by definition cultural appropriation. 
I also just googled the book, and found it on a few “recommended book” lists for teachers (gross), and found that there is an entire series of books that teach kids how to “play history”: Egypt, Rome, Stone Age…and American Indians (completely the same, right?). It appears to be still in print. 
Another example of placing Natives in the historic past, of melding of hundreds of distinct tribal traditions, of playing Indian, of not allowing Indians to be “experts” on ourselves, the “otherization” of American Indians…and about every other issue I’ve dealt with on this blog. So frustrating. 
Major kudos to Katie for cleaning out her classroom library, her students are lucky to have her. 
(Thanks Katie!)

Really, Dictionary.com? Definition of "Indian Country"

In Uncategorized by Adrienne K.2 Comments

I’m writing a paper, and was looking for a clear way to define “Indian Country” for my non-Native professor who is not well versed in Indian issues, so I googled.

Dictionary.com told me:

 Indian country:


–noun (esp. during the U.S. westward migration) any region where one was likely to encounter Indians, esp. hostile Indians.

“especially hostile Indians”? Seriously? in 2010, the accepted definition of “Indian Country” is a place where one is likely to encounter hostile Indians? The use of past tense is nice too, since we all know Indian Country is a mythical place that only existed during westward expansion. Really?

wow. 

Dictionary.com definition of Indian Country: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Indian+country

We’re Still Here!: explaining Native persistence through Indigenous archaeology

In books, michael wilcox, Pueblo Revolt, stanford by Adrienne K.2 Comments

Full disclosure: Mike was my undergraduate advisor, but I’ve been anxiously awaiting his book for a while now, and I think the themes resonate very well with the topics discussed on the blog.

Professor Michael Wilcox is one of the three Native faculty members at Stanford, and his research focuses on the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, and re-examining conquest narratives of Native peoples in the US. In doing his analysis, he also argues for a new way of looking at archaeology and Native populations, what he terms “Indigenous Archaeology”. The Stanford Report wrote a great article about his book (with a video! and pictures!) that can be found here.

after the jump, video, quotes, and a discussion of the “ooga booga syndrome” (yes, that is a technical, scholarly term).

Here is the video of Professor Wilcox talking about his work:

I love how he ties it back to modern day conquests and regime changes (Iraq, etc).  

I really want to quote the entire article here, but I’ll resist. The article defines Indigenous Archaeology as:

understand[ing] Native American history by seeing the connections between artifacts and other scientific evidence and the narratives of living indigenous peoples. In doing so, he argues, archaeologists could better explain why indigenous populations persist.

This is a response to the constant narratives that Indians are disappearing and will cease to exist–we must “save” the cultures! Professor Wilcox notes that there needs to be a focus on persistence, rather than disappearance: 

“I always joke that Indians have been disappearing longer than almost any group in history,” said Wilcox. “The presence of four and a half million Native Americans in the United States is a complete mystery to most people. There is no story that explains what they are still doing here.”
He said, “What if archaeologists were asked to explain the continued presence of descendent communities 500 years after Columbus instead of their disappearance or marginality? That’s a much more interesting story.”

He also discusses how the Pueblo people were in stark contrast to the Indians-scared-of-colonizers narrative presented in popular culture, calling it the “ooga booga syndrome”:

The Puebloan people, he said, were hardly reflective of what he calls the “ooga-booga syndrome” popularized in Hollywood films. He explains the syndrome this way: “Indians are depicted as horrified and fascinated by the presence of unfamiliar clothing and light skin and run in horror from their sight shouting, ‘Ooga-booga!’ It’s ridiculous. Native Americans were surrounded by people who were different from themselves. Europeans may have understood Indians as a single entity, but that is not how Native peoples defined themselves.”

I think that is the best term ever. I plan on using it in a paper in the near future. Finally,a quote that I think spans across disciplines, and is definitely reflected in the content of the blog, discussing the placing of Indians in the historic past:

“The mythology we have created is that Native Americans can never be truly modern, that they are locked in the past and that cultural authenticity is locked in the past, too.”

We struggle against that everyday, and I think that research and work like Professor Wilcox’s will start to chip away at misconceptions and false histories and begin to re-write the widely accepted narratives of conquest.

Stanford Report Article: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/march/wilcox-native-american-030310.html

Buy the book! University of California Press: http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10795.php

(Thanks Kevin!)

Indians in the Times today!: Tuba City hospital a "model" for births

In Hopi, IHS, Navajo, new york times, tuba city by Adrienne K.5 Comments

(image via nytimes.com)
Nice article today in the NY Times about the Tuba City health center and its policies and practices surrounding birth, specifically focusing on their high rate of natural births after c-sections. 
I’m drawing attention to the article for a few reasons, primarily  because the article presents Native communities in a positive light, showcasing the strengths of the community and culture, and not seeing them as detriments to the “western” ways of birth. It’s nice to see some positive words about Indians in a national news outlet. 
But, the article does paint Indian Health Services (IHS) like it’s awesome and the best system ever–and I know many, many people who would argue otherwise. IHS is definitely not known for its quality care. 
The article can be found here, and includes some cute pictures of Indian babies too. 🙂
 (like this one. aww)
Happy Sunday!
NY Times–Lessons at Indian Hospital about births: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/health/07birth.html?pagewanted=1&em

U of I "Unofficial" St. Patrick’s Day Shirt: Mascot is far from dead…He is just passed the f**k out

In Chief Illiniwek, mascots, U of Illinois, unofficial st. patricks day by Adrienne K.1 Comment

(image via aiscircle.wordpress.com)–Click the picture for bigger version

One of my friends pointed me to this shirt produced by students at the university of Illinois for their “unofficial st. patricks day” that is currently being sold through Facebook.  The t-shirt text reads:

(front) Unofficial St. Patricks Day 2010

(back) Chief Illiniwek: U of I’s Unofficial mascot is far from dead…he is just passed the f**k out

If you can’t tell, the “chief” is holding aloft a beer bong on the front. So many maddening things about this shirt, I don’t know where to start.

In quick background, the University of Illinois finally voted to oust their Indian mascot in 2007 after years of struggle, and it continues to be an ongoing fight for Native students and their supporters on campus. The whole controversy can be read about here.

This is what “The Chief” looked like, all dressed up in his “authentic” Indian garb:

and this was the official university symbol:

There are so many campus incidences surrounding the student production of t-shirts for events–I know Stanford has had many issues, as well as Dartmouth, and now U of I. I feel like there needs to be an extension of existing hate crime or hate speech rules on campuses to these types of incidents, because often the university administration just seems to throw up their hands and say “there’s nothing we can do.” I think the Stanford fraternity that produced big game shirts featuring the Indian a few years ago was just asked to meet with Native students and administrators, and eventually they apologized and didn’t use the shirts, but they were not threatened with any negative consequences to make them do so.

I would vote that in these university environments that purport to be promoting and fostering diversity and understanding, there must be consequences.

Original post on American Indian Studies Circle blog: http://aiscircle.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/i-was-stunned-appalling-unofficial-t-shirts-and-the-mascot-controversy/

Chief Illinewek controversy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Illiniwek#Controversy

Info on the “unofficial” st. pattys day tradition: http://www.uofiparentprograms.illinois.edu/feature%20stories/Unofficial_UIPD09.htm

(Thanks Scott!)

Spool No. 72’s Coyote Navajo Rug Clutch

In "tribal", fashion, Navajo, spool no. 72 by Adrienne K.4 Comments

Another fashion appropriation sent by my sister, this one from the clothing website Spool No. 72. From perusing their website, they seem to be along the lines of Anthropologie, bohemian/vintage chic with maybe a little more “ethnic” flair thrown in there. The clutch description reads:

An exclusive for Spool No. 72. Made from a vintage Navajo rug each of our hand crafted clutches are one of a kind. The Coyote is truly a piece of art and is crafted from a native wool blend rug. Substantial in size the Coyote is adorned in breaided elk leather and a vintage horse blanket pin. 

and then, the line below:

Native hand crafted in the US

So does that mean the rug is Native made? or the whole thing is made by a Native person? There isn’t any other information on the site to point one way or the other. I also happened to notice that their logo has an arrow through it :

 

And, when you click on the homepage of the company, the header reads “Spool No. 72: Rustic Native Inspired Women’s clothing,” but there is no further mention in the body of the page, just on the little blue bar above the browser window.

So I did some clicking, and I found their blog here. Along the right side is an section labeled “Native Inspirations” where I found even more bags:

(more after the jump plus an article I found about the boutique)

Interestingly, none of the other bags say “Native hand crafted in America.” They do all mention that they are made from “vintage Indian rugs”, however.
On the blog there was a link to a NW source article about the company. The article, which can be found here, is entitled “Try on the American West with looks from Spool No. 72”. It says that their merchandise “captures the essence of authentic American style and takes it to another level.” There we go with throwing around the “authenticity” again.The article also notes that the clutches/bags are made in-house.
Overall, I’m a little perplexed. There’s a chance that they could be a Native-run company, which would make sense given they claim the clutch is “Native hand made”, but there isn’t any further information to confirm/deny this. I’ll keep looking around and keep you posted.
Spool No. 72 blog: http://spoolno72.blogspot.com/
(Thanks sees!)

I need some help figuring this one out…

In random appropriation by Adrienne K.3 Comments

Anyone able to help me out with the language/context on this one? 

Have you ever seen a real Indian?: AICF’s ad campaign

In advertising, American Indian College Fund, identity by Adrienne K.7 Comments

For some reason, this week has offered me a host of examples of insensitivity and ignorance surrounding Indian identity and identity politics. I’ve gotten in intense arguments and conversations in classes, I’ve confronted a colleague who told me, to my face, that the reason the US and Canada were different in terms of policies towards their Indigenous peoples was because “Well, I mean, in the US our policy was just to kill all the Indians. That’s why there aren’t any left, and we don’t have to deal with them.” I also overheard a student with whom I was discussing my research tell his friend: “I was like, Okaaay Native American, just talk about how we OPPRESSED you and your PEOPLE!”
So when I was deciding what to post today, I remembered these ads from the American Indian College Fund, an organization that provides scholarships and assistance to tribal college students. They’re a little old, and their new campaigns–entitled “If I stay on the rez” and “Think Indian” are equally awesome and can be found here, but I think that these offer a powerful perspective that is rarely seen in print media.
After the jump, more of the ads and more discussion.

Judge Bill Thorne, Pomo. Judge for the Utah court of appeals, President of the National Indian Justice Center, skier, soccer coach for 25 years.
Hattie Kaufmann, Nez Perce, National network news correspondent, emmy award-winning reporter, traditional beadwork artist, marathoner.
Jarrett Medicine Elk, Northern Cheyenne/Assiniboine, business major, student  counselor, peer tutor, illustrator, public and motivational speaker
Rick West, Cheyenne, Attorney, founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, traditional powwow dancer (and I would add–Stanford Alum!)
There are also a few more on the AICF website. The whole campaign can be found here.
I love these. Every aspect, from the attention-grabbing headline that makes the viewer question their preconcieved notions about what a “Real Indian” looks like, to the captions that demonstrate the subjects academic and career success; but also highlight their community/cultural involvement, as well as hobbies and other identities. It directly confronts what most of mainstream America would expect of an “Indian”–these are strong Native men and women, and they don’t need tipis or feathers to show it. It’s amazing how something as simple as putting “soccer coach for 25 years” can completely turn a stereotype on its head.
In addition, if you look along the right edge of each photo, there is a fact about reservation life, tribal colleges, or Indian education, and a link for more information about the American Indian College Fund. 
The best part is, the ads aren’t confined to Native outlets. These ads were (and the new ads are) featured in Sports Illustrated, Time, InStyle, the Delta Airlines magazine, Oprah magazine, NY Times magazines, and more. All major mainstream media outlets. That’s awesome. 
So, in light of my identity challenges this week, I thought I would offer a counter-narrative (I love that term) to the stereotypes clearly held in the heads of many Americans. I only wish the images of Natives that most Americans see everyday were more like these, instead of the other images that dominate this blog.
Keep up the good work, American Indian College Fund! I am such a supporter.
American Indian College Fund website: http://www.collegefund.org/