Indian River Light Beer: "At Last, a Beer Native to Manhattan"
My friend Kayla pointed me (via her friend Tia’s Facebook) to Heartland Brewery, straight out of hipster-haven Brooklyn, NY, and their beer called “Indian River”. Here is the picture that Tia snapped of their advertisement at a bus stop in Manhattan:
If you can’t read it, it says “accents of orange, no pulp” and “At last, a beer native to manhattan”.
So lets break this down a little: sexualized woman, most likely not Native, wearing very little clothing, and what she is wearing is sterotypical fringed buckskin, sporting “war paint”, a feather, a beer, and a shotgun. Also the bonus of using “native” in the tagline, in case we were unsure of what asthetic they were going for. This takes the cake for rolling about every stereotype ever into one advertisement. In my indignant googling, I found the Heartland Brewery website here.
After the jump, more upsetting labels and some analysis.
It appears they are equal opportunity stereotypers, because they also have labels that are disparaging to women:
and
1430 Broadway (at 40th St.) 7th Floor
New York NY 10018
Phone:
212.400.2300
Email:
veronica@heartlandbrewery.com
(Thanks Kayla and Tia!)
Is Twilight good for the Quileute?
“Twilight” has made all things Quileute wildly popular: Nordstrom.com sells items from Quileute hoodies to charms bearing a supposed Quileute werewolf tattoo. And a tour company hauls busloads of fans onto the Quileute reservation daily. Yet the tribe has received no payment for this commercial activity. Meanwhile, half of Quileute families still live in poverty.
…the outside uses of the Quileute name, from the “Twilight” books to the tattoo jewelry, are quite likely legal. American intellectual property laws, except in very specific circumstances, do not protect indigenous peoples’ collective cultural property.
The Quileute’s Web site tells visitors about the tribal laws that govern Quileute territory. One of these laws specifies that burial grounds and religious ceremonies are “sacred and not to be entered.” Had MSN acknowledged the tribe as a sovereign government, it might not have broken that rule. The Quileute believe that respect for Indian tribal sovereignty could likewise bridge cultural gaps between other Indian communities and outsiders.
I agree with Riley that meeting with Quileute leaders and community members and involving them with the marketing process is an important first step. I see this community as setting the stage for Natives taking control of intellectual property and turning the tables of negative portrayals back into something that can ultimately benefit the community.
The Quileute are a small tribe on a small reservation that have been thrust into the national and international spotlight, and not by choice. However, I hope that with the help of scholars and lawyers like Angela Riley, the tribe can use the publicity to bring light to issues within their own community and perhaps these larger issues of cultural property and representation within Indian Country.
Finally, the piece ends with a quote that I think encapsulates my entire thinking with this blog:
The ultimate choice, regarding not only the Quileute but all indigenous peoples, is not simply whether outsiders are free to appropriate tribal cultural property. For the sake of fairness as much as law, indigenous peoples must play a significant role in decisions regarding their cultural property.
It’s not just about the right to appropriate, it’s about control over portrayals of our people and our communities. Native people deserve a voice at table.
The whole OpEd (read it!): http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/opinion/08riley.html
Help for Cheyenne River
In the past few weeks, many of the South Dakota tribes have been hit incredibly hard with the recent winter storms. Many communities are still without power, and power companies estimate it will be another 4-5 weeks before power is restored. With temperatures dipping well below zero, supplies of food and water on the reservations are desperately needed.
with much of the media attention in recent weeks focusing on the big storms in DC, little has been done to help the growing crisis. According to Cheyenne River officials, all types of emergency supplies are needed:
“The tribe this past weekend opened up an emergency fuel fund,” Conrad said. “And people are going around checking on elderly and families with small children. We are working with Dreams of Eagles, a Native American non-profit in Omaha to get supplies up from Omaha this week. Batteries are needed, candles, non-perishable foods, toilet paper, diapers, infant formula and water. Our reports are that the supplies that are getting to the reservation are dispersed rapidly, and some aren’t able to get any.”
Please consider donating to the Cheyenne River–they have an easy online form that goes directly to the tribe and community. Click here to donate!
Supplies and donations can also be shipped to:
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman’s Office
Attn: Ice Storm Emergency Supplies
PO Box 590 2001 Main Street (Tribal Offices)
Eagle Butte, SD 57625
Here is the Indian Country Today article detailing the extent of the emergency in the Dakotas: http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/plains/83646472.html
Donation Link: https://secure.piryx.com/donate/0oFFsK8c/Cheyenn-River-Sioux-Tribe/
Appropriations at the Boston Museum of Science
This past weekend I took a trip to the Boston Museum of Science to see the Harry Potter Exhibition (which was amazing and awesome and anyone who is a fan should go see it…but I digress), and since our tickets got us into the rest of the museum, we wandered around the galleries a bit. I didn’t even have my Cultural Insensitivity Radar (I should trademark that) on, because I figured “science” would be a safe zone, right?
Apparently not. The above image is a diorama on the second floor, not in the context of an exhibit, in fact kind of just stuck in a hallway. It depicts a “Hopi Indian Village,” and is about six inches away from a diorama of an “African Watering Hole”. In addition to the diorama, there was also an interesting display in another part of the about migration and genetics with some eyebrow raising use of graphics and language, and a couple of other small things.
After the jump, more images of the dioramas, as well as the analysis of the migration and genetics display.
(all images can be clicked for a bigger version)
This is the larger context of the display, a “cross-cultural” depiction of birth–and I just noticed, of fatherhood in particular. Interesting!
Ilka Hartmann Photography
I was pointed to this link via Julia on Twitter (thanks!), and I absolutely love Hartmann’s images. She has a large collection of photos on her site, not just of Natives, but I think her most striking images are the ones of urban Indians and AIM leaders from the 1970’s and early 80’s. I also love that most of the images are from the Bay Area, the place that I called home for the last 6 years–though it does make me a little homesick.
After the jump, more photos and a short video of Hartmann talking about her exhibition in SF which included images from the Alcatraz occupation, AIM events, and the longest walk 1978 (I also included links at the bottom for more information about the history behind the images).
This is the video of Hartmann walking us through her photos, highlighting some of the major events in AIM history that she documented. It’s actually really cool to hear her talk about the images, the context, and her relationships with the subjects, it makes them even more powerful.
More pictures:
Intertribal Friendship House, Oakland, CA, 1979
Intertribal Friendship House, Oakland, CA
Intertribal Friendship House, Oakland, CA
In addition to the urban Indian photos, I was drawn to the images from a sunrise ceremony on Alcatraz before the Longest Walk (more info on that here), because they remind me of the ceremony we attended every year on Alcatraz in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day. It adds a whole new layer of meaning and a stronger feeling of solidarity to the event.
What I like most is that the images offer counter-narratives to many of the commonly held stereotypes about Natives, and give some insight into the often forgotten community of urban Indians, as well as the often overlooked Indian involvement in the civil rights movement. With such simple photographs Hartmann manages to capture so much emotion and history. Her work is very refreshing after the hundreds of negative images and stereotypes we see everyday.
Definitely go check out her site, and please note that all images I posted are (c) Ilka Hartmann and can be found at: http://www.ilkahartmann.com/
Ilka Hartmann Photography: http://www.ilkahartmann.com/
History of the AIM movement: http://www.aimovement.org/ggc/history.html
Alcatraz occupation information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Alcatraz
Native Link Roundup
Students and administrators at Colorado State University will meet today to talk about a Facebook posting that encouraged fans to wear war paint and feathers to a basketball game this Saturday.
CSU sophomore Ben Margolit asked that CSU fans wear the American Indian garb at the men’s home basketball game against the Wyoming Cowboys. His posting sparked comments from detractors who thought it was racist and degrading to American Indians.
Playing in the General Assembly building — what had to be one of the smallest venues of his career — Newton, 67, described hearing stories from his grandfather about his Native American heritage and absorbing his appreciation of the culture. Both of Newton’s parents were half Native American: His father was Patawomeck and his mother was Cherokee. Newton also displayed a picture of his grandfather in full-feathered regalia and passed around a heavy green sash that bore what Newton called a peace medal his ancestors received from Gen. George Washington.
A state lawmaker who ignited a firestorm of controversy by introducing a bill that would require public high schools to get permission to use American Indian mascots said she will withdraw the legislation.Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora, told the Denver Post she has achieved her goal of starting a community discussion over whether the mascots are appropriate.
Hailed over the decades as “The Moses of the Choctaws” and “The Indians’ Lee Iacocca,” Mr. Martin led his tribe into printing and manufacturing of auto parts and electronics at the Mississippi reservation once called “the worst poverty pocket in the poorest state of the Union.”
Efforts to change American Indian mascot names at Oregon high schools have stalled, more than two years after a state advisory group suggested a ban on them. All 15 Oregon high schools with team names such as the Warriors, the Braves or the Indians are still using them.