Ready for a little history lesson? A (not-so-long) time ago, this continent was full of people. People who had been here for thousands and thousands and thousands of years, since the beginning. Then around 500 years ago, some folks showed up, pretended those people didn’t exist, or deemed them “savages” unworthy of status as human. Those interlopers decided that they could …
SNL 40th Anniversary: Mike Myers and Native Imagery
This week, Saturday Night Live turned 40. The show had an epic 3.5 hour long special episode, with cameos and performances from tons of folks involved during the show’s history. I watched it last night as I was grading papers (meaning I half-watched it), and didn’t expect there to be any Native representations, because there never are (except Fred Armisen’s …
Who has spoken out against the Redsk*ns?
As I’m sure you know by now, on Wednesday, June 18th, the US Trademark and Patent office officially cancelled the Redsk*ns trademark, calling the name “disparaging to Native Americans.” It was a huge win, 22 years in the making. In the aftermath, there have been hundreds of articles, tons of news commentary, and people saying a whole lot of racist BS …
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 …
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 …
Ecko "Weekend Warrior" Update: "the intentions of the Weekend Warrior line were never to be racist, but to be fun."
On Thursday I posted about Ecko Unltd’s disturbing “Weekend Warrior” line featuring headdresses on skulls, and tied it into a larger trend featuring similar images. A reader went over to the Ecko FB page and posted a link to my blog post, as well as another link that shows adorable Native kiddos talking about mascots and stereotyping. Ecko’s response? “Hi …
Bon Iver’s "Towers": A "Tribute to Native American Preservation Land"?
It’s been a while since we’ve had an all-out Native Approps Adrienne K. rant against something on the blog. Actually, it’s been a while since we’ve had anything on the blog. So I hope you’re ready, cause it’s well after midnight, and I’m ready to rail on some stupid language choices, powers of representation, and claims of “honoring.” Bon Iver …
OMG so much to talk about!
Hey Guys, I have been so impressed (saddened? angered?) by all of your “Week in the Life of a Stereotypical Indian” submissions, that I’ve been culling through them all for the last week or so. I promise a post next week breaking it all down–but in order to do that, I’d love some of your reflections about what the experience …
Have a Happy Indigenous Holiday Season: Part 1
It’s a good season to be Indigenous! I hope everyone had a safe and happy Turkey Day (or You’re Welcome Day, or Thanks-taking day, or Day of Mourning, however you chose to celebrate/not celebrate). I’ve had an incredibly busy month, which I’m sure you noticed, given the lack of anything up here. But back to the blog! I often extol …
Trans-Bridge Bus Lines Mascot, "Hi-Yo"
This guy comes to us from reader Chris, who spotted a Trans-Bridge bus sporting the logo in Pennsylvania. The “about us” portion of their website gives this background on the logo: In case you can’t read it, the text says: “If you have ever driven behind a Trans-Bridge Lines’ bus, then you must have seen painted on the rear window, …