Comments on: A Much-Needed Primer on Cultural Appropriation

By: Hattie

Hattie — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 11:46:40 +0000

Mehh.

I bought a cheongsam when in Hong Kong. It’s a fusion of Chinese tradition and modern style. According to the source, significance and similarity thing I’m totally good- but…

The question is this: if I wear it in public will people look at me with that mixture of pity and annoyance reserved for white women in Indian wedding saris? I bought it partly because it’s beautiful and partly because the woman who owned the shop was awesome and super nice. Those probably aren’t good enough reasons though…

By: Merin

Merin — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 03:53:18 +0000

AND you’re being generous, Riese. Estimates are more like 90-99% of native people in the US were wiped out.

I live on the edge of several reservations and their “setup” is anything but “sweet.” Many people are under the false assumption that native americans are cleaning up with casinos and US government cash handouts. These are straight up LIES. Most reservations do not have casions and these would not be viable business strategies because they are too geographically remote. And cash handouts? The US welfare state is paltry at best. People living off cash handouts are living below the poverty line even after they get support. Riese’s other points about poverty, substance issues, and employment shortages are super on point in my community and beyond. Not to mention chronic police violence and harassment. My town is not on the reservations, but our white police force has seemed to make it a sport to stop as many people with Chippewa nation plates on their cars as possible every weekend.

Basically, Linnea. You are as off base on this as you can get. I won’t even delve deeply into how Mormons (and catholics and other christian groups) have had an enormous role in suppressing and erasing Naive American spiritual and religious traditions, and native languages. Ever heard of native American boarding schools? Ever read about mormon missionary work on reservations? Yeah, you should do that.

By: Angelia Welch

Angelia Welch — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 01:13:41 +0000

incase you haven’t seen it yet:
http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/02/strange-case-of-hipster-headdress.html

By: Tiger Gray

Tiger Gray — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 23:03:00 +0000

This is an awesome list. Do you mind if I repost it? Some people on my Facebook really really need to read this.

By: Ellie

Ellie — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 13:45:07 +0000

I think Hijab would depend on the context, My friend went to a mosque and was asked to wear one as a sign of respect in there. Comes down to intent i guess.

By: Liz

Liz — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 06:53:15 +0000

My family is Vietnamese. One time I stayed at a friend’s house and her family asked me one of those awkward where are you from questions. Upon saying Vietnam, she raved about the tourism she’d done there. Her whole house was covered in art from far away non-Western cultures. I realized some of it was Vietnamese lacquers. Then, I went to stay in the guest bedroom, and for decor on the shelf above the door were two of the conical hats you see the classic pictures of people wearing in Vietnamese rice fields. I had a really uncomfortable gut reaction.

Now, no one in my family ever really used one of those hats – they lived in cities. In fact, when we went to Vietnam, my dad bought some as a gag and they also sit on OUR shelf. We have pictures of him on Tet (New Year) as a child playing with one for fun. Is it really my culture?

I actually have a lot of trouble with why one of these was okay with me and why one wasn’t. I think the differences are:

1. I felt like in her house, these were exotified objects. In my house, they were funny hats. In her house, they were Vietnamese hats.
2. She talked like she knew all about Vietnam and could relate to me. In my house, these hats were part of our trip to understand our heritage.
3. She had so much stuff from all different cultures as decoration in her house…it kind of felt like she’d grouped together all third world cultures. I’m sure she did it to “support local artists” but it felt condescending, like here are the rice field hats and then the tribal totems and so on…

By: blueinthefaceangel

blueinthefaceangel — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 06:21:24 +0000

A blog I follow made a check list for white people to go through when they can’t tell if they are appreciating a culture or appropriating it.Basically if you answered yes or “I’m not sure” to the question then don’t freaking do it.

1) Is it marketed to you as an object/custom from a marginalised culture without any context?

2) What are your reasons? Are you appreciating it because you feel bored, or because it’s cool, or you think it’s aesthetically pleasing (“exotic”)?

3) What is the history/meaning of objects/languages/rituals in the culture? Are you aware of the meanings/history of these things? Will you be using them in a way that misrepresents them, or diminishes their power?

4) Are you comfortable with the understanding that as someone benefiting from white privilege, you may be contributing to the suppression of others’ cultural symbols, & that by your actions there is a strong possibility of further oppression? Are you willing to work through the nuances of privilege that occur when the question of cultural appropriation is brought up?

5) If someone from calls you out on appropriation/racism, are you going defend your perceived right to appreciate their heritage, & how they shouldn’t be offended?

Number 5 is the one where a lot of people fail terribly on.

By: S

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 06:14:57 +0000

It’s QUITE ironic that you talk about Native Americans and Mormons in the same comment, pitying the Mormons and making MASSIVELY inaccurate statements about the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
Full disclosure: I’m an enrolled Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tribal member. I also have Mormon family.
Anyway. The Mormons were responsible for ruining much of the culture of the indigenous peoples of Utah and the surrounding areas. The Indian Child Welfare Act (which seeks to keep Native children in Native homes) was enacted partially because of what the Mormons did. They believe that Native Americans are actually descended from the ancient “Israelites”, and they believed God was telling them that they needed to show these “Israelites” the “one true religion.” So they “adopted” (and by adopted I mean kidnapped) many, many Native American children and rid them of their culture.

Those poor Mormons. And those lucky Native Americans with their sweet set up.
Ay Dios mio.

By: Riley

Riley — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 19:41:12 +0000

I guess I’m just not convinced that there’s an ethical way to wear someone else’s culture. Even with the best intentions and research and source-checking, you’re still participating in making someone else’s culture trendy. A non-dominant culture that becomes trendy in the dominant culture gets separated from its meaning, gets commodified. It also someday becomes untrendy, which is also problematic. Fundamentally, I don’t think we’re there yet. I think everybody needs to get on the same page about cultural appropriation being problematic before we can get more into the nuances of it.

By: Nimi kwe

Nimi kwe — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 14:30:51 +0000

I have participated in many public school panel discussions and school board meetings about the ongoing use of Native imagery and names as sports mascots/team names by public schools. I was an ER nurse for 18 years. It takes a LOT to rattle me. After one public panel discussion (and I will name the town because I believe in shining light on things dark and slimy) in Marshall, Michigan, I feared for my life when I walked to my car after the meeting. The non-Native townspeople were hostile, venomous, and threatening; no damn Indians were going to tell them that they weren’t honoring us by using the name Redskins and a big ugly stereotyped picture of an Indian for their school. I am a small, soft-spoken woman; I am very traditional and I always approach these situations with gentleness–force and pressure always meet with resistance. Well, there were people who crowded around me after the panel discussion and were inches from my face; red faced and spitting saliva as they shouted at me. I have had similar discussion with people I considered my friends who had children in the Paw Paw school district. (“Paw Paw Redskins”)
How do we justify to our kids–what example do we set–when a public school continues to use a demeaning, racist name and logo for their athletic program? Native people have been fighting for decades to have this practice changed, but it continues. It continues in spite of a mountain of evidence that the practice causes harm to Native children; and hundreds of groups (including the United States Commission on Civil Rights; they issued a statement in April of 2001, which said in part: “The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights calls for an end to the use of Native
American images and team names by non-Native schools. The Commission deeply respects the rights of all Americans to freedom of expression under the First Amendment and in no way would attempt to prescribe how people can express themselves. However, the Commission believes that the use of Native American images and nicknames in school is insensitive and should be avoided. In addition, some Native American and civil rights advocates maintain that these mascots may violate anti-discrimination laws. These references, whether mascots and their performances, logos, or names, are disrespectful and offensive to American Indians and others who are offended by such stereotyping. They are particularly inappropriate and insensitive in light of the long history of forced assimilation that American Indian people have endured in this country. The stereotyping of any racial, ethnic, religious or other groups when promoted by our public educational institutions, teaches all students that stereotyping of minority groups is acceptable, a dangerous lesson in a diverse society. Schools have a responsibility to educate their students; they should not use their influence to perpetuate misrepresentations of any culture or people.”
And yet, the practice continues. Could state and federal groups withhold funding from schools that continue to perpetuate this practice? Of course, but they don’t.

By: bra

bra — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 07:30:26 +0000

Gurrl, I feel the same way, that is why I “Rage and Bake.”

I remember kneading dough saying to myself “all these silly mofos need to take A STADIUM OF SEATS with their bullshit,” when I was dealing with the crazy during the election in the U.S. I made sweet maple (vegan) bread. YUM!! After rage baking, I rage ate and it was delicious. This needs to be a thing.

By: NImi kwe

NImi kwe — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 07:15:04 +0000

The question about dreamcatchers and evil spirits is a perfect example of what is lost when people appropriate something from a culture that is not their own…and it is hugely distressing to me. I believe that real, genuine power exists in the love and energy we invest in our traditions. I pray with medicines every single morning, because I believe in the power of that tradition. When traditional Anishinabek do beadwork, many of us say a prayer with each bead we add. Many of us include one ‘wrong’ bead as an acknowledgement that only Creator is without flaws. Do you understand what this means? If I make you a necklace or a bracelet, it is not just time that I am investing in it–it contains my prayers for your well-being. That power–that energy–stays with that beadwork. If you buy “Native American style” beadwork that is made in a sweatshop in China, it is invested with something entirely different, and it does a huge disservice to the traditions behind that beadwork. Maybe the mass of dominant culture consumers doesn’t care-but I do! The whole context of what things mean below the surface is lost when it is spewed out into an uneducated and fickle audience.
Sorry to sound like I’m ranting, but it is so difficult to watch the on-going misuse of things that are sacred to me; and to know that the people ‘playing’ with Native cultural symbols will likely never have a clue about what has been taken; what has been lost.