From Katie Perrys birthday party in 2011. She asked everyone to show up as an Indian. Perry was a pink cowgirl and waved a plastic gun at her guests and then posted the pictures. Every time i see someone wear a geisha outfit or add a sombrero to their outfits it makes me ill . Los indigenous have faced monumental obstacles to the free exercise of their spiritual practices, including boarding schools, forced relocation, endless broken treaties, “kill the Indian, save the man” policies, and forced assimilation. So it is particularly insensitive for people to attempt to justify their/our use of Native spiritual practices when Native people themselves have often been brutally persecuted for the same. Cultural appropriation is not an acceptable way to honor, respect, or appreciate People of Color. If you wish to honor, respect, or appreciate us, then you should learn how to recognize, confront, and dismantle systematic racism instead of appropriating a geisha outfit, a sombrero or a breast plate etc etc. If you wish to honor, respect, or appreciate first people or first people culture, learn how to listen to us when we identify very real problems (and how to confront them) faced by indigenous people today (note* just in Canada but all over the world) , such as the continued theft of lands by resource extraction companies. This means so much to me because i am incredibly proud of my roots and culture and spiritual practices and its not to be treated as a “natural resource” to extract from. Even if you don’t understand why it is hurtful to see various aspects of one’s culture appropriated, or you think there are worse problems that some of us should be spending our time confronting, it is still imperative to listen to us when we identify - and call for an end to cultural appropriation. As targets of racism, we are the experts in racism, and therefore anti-racist efforts should be directed by the needs identified by us.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 16:15:18 +0000
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