White Women and Headdresses

I'm on a mission to find out when white women started wearing Plains Indian headdresses as a part of 'fashion'.

One of my friends, Ross Chaney, found this gem:

A unusual vaudeville act - USA, 1940s
"Wearing her authentic Native American headdress, Enid Mutterbucket would leap up and down on two mini trampolines, ululating while she performed various movements of an arcane nature. She was accompanied by Signor Prosciutto on his accordion, who played his own arrangements of Lakota folk songs interspersed with popular Glen Miller hits of the day. (Well, I did tell you it was an "unusual" act!)"

and I found this:

American Actress Tallulah Bankhead in the London stage production of The Dancers (1923), wearing a buckskin dress and a feathered headdress.

"Although not critically acclaimed, The Dancers was a sensation with audiences in England. It boasted superior production values and first rate acting, but the clear attraction was Tallulah. Her unique voice and stunning beauty caused her to be the talk of the town. Her most famous scene was one in which she performed an Indian dance costumed in feathers and jewels. Similar to Madonna's success in the early 1980's, Tallulah also developed a cult fan base of teenaged girls who copied her dress and style and lined up outside her door after performances."

Any leads, send them this way!

Callaloo Parade and the Sexualization of Native American Women

Sexual Violence is a Tool of Conquest

"Sexual assault rates and violence against Native American women did not just drop from the sky. They are a process of history." - Jacqueline Agtuca

So I just got word of another Native-themed Parade from my friend Melissa. She wrote:

I got a call from a woman today who was livid over a Caribana parade that's going to be happening in Toronto in the next month or so where the theme is "Native America." Here's the website http://callaloo.net/

I passed this around work and we're going to try to do something here to bring attention as to why this is wrong and provide some education as to how this image they are putting forth perpetuates violence against Aboriginal women.

So I checked it out, and this is what I found - The costumes for this year include “Native Apache”:

and “Tribal Princesses”:

and "Sacrificial Mayan Virgins":

Why is this bad? Adrienne Keene at Native Appropriations breaks it down:

But the pervasive "sexy squaw" is the most dangerous, especially when you know the basic facts about sexual violence against Native women:

- 1 in 3 Native women will be raped in their lifetime
- 70% of sexual violence against Native women is committed by non-Natives

This Amnesty International study details, at great length, the gruesome truth about sexual violence in Indian Country. Also, recently, Vanguard (a show on current TV) did a special called "Rape on the Reservation". The show is about 45 minutes long, but so powerful, and so heartbreaking. Please watch it if you have time, even the intro is enough to shock you back to reality:



Now can you see why my heart breaks and I feel sick every time I see an image of a naked or scantily clad woman in a headdress? This is not just about cultural appropriation. This is about a serious, scary, and continuing legacy of violence against women in Indian Country. By perpetuating the stereotypes of Native women as sexual objects, they are aiding and continuing the cycle of violence.

What can you do? Contact Callaloo and let them know that the images that they are putting out there about Native women are wrong.

"The fact that Native American and Alaska Native women have been dehumanized throughout US history informs present-day attitudes. It helps fuel the high rates of sexual violence perpetrated against them and the high levels of impunity enjoyed by their attackers." - Amnesty International Report

And, if you're still not convinced that this is a serious issue, here is another excerpt from that Amnesty International Report:

"In July 2006 an Alaska Native woman in Fairbanks reported to the police that she had been raped by a non-Native man. She gave a description of the alleged perpetrator and city police officers told her that they were going to look for him. She waited for the police to return and when they failed to do so, she went to the emergency room for treatment. A support worker told Amnesty International that the woman had bruises all over her body and was so traumatized that she was talking very quickly. She said that, although the woman was not drunk, the Sexual Assault Response Team nevertheless "treated her like a drunk Native woman first and a rape victim second". The support worker described how the woman was given some painkillers and some money to go to a non-Native shelter, which turned her away because they also assumed that she was drunk: "This is why Native women don’t report. It’s creating a breeding ground for sexual predators.""

Pride Parade - Playing Indian?

Hello blog friends!

This is just a quick post to let you all know of a recent situation that occurred in Santa Fe -

Today was the annual Santa Fe Pride Parade, and a few of my friends attended and were shocked to find 'white boys' playing 'Indian.' This is particularly shocking because the whole point of Pride Parade is, as my friend states below, 'to abolish hate and stereotypes in order to celebrate equality, difference, diversity and tolerance.'

Since this blog focuses on issues related to representation, and encourages people to think 'beyond buckskin', I wanted to post the letter that my friend sent earlier today.

UPDATE: Please click here to add your name to another letter written in response to the presence of the "Cowboys and Indians" parade float.

(This is not Santa Fe's Parade, this was Miami Pride Parade 2010 - is 'Playing Indian' an acceptable Pride Parade thing? Photo by Jessica R. Metcalfe)

(Santa Fe Pride Parade 2011. Playin Indian photo by Joslyn Baker, Soluna Studio, Commercial Photography)

Hi All,

I attended the Santa Fe Pride parade in the railyard this morning and was shocked with what was included in the parade - a truck load of white boys playing indian. I approached the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance and asked them to take responsibility and to address it immediately and publicly since they had the platform. The Vice-president blew me off so I waited to hear the speeches by all political constituents expressing Santa Fe's tolerance of all. Upon discussing the "situation" with the president, she tried to dismiss it but I was somewhat relentless and told her her organization needs to take responsibility. I left.

I just emailed them (should you like to support, their email is President Dona Hatch donahatch@msn.com and Vice- Paul Collom pcboy28@gmail.com)

Here is the letter;

June 25, 2011

Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance
Santa Fe Pride
P.O. Box 8640
Santa Fe, NM 87504


Dear Ms. Hatch and Mr. Collom,

I am following up on a conversation I had with both of you this afternoon at the Santa Fe Pride festivities following the welcoming speech by Ms. Hatch and dignitaries and alliances from the city of Santa Fe. I approached both of you regarding the inclusion of an extreme problematic situation – the “Cowboy and Indian” float sponsored by the group representing New Mexico Film (?). The “float” positioned an embedded racist attitude towards Native Americans through the imaginary stereotypes and constructions created through colonization that continue to exist today. By allowing this organization to parade blatant racism is unacceptable, especially for a community organization such as the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance and Santa Fe Pride who’s work is to abolish hate and stereotypes in order to celebrate equality, difference, diversity and tolerance. The “white boys” dressed in souvenir store headdresses with painted bodies standing around a plastic teepee mock the First Peoples of this Nation. Their redfacing and drag placed an appalling presence in the parade, which incited racial gestures by parade bystanders, who whooped and hollered derogatory sounds perpetuating a persistent public ignorance. This behavior by the “community” and the organizations involved welcome intolerance to continue and it is extremely offensive and irresponsible.

Upon my conversation with both of you and within your position, I asked that you make a public apology, to make it right, at the moment. There are no excuses for this hatred to exist and be perpetuated in a public celebration of diversity. Pride is respect and acceptance, however, it was a sad event I witnessed and the Santa Fe Human Rights Alliance has disrespected, offended and diminished an entire race and their culture today by allowing this to happen. Shame on you.

Sincerely,

Ryan Rice
Mohawk Nation,
Santa Fe Resident

Suzy Menkes and the 'S-Word'

(Indian Princess Diana, wearing her necklace as a headband, "like a squaw")

Yikes stripes:  The fashion industry has just taken a huge step backwards.  Check out this article by Wendy Brandes (posted on the Huffington Post and reprinted below) critiquing an article written by the well-known and well-respected fashion critic Suzy Menkes. Menkes nonchalantly busts out the controversial S-word (Squaw) when describing Princess Diana's decision to wear a necklace as a headband.

Oooh, tsk tsk Menkes, what a faux pas!  Girl, get your Indian stereotypes right: Princess Diana was rockin' the 'Indian Princess' look, not the 'Squaw/drudge' look. 

Interestingly (or not), on the very day that this article landed, we were discussing stereotypes in my class (on Native American Adornment - a fun class, I love my critical students!).  Those same old (really old, like 500-year-old) stereotypes just keep popping up and continue to influence the fashion scene today.

The fashion industry is one of the main culprits perpetuating Native stereotypes.  Case in point: Menkes lets us know that Diana 'took the stuffing out' of an heirloom emerald necklace (read: brought it down from the high society of royalty to the lower rungs) by wearing it as a headband like a squaw.  Infuriating.  Menkes could have just said, "She wore the necklace like a headband," but, no.

So, I wonder, if Menkes can mess up this big (and fly under the radar, as Brandes notes), then how much respect can we expect from the fashion industry (especially as it relates to non-Native people using Native cultural references in fashion)?  Is it a lost cause?  (i.e. Us: "Menkes! That's not nice!", Menkes: "meh.  whatevs").

In the world of fashion, can critics and fashion reviewers make blatantly derogatory statements about Native people and get away with it?  We know that the fashion industry is all about tribal influences right now - designers and buyers love it, they consume it, and they claim to respect it, but do they really?  Can fashion serve as a jump-off point for cross-cultural education?

Maybe not everyone will see this as a battle to pick; but, coming from the perspective of a 'scholar' of fashion, I respected Menkes, and I'm disappointed in her selection of words and references. Like Brandes, I agree that Menkes uses the term squaw "that in no way sounds like a compliment," and I believe that things like this shouldn't fly under our radar so easily.

Here is Brandes article:

The Fashion Writer and the Other 'S-Word'
Posted: 04/11/11 on Huffington Post
By Wendy Brandes

Christian Dior designer John Galliano's career imploded in February, when accusations that he made anti-Semitic remarks were followed by a video showing Galliano slurring, "I love Hitler." While the fashion industry was focused on that, an unfortunate aside from one of my favorite fashion writers, the venerable Suzy Menkes of the New York Times-owned International Herald Tribune, flew under the radar. In "Off With Her Headpiece," an article published in The New York Times's T Magazine about the jewels that Kate Middleton might wear to her wedding to England's Prince William, Menkes wrote (bold emphasis is mine):

Then there is a cabochon emerald collar that the stately Queen Mary (Queen Elizabeth' s grandmother) made from her family emeralds... Diana took the stuffing out of that piece by wearing it around her head like a squaw on a tour of Australia in 1985.

This came to my attention via Jennine Jacob, a fashion blogger of Native American descent, who was upset by the use of the word "squaw." A number of people who commented on the article online were also angry. One wrote, "The word 'squaw' is racist, offensive, and insulting on so many levels that I can't believe anyone in the 21st century would use it...." A day after the article appeared online, the editors of T Magazine replied in the comments: "Dear readers: We understand the sensitivity and wish that we had chosen different words. No offense was intended."

I was curious about whether Menkes's use of the word was considered appropriate by experts on Native Americans. As it turns out, those experts disagree on the original meaning of "squaw," but they all agree that the word is now seen as offensive. Suzan Shown Harjo -- a Native American poet, writer, lecturer, curator and policy advocate -- has argued for decades that what she calls the "s-word" originally meant "vagina," and is therefore a slur. When she made that argument in a 1992 appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show, it had broad impact.

Ives Goddard, now senior linguist emeritus at the Smithsonian's Department of Anthropology, has always disputed Harjo's translation, saying the word "squaw" derives "from an innocent term for woman." Despite the harmless origin, he notes, "This word is now generally considered offensive and is so labeled in all current dictionaries of English."

Anthropologist Margaret Bruchac, like Goddard, believes the word originally had a benign meaning. As a result, she has argued that "squaw" should be rehabilitated from its "dirty word" status. "This labeling of my indigenous language as obscene is a racist statement," she wrote in 1999. "It makes no sense for Native people to cling to and accept a wrong translation."

Nevertheless, the consensus is that the word, regardless of origin, is an insult in today's usage. Some states have even changed place names to remove "squaw" references. So I asked the New York Times why its editors didn't change the online version of the story. Suzy Menkes wasn't available for comment, but Arthur Brisbane, the public editor for the Times, said:

I understand your and others' concern about the use of the word "squaw." The Times, though, doesn't retroactively change the content of its stories. The obvious exception is in the case of corrected errors. In the case of word choice, such changes are not made retroactively. The policy reflects The Times's view that it creates a record with its contents and it should not attempt to change that record, after the fact.

That made me wonder if Menkes's use of squaw was factually correct. Did Native American women usually wear headbands? It is difficult to generalize. Tara Prindle Block, the author/developer of NativeTech.org, which focuses on the arts and technology of Eastern Woodland Indian Peoples, says of tribes in what is now southern New England: "It is true, and is documentable both historically and prehistorically, for Native American women of many tribes to wear woven bands around their heads."

But Mary Spanos, a textile anthropologist who specializes in the people of the Southeast, says headbands weren't worn in that region. She also said, "There were many, many groups of native peoples populating North America before the Europeans arrived and they were all quite different."

Bottom line: Suzy Menkes's comparison of Diana's fashion choice to that of a "squaw" was not only hurtful but seems to have been a bit of a stretch in terms of accuracy. And no analogy of any kind was was needed to explain the style to readers. Menkes simply could have said that Diana wore a necklace as a headband. Instead, she makes a reference that in no way sounds like a compliment -- more like a sneer. And that strikes me as sad.

Headdress Zine - Download for Free

Downloaded your own copy of Kate Burch’s zine HEAD DRESS :

Headdress was created to expose the negative and offensive ways in which Native American imagery is appropriated in "fashion" and "trendy" photographs on popular internet sites. The zine is composed entirely of found images from blogs, juxtaposed with critical quotes from theorists and bloggers examining the effects of cultural appropriation.

Download and distribute widely.

Levi's Indian Lore

Here's a lil repost from the always fascinating Sociological Images!:

Vintage Levi’s Brochure Provides a “Round-Up of Western Indian Lore”
by gwen

Rob Walker (author of the fascinating book Buying In: What We Buy and Who We Are) sent me a link to a post at Drinkin’ and Dronin’ of a 1954 Levi Strauss brochure about “western Indian lore.” It’s a nice round-up of stereotypes and appropriations of Native Americans. We start off with an angry, bare-chested (and Levis-clad) man with a tomahawk, shield, moccasins, and headdress; I’d guess he’s supposed to be a warrior doing a war dance:


Then some descriptions of items associated with different tribes and the obligatory broken English (“just want ‘um”) familiar to anyone who watched The Lone Ranger and paid attention to Tonto:


I have no idea how accurate their descriptions of “unusual Indian weapons” are, but the overall tone of the brochure doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence.
And we have a lesson on “the Indian sign language,” the origins of which are “lost in the mists of time”: