What if it isn’t really “Cultural Appropriation”...
So, before anyone goes about ripping my head off and bestowing me a new asshole, hear me out.
I know that I have pointed out that I am of Iroquois Indian decent, the rumor is that my ancestry goes as far back as Chief CornPlanter. So, as someone with Indigenous genes, having had been raised by a white couple against the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1979; I had a bit of an “Ah Ha” moment last night; this Ah Ha moment has been on the forefront of my mind, and until I ‘put it on paper’ (or share on any social media platform) it’s going to continue to scream at me in my head for the rest of fucking eternity... and, my bitch ass ain’t got any real time for that.
Let me start by reviewing what Cultural Appropriation is:
Cultural Appropriation is the adoption of the elements of one culture by members of another culture. Cultural appropriation, often framed as cultural misappropriation, is sometimes portrayed as harmful and is claimed to be a violation of the collective intellectual property rights of the originating culture.
With Halloween slowly approaching, I want to discuss what many have discussed have before... dressing up as a Native American Indian 😶. That sexy Native Princess costume you’ve been eyeballing since last year might seem like a good idea because you know you would rock that shit better that all of the other bitches, I want you to use that gray matter betwixt you ears to ponder this: You’ve just pondered Sexual Appropriating an entire culture that is still; as in currently; being kidnapped to be sold on the Black Market Sex Slave Trade outside of the United States, raped, and murdered for the better part of 500 years (around about/close enough to) 😃.
The Sexual Appropriation of Culture is as bad as Cultural Appropriation. It’s like watching a piss poor reboot of a Bonanza episode or Cannibal the Musical... but CtM was poking fun at the Cultural Appropriation created by Hollywood most notably in the 50s, 60s, and 70s which is where a multitude of the generic South Western Native Stereotyped costumes were inspired from.
have a solution to fix this problem. It’s a super simple 4 step solution, and can be applied toward all culture thus minimizing cultural appropriation all together. Here’s what I need you to do:
If you really want to dress up as a Native American Indian:
1) Pick A Tribe! Seriously, pick one, any one will do, and reasearch that Tribe until you feel like you have full blown knowledge about them; you could pull off a 30 minuet presentation out of your ass about the Tribe you’ve chosen.
2) Pay Close Attention To Detail! When studying the Tribe you’ve chosen to dress up ass, seriously, pay attention to their ancestral costuming. The patterns of clothing, what type of beads and bead work, Head dresses, the meanings behind the “war paint”, etc. ... in short, the whole kit and fucking caboodle. Everything has a meaning and a purpose when it comes to tribal cultures.
3) Mannerisums Matter! I mean, fuck, if your going to dress up like us, you might want to be accurate with the behaviors and mannerisms of that tribe... It’s not hard to do, re-read #1 and #2 to see how that’s done. If you learn about a countries cultural mannerisms and customs before you go so you don’t go around acting like a giant fucking dotard, do the same for Indigenous Culture.
4) Be Respectful/Mindful With Everything You’ve Just Learned! This really just goes without saying at this point. 1 - 3 are the simple steps you need to take do dressing like ANY tribal culture (locally and globally) for Halloween this year.
I’ve not once said “just don’t fucking do it”, like so many people have said... what I am trying to say is it would be super fucking sweet to see some accuracy for Native American Indians and all of the tribal communities. This includes the Inuits, Aborigines, Vikings, Celts, African, Hawaiian/Polonasian, Asian, and so many other Tribal Cultures.