the halfbreed hates you

have you ever seen a real Indian?

[halfbreed-mohawk]

Vintage / Antique “laughing Indian” motorcycle logo. I plan on wearing this t-shirt to find out if anyone calls it offensive.

[halfbreed-mohawk]

Trying to enjoy some outlet mall shopping at Sawgrass Mills, I bumped into my friend here outside of Oasis Cigars.  Guess what?  Every time a Native person sees one of these, it reminds us that we are “other,” that we’re supposed to be relics and mascots.  It’s hurtful.  It’s racist.

So fuck you.

[halfbreed-mohawk]

Sure, if you want to be racist and sexist at the same time.

QT revels in putting racial slurs in his work; he neglects to think how that will affect people just trying to enjoy the film.

[black-to-the-bones-deactivated2]

Native children have the same rate of PTSD as combat veterans…

[halfbreed-mohawk]

I call Disney racist but they haven’t taken the Indian from Main Street yet.  I found a couple more “friends” in Frontierland and on the carousel in Fantasyland.

Disney, your four pillars are Safety, Courtesy, Efficiency, and Showmanship.  Which one covers stereotypical representations of Native Americans?

[halfbreed-mohawk]

No mall in America is complete without a nice wooden Indian. 

Thanks, Kansas City, for making me feel at home.

[halfbreed-mohawk]

Squaw has been an offensive, dehumanizing term since the first time a colonist used it, and educated people at The New Yorker should know better. Objectification of Native Women needs to stop, especially given how they’re disproportionately affected by sexual assault.  This pissed me off big time, especially given the source.

At least “Two Dogs Prancing Unself-Consciously Across New Horizon” made me laugh.  Not because of the “Indians sure do have some crazy names” joke, which was lazy and stupid twenty years ago, but because Eisenberg and the dipshit editors who greenlit “squaw” don’t know how to use negative prefixes correctly.  

You know how I know you’re white?  You do hateful shit like this in the guise of humor.  

[halfbreed-mohawk]

"Perhaps you think the Creator sent you here to dispose of us as you see fit.  If I thought you were sent by the Creator, I might be induced to think you had a right to dispose of me.

But I'm hard to smoke, bitch."

- Chief Joseph, 1876 (more or less)

[halfbreed-mohawk]

"I am tired of fighting... My people ask me for food, and I have none to give.  It is cold, and we have no blankets, no wood.  My people are starving to death.  Where is my little daughter?  I do not know ... Buy these apples."

- Chief Joseph, more or less

[halfbreed-mohawk]

"When I think of our condition, my heart is heavy. I see men of my own race treated as outlaws and driven from country to country, or shot down like animals.  

Then I think of Prince Albert Tobacco and I cheer right the fuck up."

- Chief Joseph (Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it), more or less.

[halfbreed-mohawk]

I don't know if my nephew lost a bet or what, but when he cut his afro off this is the last thing anyone expected to find underneath.

[halfbreed-mohawk]

This bar in New Orleans knows what Indians like, and it's not firewater.

[halfbreed-mohawk]

You couldn't go anywhere in Niagara Falls without encountering some type of Native iconography, be it weapons, attire, or totem poles - good stuff!  

Unfortunately, it's all exploited for commerce and firmly rooted in the 18th century.

Verdict? Racism.

[halfbreed-mohawk]

It started with N.E.R.D.'s cover of the album Nothing.  Clearly this is meant as some kind of patriotic statement.  But why does the splash of red, white, and blue have to be feathers?  

Pharrell, you don't fool the Halfbreed.  You so wanted that to be a headdress.

Cut to July 2014... or now, since magazine covers come out a month in advance of the month.  Pharrell isn't kidding this time around. 

But he's in the clear, right?  I mean, the Washington Redskins honored the Navajo codetalkers, Johnny Depp gave $10,000,000 to the tribe Tonto's from, so we're cool... right?

Even I have to admit that Pharrell looks damn fine.  He wears appropriation better than most.

It's still appropriation.

[halfbreed-mohawk]

Another classic Indian motorcycle.  Another pissed off Indian,

[halfbreed-mohawk]

Otto the Orange has officially been the mascot in my hometown since 1978, but who gives a shit, right?  You can still find "unsanctioned" merchandise like this, which seems like an attempt to appeal to some weird nostalgia.  Like, "Remember when we didn't realize Indians were people?  That was crazy.  Let's commemorate that special time with a t-shirt."

Guess what?  It wasn't cool then, and it's not cool now.

[halfbreed-mohawk]

Celebration, Florida, was created by the Disney company.  

From Peter Pan, to Pocahontas, to cigar store Indians, Disney knows racism.