"Think of the Native image, the feathers the braids, the beads, the buckskin...All of these images and meanings form wallpaper on the insides of our minds. They are ever-present, and yet invisible. These are our Americana Indians. The imaginative, the romantic, fictional portrayals of the real Native nations of our country...
Why do I care? Because I am an American Indian woman. You may be thinking, "She doesn't look Indian. Where are her braids and her buckskin?" See, there's the wallpaper. The ever-present expectation of Indianness from the Western movies and storybooks. These fictions create confusion when they meet reality. These fictions can also cause harm when they replace reality.Â
There are 4.1 million American Indians in this country and many of them are urban. New York City has approximately 100,000 American Indian people, and there are about 33,000 American Indians living in Albuquerque. Now, we don't all look or act or behave or believe the same things. We are as diverse as the 562 sovereign nations.
Youth culture feels comfortable appropriating American Indian images and dress; Halloween, sports, hipster concerts. Maybe this is innocent, but if so, why have we stopped dressing as Aunt Jemima but we continue to dress as American Indian people? What is it about the sexy Indian squaw that seems ever-present in the American imagination?
American Indian women are the most victimized group in the country. They have the highest rates of sexual and physical abuse. In fact, one in three Native women will be raped in her lifetime. For many the question is not if but when the abuse will occur.
Itâs very difficult to draw a direct cause and effect between media, images, and harm to native communities, but when we look at these images it becomes clear that the sexualization of native women is a given. While the consumer may be thinking exoticism and allure, I am thinking bruises, blood and trauma. Images may seem harmless but they must be interpreted in light of social and historical context. The United States government has long waged a war on Native womenâs bodies, including rape in military action, boarding school abuse, forced sterilization. These demeaning images and attitudes are learned.Â
What I want you to do is more than think Indian. I want you to consider the Native perspective and then I want you to think about your own assumed wisdom and I want you to have a conversation. Parents, think about your kids future, teach them to respect difference. Young people, if you have a friend who comes to a party in a headdress, ask them, âWhat are you thinking?â Consumers, choose not to buy derogatory products, buy native products from native people. What Iâm asking for is simple, think twice, speak out, educate yourselves, have a conversation."
romaincrisis
blakekathryn
theartofmadeline
