If you happened to catch Ke$ha's performance last night on American Idol then you already know that she donned a headdress during the last part of her performance of "Blah, Blah, Blah." The outrage that immediately followed in the Native community was huge. I didn't get it. I missed the performance (I seem to do that a lot, I guess I should increase my television viewing time?)
The case with Ke$ha is more serious than the Lewis incident since it's an actual war bonnet and not just based mainly on a Hollywood fabrication of Native imagery. The significance of the war bonnet in traditional Native cultures is huge. It is used in ceremonies, and it is only worn by those who are awarded them after many years of effort, and usually only be men. No artist would dare don a kippah or a turban so the same respect should be given to Native peoples and their traditional, ceremonial wear.
natalie portman's shaved head - sophisticated side ponytail from thatgo on Vimeo.
Now having said that I do find it interesting that hipsters do have this headdress fascination. I even wrote a post about it last year 'Would you don a headdress?' Also see Native Appropriations post 'The Strange Case of the Hipster Headdress.' I think that looking at this issue actually requires a lot of research and time to address this situation more fully. This is something I simply don't have the band width for right at the moment and so I delve in lightly, minus the hours of research.
But all in all I think people are genuinely interested in Native culture as evident by our peppering in pop culture. I think that this is a good thing. Not everyone has accessibility for what authentic Native culture is. Many people all across North America (and the world obviously) don't actually know any Native people. I know in Toronto I am the only Native person to many people here in the city. This interest is a great opportunity to discuss our real issues, and dispel stereotypes that are placed on us. And so while I personally don't get hugely upset with the donning of the headdress, I do take this opportunity to open up discussion.
Spirit Cover Spring 2008
When this cover was put in the public frontier, Native people were upset. It's a Native magazine featuring a Native woman in a headdress as a part of a larger discussion on Native woman in burlesque performance. Still there was shock and dismay. The magazine even played down the fact that she was wearing a headdress by Photoshop techniques. I for one see creativity and freedom of expression in this cover, even a reclamation of one's sexual prowess. I love it.
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Very interesting post, Lisa. As someone who is not Native, I must admit I am one of the ones who do not see "the big deal" about Ke$ha and others donning headdress. It is interesting the headdress show chose to wear on AI: I would not have known it had so much meaning. You raise some very good points about what the masses take as acceptable and crossing the line for using clothing or items from other cultures. Perhaps more education is needed on Native headdresses. I know this post really opened my eyes a bit. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Lisa. I can totally understand how native people may get offended by this and you had a valid point about the kippah or turban as im pretty sure that wouldnt go over well.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Lisa! I shared this on facebook.
ReplyDeleteI do get upset because it is cultural appropriation plan and simple.
We are very rare where ever we go. In the suburb that I grew up in Metro Detroit I was 0.3% of the population. Where I am currently residing I am 1% of the Native population here. We are 1% of the population in the US. Our numbers are so small. There is no reason for cultural appropriation. It just hurts.
I'm so glad to see you write about this. My wife and I were watching last night and my first two thoughts were:
ReplyDelete1. Hey, that's not cool.
2. It doesn't make any sense either.
I mean, her whole lip-synched performance was lacking... um... sense. Big tv-headed dancers are one thing, but did the headdress and paint stand in for any kind of 'statement' other than that hipster fascination? And does Ke$ha even appeal to hipsters anyway? ;-)
Anyhow. Back to Thought 1.
I can't help but view this as disrespectful.
I grew up in the Chicago suburbs in the 70s and 80s, when it was pretty common to play with costumes, toys, etc, that portrayed (generally in a stereotypical way) Native American culture. Cowboys vs Indians and all that. I went to the University of Illinois, and when I attended, discussions were just beginning about the existing symbol and mascot, a fictional Chief Illiniwek. On one side, proponants argued that Lakota involvement made the character acceptable. On the other side, that despite any cultural accuracy, it was still a gross and offensive stereotype, and appropriating culture as base-level entertainment. (The mascot was retired in 2007).
Comparing my experience in the US to my time in Canada (almost a decade), I think Canadians are more aware of genuine Native culture. In Illinois, people I grew up with and went to school with really didn't 'get' why Chief Illiniwek could be offensive to anyone.
With a largely American audience, I think a pop artist on American Idol who appropriates a very iconic symbol of Native leadership is only perpetuating that it's ok to continue with stereotyping. The polar opposite of what I felt the Vancouver Olympic Opening Ceremonies accomplished.
Stereotypes only decrease consciousness and awareness of the issues surrounding cultures and groups. What changes minds and educates is more visibility, more communication, more conversation. I guess in one way, Ke$ha's performance could be considered a good thing. It may help to open up that conversation.
Thanks for blogging.
Sarah - Thank you for reading. I really appreciate it :).
ReplyDeleteFarah - Thanks! I know can you imagine if someone attempted that what kind of backlash there would be? Wow.
Anishinaabekwe - I am not that upset about cultural appropriation per se (as noted by my post a few days ago about feather headbands). But when it is religious/spiritual/ceremonial than for sure it is offensive.
Listen to the song for what she and the men for that matter, are saying in the song. She is suggesting that there doesn't need to be a whole lot of discussion to get her in the back seat of his car,in fact, too much blah blah blah wont' get her in the backseat at all. Throw in a headdress, she is making a targeted statement to Native American/First Nations women's sexual practices of getting into the back seat of any man who doesn't care for them (meaning they will sleep with anybody).
ReplyDeleteThat is offensive, not the donning of the headress.
I don't "get" Ke$ha. I mean, a dollar sign? Come on!
ReplyDeleteWell, donning the headdress "IS" offensive, sorry, I didn't mean to cut this out of the conversation, but I found it the lesser of the two evils she was presenting. The intent of the headdress was to deflect the content away (sleeping with any man from a bar, and one who doesn't care for her) from her (or white women) to a racial group (Native American/First Nations). That is how I interpretated her performance.
ReplyDeleteRE: the SPIRIT cover of Veronika... the headdress was not photo-shopped in. I shot that image, and she was actually wearing it for the shoot.
ReplyDeleteSuper interesting discussion!
ReplyDeleteI really wonder if she even considered the significance of wearing such an item? If she did consciously wear this specific kind of headdress as a statement (Which I doubt she did. But, hey, it's good for discussion!) what does that say?
Personally, I'm more interested in the consumer side of the headdress. Let's be honest, the headdress is beautiful and has/will continue to be a hot ticket in the fashion world. Is it acceptable for 'authentic' first nations clothing to be sold on a mass scale? Further (and I'm trailing here), but what would make it 'authentic' anyway? -- Would each item need to be custom made by a specialist? Or, can the owner of the brand be first nations but the designers not (or vice-versa)? And, more importantly, would the headdress become less symbolic if mass amounts of people were wearing it? HM?
Hey speaking of Jessica Yee - Lisa why don't you interview her for your Urban Warriors? I heard she lives in Toronto - and I know she does really cool things in that city.
ReplyDeleteYeah - wasn't Jessica Yee on the cover of the Toronto Star as like the top 10 people to watch in Toronto in 2010 or something like that? She's definitely an urban warrior!
ReplyDeleteGloria - you are entitled to your own interpretation of that video. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteKavisolo - seriously ridic.
Nadya - I know you shot it! I meant that SPIRIT Mag chose to de-emphasize the headdress by having a red background and they said that they photoshopped it so it wasn't so apparent that she was wearing one ...
Carl Hiehn - Headdresses are beautiful, I think "authentic First Nations" clothing on a larger scale is awesome. It would be great if it were available. I can't even get a pair of moccasins made, so just imagine the typical consumer. Yikes! There is a real demand for it that is not being met because frankly there is so much resistance to "appropriation" instead of using it as an opportunity IMHO. I don't think the headdress would lose significance judging by the reaction of those traditional Native peoples, they are serious about it not being used. Doesn't mean it's not going to happen though.
Anon. & John - Thanks for the suggestion. Yes I know Jessica and would like to do something with her more feature length once my schedule allows :).
IT's so bad!
ReplyDeleteI think that this is greatly offensive even though i am not in the religion, it is still our culture. Why does this country poke fun at native americans? Our president and senators and goverment say : " Hey, let's go help out the hungry in south america, or lets help out the starving chinese children." What about our country? We have our native brothers and sisters starving, not getting the medical care they need to get. Our native brothers and sisters are living in poverty on the reservations and america doesn't even glance at them! I have when people are so culturally insensitve!
ReplyDeleteI am white, technically speaking, but spent from the age of baby-10yrs on the coast of BC where, as you may know, even back in the eighties had a huge multi-cultural population that included a dominent Asian presence. Then I spent from the age of 10-19 in a small town where the population was equally divided between local native, immigrants from India, and those of European descent. I lived not that far from the res, my neighbors were mostly all native and most of my friends were native. The way I grew up, I was equally, if not more influenced by the cultures around me, a big part of that being native, I was less influenced by my own blood heritage (first generation Canadian on one side, 3rd gen on the other) which is a mix of Irish, Scottish, English, Latvian & German. I took initiative growing up to learn about my own heritage.
ReplyDeleteThese influences very much influence both my world view, my spiritual beliefs, my sense of style, my interests et cetera, it's helped to define who I am.
I have been reading alot of articles for the past few hours on the subject of cultural appropriation and I am trying to make heads and tails of where I fit into that.
First off, I am not native and learning that celebrities have started wearing headdresses that they dont' understand, I find offensive and inappropriate. However, native influenced fashion in the sense of patterns on fabric or non-specific feathers in the hair; I have always thought was a beautiful expression of indiginous influence on modern culture, but, I can also see how that would be cultural appropriation. I would never wear an eagle feather, I have my eagle feather (gifted to me) sitting in a place of honour on red fabric.
But I love feather earrings, for me they are spiritual, I give thanks for the creatures who have shared their feathers, most of which were hand gathered from the ground by people I have met or know well.
But I was at a rock concert recently and a Mohawk fellow looked pretty upset when he saw me with my feather earrings and braided hair. But to be fair, there are many cultures who braid their hair & wear feathers both for spiritual and decorative purposes and this does include the Celts. However, most people don't know that "celt" is actually the same thing as a calling a Mohawk or Cree an "Indian". "Celt" is derrived from "Keltoi" which is the name of the first tribe the Romans encountered when they were invading Gaul (which includes part of modern day France).
So my question is; where does one draw the line about what is ok and appropriate cultural influence, and what is in fact inappropriate cultural appropriation?
Everyone has different ideas about what is or isn't culturally appropriation. I tend to lean toward the lenient side, given my background being raised in the suburbs, and my interest in fashion. I think feather earrings and a braid is fun, not offensive. If there was "war paint", then that would be too much. I think ultimately if your intention is good and you are open to feedback (not talking about headdresses here) than you should be free to wear what you like. I take inspiration in my fashion choices from many other cultures.
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