The start of Feathers and Paint
This was me over twenty years ago.. and I'm wearing my favorite sweatshirt.
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| Terri Jean |
But I only had that shirt for a year or two, because it wasn't long after that I read Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee, and A Century of Dishonor, and then God is Red, which eventually lead me to read up on more contemporary issues, such as Playing Indian and The Earth Shall Weep.
Needless to say, I ditched the shirt.
From there I found Charlene Teters , an amazing artist and activist who bravely stood alone outside a University of Illinois basketball arena (home of the Chief Illiniwek mascot) with a homemade sign that read,
Since then I've been an ally in the movement to end the cultural exploitation of Native people. I now care about the Cleveland Indians logo, and have attended several demonstrations against them. I've carried signs, joined in on chants and tried to explain my position to fans who honestly didn't care.. just like me way back when.
Needless to say, I ditched the shirt.
From there I found Charlene Teters , an amazing artist and activist who bravely stood alone outside a University of Illinois basketball arena (home of the Chief Illiniwek mascot) with a homemade sign that read,
"American Indians are human beings,
not mascots"
in 1989. I've met Charlene several times since, and I am always in awe of her strength and determination. She is a person I look up to tremendously. If you haven't seen the 1997 documentary about her work to change Indian-themed mascots, I highly recommend it. (In Whose Honor.) |
| Charlene and I at a Cleveland Indians demonstration. 2015 |
It's been a good many years since I joined this cause. I've engaged in many on-line battles with people who feel passionately about their position, and I find that they generally make the same points every single time.
Last fall I took a voyeuristic position and watched others argue over the Clarke Indians of Osceola, Iowa, who came under fire when their girls basketball poster was so culturally offensive and inappropriate, that people all over the country spoke up in hopes of educating this community. But the town took their defensive position, and pushed back with a laundry list of reasons why they have a RIGHT to not only call themselves the Indians, but for their girls to wear headdresses, and for a mascot to prance around the football field in a faux-Indian costume. They repeated the same points, used the same excuses, and the students, their parents, the community members and even the school held tight to their name and imagery, believing that THEY are INDIANS and are worthy of wearing these costumes, mocking a race of people, and calling themselves a "TRIBAL FAMILY." Most swear it's done to honor Native people, some say it's to honor Osceola of the Seminole Nation, and if Native people today don't feel their honor, it's not their fault.
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| A 2012 photo of the Clarke Indians, along with a mascot dressed in a faux-headdress. |
These arguments are common on-line, especially since some schools are holding tight to their Indian-themed monikers, and others are (reluctantly) mulling over the idea of changing to something that's not insensitively race-based. Lancaster, NY nixed their Redskins name in 2015, but it's still a hot issue for those who claim "Once a Redskin, always a Redskin." That debate got pretty heated, both at the school board meetings and with Native people (and their allies) on-line. In Lancaster, they're still trying to get that mascot and name back. (smh)
Currently, the Keyport Red Raiders of New Jersey are battling with activists who are pushing for the school to end their use of Native American Indian imagery and mascots. Keyport, of course, calls it an honor - while the people they are honoring call it offensive.
Here's an example: the first photo is from a 2005 article clearing stating that activists want the school to stop mimicking indigenous people. The other two images are recent, as well as the bottom pictures - which pretty much proves the point that this behavior does NOT belong in a public educational institution. We'll see how long Keyport keeps their mascot, since it's hotly debated right now and these kids wearing headdresses, and the adults who put this crap on-line, are their own worse enemy.
One of the reasons these race-based mascots are so harmful is because they teach children to view Native people in two categories: 1) Modern Native Americans -- vs -- 2) heroic American Indian warriors of the past. And they believe they're honoring the latter, while they spew hateful comments to the actual people who are alive today. It always leads to racist comments. Always. At the end of the Clarke Indians debate, one of the strongest supporters of the mascot posted this publicly to her Facebook page:
Like I said, it ALWAYS leads to racist comments. This is what happens when you stereotype an entire group and honor a fictional image of the past, while dismissing and insulting the modern day people who have to see those images every single day.
It's a complex issue, one that took me more than a decade to truly understand, and over the past 20 years I've collected thousands of articles that pushed my own education forward. Since the Clarke Indian poster debate, I began weeding through them to see if I could post something that might make a difference to those willing to learn more about cultural appropriation, and how it impacts the indigenous people. I found a lot.. and I mean a LOT. That's when I opted to post them here, and make them available to the public once again.
This blog will start with the ever-so-common statement: "This wasn't an issue until now."
This is where the fight usually starts. This is usually the offenders first point. I wonder if it would make a difference if they knew that Native people have been actively fighting cultural appropriation for more than 100 years, even petitioning Presidents to put an end to the false characterization of the "Feathers & Paint" Indian, prancing around and being portrayed by non-Native people incorrectly. I can prove, without a doubt, that this HAS been an issue for more than a century. The problem then is the same as it is now: trying to get non-Native people to listen, to understand, and to comprehend how their behavior influences all aspects of indigenous life.
This is where the fight usually starts. This is usually the offenders first point. I wonder if it would make a difference if they knew that Native people have been actively fighting cultural appropriation for more than 100 years, even petitioning Presidents to put an end to the false characterization of the "Feathers & Paint" Indian, prancing around and being portrayed by non-Native people incorrectly. I can prove, without a doubt, that this HAS been an issue for more than a century. The problem then is the same as it is now: trying to get non-Native people to listen, to understand, and to comprehend how their behavior influences all aspects of indigenous life.
I have a lot of material to cover. My hope is to post it in chronological order. I'll create a timeline page, with links, as I move forward. If you have any questions, please message me on my Facebook page at Terri Jean - and *like* our Feathers & Paint page. All comments must be from blog subscribers, and those that are racist or rude are open to being posted on-line, or deleted.
So play nice.. please.
And I don't plan to stop with the cultural appropriation articles. After that I'll keep filling the timeline in - growing it in information and context - all from primary-period resources. It'll be quite a timeline, I'm sure, since I have (literally) thousands upon thousands of articles in my collection with topics ranging from cultural exploitation and civil rights to notable Native people and important events in indigenous history. I have lots.. lots and lots. And I want to share it all with you because most of this information has been lost, rewritten or deliberately white-washed from our national consciousness. And by building this timeline, and re-learning the history together - we will grow our understanding of the First People, and of ourselves as a nation. Much of what I'll share will be difficult to digest, but the truth hurts sometimes, and as long as it's the truth - and can be verified as the truth - then we can't be harmed from it. We can only enrich our national history, and hopefully change how we ALL perceive not only our own cultural story - proving that Native American history is AMERICA'S history too - but change how we see our nation's FIRST PEOPLE.
And here we go..
So play nice.. please.
And I don't plan to stop with the cultural appropriation articles. After that I'll keep filling the timeline in - growing it in information and context - all from primary-period resources. It'll be quite a timeline, I'm sure, since I have (literally) thousands upon thousands of articles in my collection with topics ranging from cultural exploitation and civil rights to notable Native people and important events in indigenous history. I have lots.. lots and lots. And I want to share it all with you because most of this information has been lost, rewritten or deliberately white-washed from our national consciousness. And by building this timeline, and re-learning the history together - we will grow our understanding of the First People, and of ourselves as a nation. Much of what I'll share will be difficult to digest, but the truth hurts sometimes, and as long as it's the truth - and can be verified as the truth - then we can't be harmed from it. We can only enrich our national history, and hopefully change how we ALL perceive not only our own cultural story - proving that Native American history is AMERICA'S history too - but change how we see our nation's FIRST PEOPLE.
And here we go..
