The Boy Scouts have a long history of Cultural Appropriation and Teaching children to Stereotype Native Americans..

under the guise of "honoring" and "admiration." 

At the time of the images below, it was still thought that indigenous people were vanishing. Those who existed on reservations were subjected to agents, permits needed to leave the reservation, and a lack of citizenship rights because they were still deemed "wards of the government." They were in limbo. Society loved the images of them in headdresses and wielding tomahawks, but "real Indians" and their treaty rights, human rights, and rights as citizens didn't matter. 
The Boy Scout's played into the "Noble Savage" image of the Hiawatha romanticized era. The scouts were whites-only, as were the Order of the Red Men who did the exact same thing - but as adults. 

These people "played Indian"... THEIR version of what an Indian was; not as a person now, but as the person whom they were remembering. 

And it is true, that some actual "real life Indians" participated in the cultural appropriation and cultural cannibalism of their own people, but I believe the reasons were varied. For some it was a means of making an income, others wanted to truly share their traditions with those who were anxious to learn, but I suspect many were basically Show Indians (or wannabe Indians of no Native blood) who made their living off of entertaining the masses. They enjoyed the attention, the publicity and the showmanship of being center-stage at events, while teaching adults and children about their culture (and the culture of other tribes.) 

Others were, honestly, sell-outs, who profited from selling their customs and secrets to people outside of their tribes, all for their own financial and career gain. 

Whether they knew, or not, that not all Native people agreed with that they were doing is unknown. But some of them created a business of cultural appropriation that continues today. 
1923, April 18 Press and Sun Bulletin 
1930, Jan 9 The Oshkosh Northwestern 
1936, Aug 2 Democrat and Chronicle 
1937, May 16 Democrat and Chronicle 
1940, July 7 Hatford Courant 
1944, April 17 Oakland Tribune 
1946, Oct 25 Chicago Tribune 

Popular posts from this blog

1927 - "We [first Americans].. ask you while you are teaching school children about America first, teach them the truth about the first Americans.

Image
In 1927, the mayor of Chicago, William H Thompson, launched a campaign to "straighten out the affairs of the schools" in Chicago by urging all textbooks to be 100% accurate and pro-American (as opposed to pro-British, he said.) The tagline for project was themed "America First." Scott H. Peters , Chippewa and president of the Grand Council Fire of American Indians  penned a letter to the mayor, asking that indigenous people be included. On December 1, 1927, the delegation presented Mayor Thompson with the following memorial: To the Mayor of Chicago: You tell all the white men "America First." We believe that. We are the first Americans. We are the only ones truly that are 100 per cent. We, therefore, ask you while you are teaching school children about America first, teach them the truth about the first Americans.              We do not know if the school histories are pro-British, but we do know that they are unjust to the life of ou...
Read more

1969 Tumbleweeds comic strip: Not everyone finds stereotyped humor funny

Image
Hates Tumbleweeds 1969 Aug 18 Progress Bulletin  Letter to the Editor: Please can you get rid of that tasteless, humorless Tumbleweeds? At least cut out the degrading stereotype of the Indian. I, for one, think it is bad for children to have "Sadistics Class" presented as though sadism were funny. I don't think drunkeness is funny either, nor suitable entertainment for kids. -- Ruth D. Keran, Pimona.  1969 Aug 18 Progress Bulletin  1967 Feb 25 The Indianapolis News  1968 April 5 The San Bernardino County  Tumbleweeds was an American comic strip that offered a skewed perspective on life in the Old West. Writer-artist Tom K. Ryan wrote "satire" that wasn't always well-accepted by indigenous people.  Ryan retired and brought Tumbleweeds to a conclusion on December 30, 2007. 1969 Jan 2 The Minneapolis Star  1969 Jan 4 The Indianapolis News  1971 April 27 The Daily Intelligencer  1971 Oct 9 The News Journal ...
Read more

1982 So how can things be changed? "Money. Power. Control of studios. These things are very difficult to come by. You need more sensitive, knowledgeable people writing, producing, directing, distributing."

Image
Indian Image Debunked  UNM Festival Attacks Celluloid Stereotype of Native American  By Tom Jacobs 1982 Feb 15, Albuquerque Journal        Phil Lucas was standing in the Seattle airport waiting for his luggage when a little blond boy, perhaps 8 years old, walked up to him.       "Are you an Indian?" the boy asked.       "Yes," Lucas replied.       "Do you have an arrow?"       "No," he said.       "Do you kill people?"       " No," Lucas said. The boy then turned around and walked away.       Lucas paused and shook his head after recounting the story.       "It's still happening today," he said.       Lucas expressed no animosity toward the youngster. After all, virtually everything the child knows about Indians he probably learned from the movies. And everyone knows that, in the movies, Indians kill ...
Read more