"While the misappropriation of American Indian cultures and imagery by western society has persisted for decades, there’s been a gradual uptick in the misrepresentation of Native peoples in the past several years. “Tribalism,” a mainstream trend largely based on false, stereotypical notions of who indigenous people are, has become a pop culture phenomenon. Celebutantes, pop princesses and hipster wannabes have been donning gaudy, exaggerated war bonnets and headdresses, wearing “war paint,” and playing dress up in Native American “inspired” costumes in record numbers. The perpetuation of stereotypical images of Native peoples is unacceptable and discriminatory for a myriad of reasons.

Non-natives who wear American Indian costumes are pretending to be someone of another race. Just as wearing blackface is repugnant, appearing as a stereotyped caricature of an American Indian is patently offensive. Those who play “dress up” by wearing an American Indian costume, headdress or war bonnet are not only failing to acknowledge the existence of over 500 recognized native nations, each separate and distinct from one another, they are making light of centuries of suffering, oppression and genocide endured by the indigenous people of this country. Enforcing racial stereotypes of Native peoples as savages in nondescript feathers and fringe also perpetuates the myth that American Indians are not active members of modern society and questions our very existence.

Perhaps the most deplorable version of stereotypical American Indian ensembles is the “sexy Indian” costume, a.k.a. the “Pocahottie.” Such costumes, like the one Paris Hilton wore last Halloween, depict Native women as sex objects to be desired by non-native men (and perhaps women). Considering that American Indian women are 2.5 times more likely to be sexually assaulted than any other race of women, that one out of three of all American Indian women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime, and that as many as 4 out of 5 of these acts of sexual violence are committed by non-native men, the very idea of perpetuating the image of Native women as a sex object is reprehensible."

Get the Story:
Ruth Hopkins: Tribalism as Pop Culture Phenomenon and the Perpetuation of Offensive American Indian Stereotypes (Indian Country Today 8/19)

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