The Watertown High School homecoming features students dressed as faux Indians as part of the "Ki-Yi Royalty." Photo from Facebook
Homecoming hoopla!
By Brandon Ecoffey
Native Sun News Managing Editor The other day, for a brief second, the thought crossed my mind to run down to the corner drug store, grab some black shoe polish and proceed to cover myself in it. Then I imagined throwing on a hoodie and heading down to the gym where I would tell my African American buddies that I had dressed up this way “to honor them and their ancestors.” Then I stopped, looked at myself in the mirror, and slapped myself for allowing such an incredibly stupid thought to cross my mind. It seems obvious to me, and probably every other rationale person, that for anyone to dress up in this way would be utterly preposterous. I mean for real, who in their right mind could perform such atrocious actions, and where in this day and age could you find someone to condone behavior like this? Not surprisingly, in South Dakota. This state has a ton of wonderful people living in it who are not the least bit racist but if you looked at some of the policies that are in place here you might think of South Dakota as the Alabama of the north or as a place where Jim Crow lurks just beyond the bushes. Consider what has been taking place within the state judicial system where judges have refused to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act and are removing Native American children from their homes by the hundreds illegally or in Chamberlain where a school and community refuse to even debate the merits of including a traditional Native American honor song during its high school’s commencement ceremonies despite having a high number of Native students enrolled there. A couple weeks ago the uber-talented Cory Heidelberg of the online political blog, The Madville Times, posted a picture of the homecoming celebrations at Watertown High School. In the photo students are seen dressed up in what resembles Native American regalia. According to the Watertown Public Opinion, during the festivities students reenact a 75-year-old local town legend written by Florence Bruhn. In the story Bruhn wrote about two warring tribes, the Kione and the Yi-Wa-Wa (I am not making this up), who fulfill their role of the noble savages and find peace with one another after generations of fighting. Although the story paints a pretty picture, the reality of Indian Country 75 years was dire, traditional forms of governance were being forcibly replaced by the IRA governments we see today, boarding schools were doing their best to “kill the Indian and save the man,” and tens of thousands were starving as they struggled to adapt to an entirely different lifestyle of being confined to reservations. These historical facts may be why Florence Braun chose to model the characters in her “legend” out of a thin air, and mold them in to the archetype of the Noble Savage. Ironically, as I began to reach out to Native people for their reactions to the photos I was made aware of other schools in the state who also take part in similar “traditions” of appropriating Native American culture during homecoming festivities. For example, Sisseton High School, who goes by the nickname the Redmen, features the donning of synthetic buckskin couture and war paint by the homecoming court during their homecoming week. Of course this is in spite of numerous studies that are now showing that this type of imagery impacts the self-esteem of Native American children. In a state where the drop-out rate of Native students is through the roof, there is no excuse for this level of apathy towards an issue like cultural appropriation in our school system. Bennett County High School in Martin is no stranger to this kind of buffoonery. The South Dakota high school sports scene is highly competitive and filled with amazing talents in all facets of sport, yet it is no stranger to incidents involving race between schools from the reservation and those that are not. Part of the reason for these incidents is that at a very basic human level there is very little understanding or productive dialogue between Native America and non-Native communities in the state. Sadly events like the ones I mention above continue to contribute to the lack of understanding of other cultures and perpetuate a plethora of misconceptions and stereotypes about the Native American community in this state. These inaccuracies inevitably fuel the racism and ignorance that continues to prevent the building of bridges between Natives and non-Natives in the state. It may be time for the SDHSAA to ban these types of events their officially sanctioned sporting events. Let’s put the old stereotypes to rest. (Contact Brandon Ecoffey at staffwriter2@nsweekly.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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