Last Autumn I organized a panel for the 2016 Montana Book Festival addressing questions like “How does one go about writing a Native character when one isn’t Native? How should Native authors themselves respond if a reader says they’re ‘making Natives look bad?’” What had partially spurred the idea was the backlash J.K. Rowling received from the Native American activist community for her four-part series of short online essays called the History of Magic In North America. In her imagined universe, the opening paragraph stated, “Various modes of magical travel – brooms and Apparition among them…” were how the first wizards from Europe came to North America. I throw “brooms” out because many Rowling bashers acted as if she needed to write an actual historical textbook, all while espousing “damned if you do or don’t” catch-22 impasse complaints: “A white person, she shouldn’t write about us or our beliefs, period!” versus “She should have done more research and been more specific!”Read More on the Story:
Adrian Jawort: Appropriation and Art As Political Pawns (Indian Country Media Network 5/26)
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