Links for 09-03-2009

Compiled by Jessica Yee

• Duluth Shop Stops Selling Offensive T-Shirts

A Duluth shop owner says he’s sorry for selling t-shirts some call racist…The clothing racks at “I Love Duluth” no longer contain these shirts, called racist by many in the Native American community…”Anger.  Anger and disbelief,” says Donna Blue Bird, who complained to owner Simon Shaked about the shirts after seeing them Wednesday.  She says they were blatant racism to a woman who’s dealt with prejudice her entire life.

• Der Indianer

The first thing John Blackbird learned when he was growing up on the Canadian prairies was that his people were no good. Raised primarily by a white family, Blackbird heard from friends and classmates that Natives were lazy and unemployable…Today in Germany, Blackbird is a star, a celebrity even. He’s seen as a descendant of the wild and free people of the plains—an embodiment of environmental respect…Blackbird’s fame springs from a remarkable cultural phenomenon: some 40,000 German “hobbyists” who spend their weekends trying to live exactly as Indians of the North American plains did over two centuries ago.