Links for 09-03-2009
Compiled by Jessica Yee
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.
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.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of
EH wrote:
Wow those shirts were messed up.
Posted 03 Sep 2009 at 5:22 pm ¶
m. wrote:
Hobbyists are nuts. I thought the wannabes and pretendians and racist environmentalists were out of control in this country, but then I found out about the people in Germany and other European countries that like to play Indian. Apparently, there are even some crazies in Turkey that are obsessed with trying to prove some sort of cultural and ethnic “connection” with Indians – it’s very bizarre, they actually think we are long-lost relatives. Um, right…because we have SO much in common with white Caucasian European people from another part of the world. Perhaps Turkish people are grasping at straws to feel better about the displacement of people in their “homeland” and all the oppressing they’ve done. Er.
The one redeeming part of that article (it’s a more depressing read if you already knew about it and you’re Native) is the correction of Blackbird’s “racist terminology”. I laughed so hard – non-Native people ALWAYS do that! In that situation, I believe the correct response is: “Oh, I’m sorry: Indigenous First Nations Aboriginal Native American… that better?”
Posted 03 Sep 2009 at 7:02 pm ¶
Lauren wrote:
As a German, I grew up with hundreds of narratives that painted Indians as “noble, spiritual people of the past”. While I never read Karl May (his books are more for boys, really), I devoured a lot of these books that seemed to allow insight into a world so different from my own.
And yes, those stories made me want to “be” an Indian. Playing “Indian” was as common as playing “mommy” or “princess”. At that age, I didn’t know better.
But growing older, my initial “fascination” turned into a genuine interest. With that came the willingness, the wish, to learn about the real Indians, instead of the fantasy versions of my childhood. I remember a talk given by an Indian at my school when I was about 12, and everyone was very interested in what he had to say about his people and the way they live their lives now.
It is a sad truth that there are many people who are unwilling to let go of their fantasies, unwilling to even consider that what they are doing is harmfull. But there are a lot of others who are willing to learn.
The fact that Karl May never actually went to America before writing his books is common knowlege today, as is the fact that everything in his books is made up. And those books are not nearly as widely read as they used to be.
I understand the offensiveness of what those “hobby-ists” are doing, and I certainly don’t blame anyone for turning away in disgust and never wanting to come back. But there are Germans who do want to learn. And we are very greatfull to those who are willing to talk to us about the realities of Indian life,the struggles they are facing today, the way their cultures evolve, the fact that they are a living people.
Please don’t write all of us off because of those people who refuse to give up their fantasies.
Posted 06 Sep 2009 at 9:17 am ¶