Open Letter to the PocaHotties and Indian Warriors this Halloween

October 31st, 2011 by Guest Contributor

Last night I sat with a group of Native undergraduates to discuss their thoughts and ideas about the costume issue, and hearing the comments they face on a daily basis broke my heart. They take the time each year to send out an email called “We are not a costume” to the undergraduate student body–an email that has become known as the “whiny newsletter” to their entitled classmates. They take the time to educate and put themselves out there, only to be shot down by those that refuse to think critically about their choices.Your choices are adversely affecting their college experiences, and that’s hard for me to take without a fight.

The most frustrating part to me is, there are so many other things you can dress up as for Halloween. You can be a freaking sexy scrabble board for goodness sake. But why does your fun have to come at the expense of my well-being? Is your night of drunken revelry really worth subjugating an entire group of people? I just can’t understand, how after hearing, first-hand, that your choice is hurtful to another human being, you’re able to continue to celebrate with your braids and plastic tomahawk.

So I know you probably didn’t even read this letter, I know you’ve probably already bought and paid for your Indian costume, and that this weekend you’ll be sucking down jungle juice from a red solo cup as your feathers wilt and warpaint runs. I know you’re going to scoff at my over-sensitivity. But I’m telling you, from the bottom of my heart, that you’re hurting me. And I would hope that would be enough.

Wado,

Adrienne K.

PS- I wonder if you saw these posters? Because I think they illustrate my point really well.

UPDATE 10/27: Have a look at some of the costumes I’m talking about. I think it makes my arguments a lot clearer.

Earlier:

But Why Can’t I Wear a Hipster Headdress?

Nudie Neon Indians and the Sexualiztion of Indian Women

A Cowboys and Indians Party is just as bad as a Blackface Party 

Paris Hilton as a Sexy Indian: The Halloween Fallout Begins (includes lots of links about the costume issue)

Mid-Week Motivation: I am not your costume

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Posted in WTF?, We're So Post Racial, american indian/native american/first nations, colour-face, everyday racism, holidays, indigenous peoples, race & representations | 19 comments

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  • Eva

    Thank you for this very timely piece.  The sad part is that there are people who want to do what they want when they want it and nothing you say will change their minds.  However, there are those who will listen and think and tell you, “I never thought about that.  I’ll dress up as Princess Lea from Star Wars or Arwen from “Lord of the Rings” this year,” or something like that. 

  • Afro-chan

    I will direct people to this post this year and in the future.  Is it possible that next year any new articles about Halloween costumes could be published earlier?  I know so many people who may have thought twice but since they finished making/buying their costume a month ago they are not willing to change at the last minute.
     @90fc102137e8978ab1894faf41309d97:disqus  the author-I agree with you 100%.

  • Leo the Yardie Chick

    I decided to stay off of Tumblr until Christmas after seeing the ‘splaining going on about how “it’s just a costume”, “damn, you minorities are whiny!”, the dismissive parodies, etc regarding the “we are a culture, not a costume” campaign. Some people just will not even try to understand, and I can’t even beat some sense into them. >_<

  • http://www.facebook.com/fragglera Rachel Kantstopdaphunk

    thank you.

  • KTW

    This is not a Native American appropriation, but it is relevant: Raffi Torres, who plays for the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, dressed up as Jay-Z (blackface included) for a private Halloween party. There have been a couple of good articles about why it was wrong for Torres to wear blackface, but the writers of those very reasonable articles have been shouted down by hordes of angry, anonymous internet commenters who encourage them to shut up/lighten up/stop playing the race card. It’s funny how the backlash is always more vile than the initial controversy.

  • Anonymous

    Very very powerful. I will pass it round.

    In an odd unintended way you have just managed to put words there that describe perfectly what I feel like as a woman, sometimes (sex object etc) and with rape and violence as jokes.  I mean this section:
    “You don’t walk through
    life everyday feeling invisible, because the only images the public sees
    of you are fictionalized stereotypes that don’t represent who you are
    at all. You don’t know what it’s like to care about something so deeply
    and know at your core that it’s so wrong, and have others in positions
    of power dismiss you like you’re some sort of over-sensitive freak.You are in a position of power. You might not know it, but you are.”

  • A P

    Thanks for this piece.  Usually the “Comments” section of anything like this is pervaded by privilege-denying whites who are annoyed due to their bizarre perception that you are impinging on their self-appointed First Amendment rights; maybe you shamed them into silent compliance (but I doubt it.)

  • Mickey

    All of that anger just wreaks of white privilege. They are white, therefore, they are superior, they can do whatever the they want and your feelings and opinions don’t count because you are not their equal.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_DJQMGJU7MZMBVLSD4GUTPJEPD4 murt

    Great post — thanks for this!

  • KJ

    Excellent points in this article. I thnk Kourtney Kardashian was dressed as a native American in the audience at  DWTS yesterdy. I cringed  when I saw it. I used to work at Cleveland stadium for the Indians.They wanted us to all wear the chief  Wahoo  hat , but I always covered mine up with a price button. My brother’s friend was telling me Natives should not be offended.I tasked him “how can you decide what’s offensive to someone else?”

  • http://momsomniac.wordpress.com/ Momsomniac

    Wado.

    The “Cherokee princess” comment is one I have not heard in years (yay!) but it too hurts.  There are those of us out here who are actually of Cherokee descent. People claiming this heritage to avoid dealing with internalized racism erases us too.  I will admit, I am not above mentally smacking people who make foolish comments by responding with my concern about what has happened to the Cherokee Freedmen (it’s fun to watch them sputter and try to reconcile their delutions). 

    There are few “Indian” costumes to be seen where I live.  I am in the state where an intermural (largely Native) basketball team called themselves the “Fighting Whities” and a local highschool changed it mascot to “Reds” with little commentary.  Don’t give up and don’t give up hope.  It’s slow. And there will always be stupid people, but change comes.

  • K*

    I think the issue is not that your uncle had a genuine interest and respect for Native culture, but that your sister wore another culture’s actual dresses and jewelry as a costume. I think that makes it offensive and hurtful.

    Cultural appreciation is a whole separate and distinct thing. While it’s probably not as bad as your sister dressing as, say, a Pocahottie, it’s still treating a culture like a costume.

  • laura

    I think the issue is that people do not even realise the racism which underlies this costume, people will wear the Native Indian costume thinking they look like a ‘Indian Princess’ not thinking the ‘dance to celebrate the harvest’ comment could hurt those they are imposing. I have seen multiple people wearing the costume and until I read this blog I did not stop to think about the upset it could cause those from a Native decent. The ‘I am not a costume’ slogan is a powerful one- noone would dress up as a white person for Halloween so i do not think it is fair to dress up as a different race, especially with so many other costumes that can be worn. 

  • Jack Acid

    @Adrienne Great article.

    What is your opinion on Mardi Gras indians?

  • Drhiphop85

    I think that’s a point that probably gets overlooked because there is sometimes an assumption by POC that “we all understand each other”. When in fact we all come from different places, cultures, etc. In a way we reinforce this idea that POC are all one group with a unified mind. Instead of realizing that not all of us are “fighting the good fight” so to speak and are just as guilty as anyone else.

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