NATIVE APPROPRIATIONS, REPRESENTATION MATTERS

Visiting Brown University Assistant Professor of American and Ethnic Studies, Adrienne Keene, didn't mince words sharing her expertise  regarding U.S. popular culture's portrayal of Native Americans on UW-L's campus last week. Ms, Keene, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, continues the very same conversation and activism in her very successful and educational blog Native Appropriations. 

Born in California, it was a trip to an Urban Outfitter store out East where merchandise covered in Native American motif made a lasting impression on Keene of how Native American culture is being misappropriated.  

Dr. Keene provided us with numerous examples of misrepresentation in fashion, film, music, and other forms of pop culture. 

Her stereotype power point examples in fashion design illustrate ignorance and cultural insensitivity ie...wearing  t-shirts with a skull donning a headdress (?) Hey, it's not Mexico's Day of the Dead / a Lego clad Indian outfit with unknown mixed designs and facial paint/ college students inappropriate Halloween costumes nor Victoria Secret's disrespect of scantily dressed models in headdresses and...

left Native American, year later stolen design

even stolen designs without permission of the Native American artist nor 
cultural consultation of a totem pole's painting copied without regard to cultural connotation with a yellow crotch no less.

Infractions run rampant.

Sociologically Dr. Keene challenged us to think about how Native Americans are portrayed in movies/tv shows. Do we ever see Native Americans as they live nowadays?  Rarely.

Present day we can look at DAPL and don't need to wonder why white communities in the Dakotas are fearful and gun toting of the Native Americans who have gathered peacefully to protect the land from greedy polluters as once again the 'Savage' stereotype from movie theaters/ tv screens prevails.

Keene reminded us of history where the U.S. never kept one single treaty out of the hundreds of treaties signed with the original peoples of the land.  Not one. Indian children were sent away to boarding schools where they were punished for speaking their language and had to wear the clothing of their oppressors. They were stripped of their culture in order to "civilize." 

Over 560 tribes exist but we tend to group them all together and have the gall to sing "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land." I don't know if I'll ever be able to listen nor sing the folk song again without cringing and remembering unless we are Native American, we live on stolen land. 

Interesting enough, UW-L now starts each campus program with a statement and moment of silence recognizing we are sitting on Ho-Chunk land.  But we look at campus policy how many Native Americans students are enrolled and graduate?  In the Q& A one audience member asked, shouldn't all Native Americans have free tuition? 

While Keene's education is impressive with an undergrad of Culture, Communities and Education Studies at Stanford and research during her Harvard Ph.D., not many Native Americans have the opportunity to attend higher education. 

Dr. Keene reminded us to recognize traditions and who they belong to, the need to recruit and encourage retention of Native Americans on campus with mentorship. And as her statement below emphasizes,  "Representations matter."

Thank you for coming  to La Crosse and giving us a wakeup call Adrienne Keene.  I look forward to following your blog Native Appropriations.

*older youtube clip:Adrienne Keene