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Deviousness `anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
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Sta.sh
Sincerely, someone who has more native American in them than most of, if not all the people making fools of themselves here.
This image is very gorgeous by the way.
This is a fantastic piece of work. It's like pop art but the colors make it less 'in your face' bold. It's very beautiful and it's perfectly shaded. Not too much detail, but enough to convey the message.
A warbonnet or headdress is a sacred cultural symbol to several groups of Plain Indians that is traditionally reserved for men that have earned the right to wear it. The figure presented in the artist's image is both female and white, so she is not entitled to wearing the headdress. The images of white women wearing warbonnets are really prevalent and problematic and people should take a little time to research and understand why!
White American culture exists as a majority that both oppresses and threatens the cultures of minority groups. Native Americans have faced a history of violence and oppression at the hands of white society and still struggle today for their rights and to preserve their traditions and culture. That is why it is especially offensive to see their sacred symbols used in media, fashion, art, etc in a disrespectful manner.
You might say "but Van, America is a cultural melting pot and we're made up of tons of different cultures. Shouldn't this be the same kind of thing?" The difference is that this is a sacred item and it's from a historically oppressed and threatened culture. It is certainly okay to depict a warbonnet if it is presented respectfully! It is also okay to learn about other cultures, buy art and items from native craftspeople, eat food from different cultures, etc. Just don't mess with things you are not entitled to!
And to address folks who say "well I'm not offended" or "I'm native and I'm not offended", I'm not saying everyone has to be offended. No one can really determine what people should and shouldn't be offended by. However, be respectful of the feelings of others.
Plus I don't think anyone is being terrible vitriolic here, from what I see it's being discussed pretty calmly!
I don't think a terrible amount of energy really goes into discussing these issues. Caring about smaller issues doesn't necessarily negate bigger ones! Taking a minute or two to write a comment doesn't render a person incapable of caring about or working to improve other situations (for instance, poverty on reservations, hate crimes, etc). And like I mentioned, it's really up to the individual whether it's really an issue to be offended over. It's not up to us to decide how others should feel and I think it's okay if people want to express themselves. Discussion is good.
As for stereotyping, well, this image is based off of a photo of a model who is (I believe) European, so that's what I mean when I say "a white woman". There's just a lot of images out there of women who have no connection with a native heritage that are wearing the headdress. I oughta know that not all Native people have one typical set of features- I'm Cherokee myself and have a pretty white skin :3