Monday, October 20, 2014
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| Chief Indian wearing a Pendleton Blanket (1901) |
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| Robe made my Pendleton in the 1920s and was named after the Chief Joseph |
Controversy surrounding the use of Native American labels, motifs, symbols, and products in the Fashion Industry
In the modern world there is a lot of controversy regarding Native American labels and the products made in the fashion industry or cultural appropriation. The main controversy that the Native Americans have had recently are dealing with the companies, Pendleton and Urban Outfitters.
Cultural appropriation is, according to Susan Scafidi, a law professor at Fordham university makes a statement on what she believes appropriation to be, "Taking an intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else's culture without permission [...] It's more harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited another ways." A controversial situation came about when, Urban Outfitters recently brought out a line, titled "Navajo", that included items known as the "Navajo pantie"and the "Navajo print wrapped flask". This, as one could imagine, brought anger the the Native tribes in America. Their sacred prints, hand made and passed down from generation to generation were being represented as a "flask" and "pantie". Sasha Houston Brown, a member of the Santee Sioux Nation of Nebraska, asked for the removal of the line with a 'cease and desist' order. Another influential person regarding cultural appropriation is Jessica Metcalfe. She grew up in North Dakota and is a Turtle Mountain Chippewa. As a young girl, looking through Seventeen magazine, she never saw anyone who resembled her skin color. Metcalfe knew that she wanted to fix this problem. She created a blog in 2009 called 'Beyond Buckskin' promoting the Native fashions in todays world. This blog then expanded and became an online boutique just last year. Her message to America is, "'True Native fashion is more than whats for sale at Urban Outfitters or Forever 21.'" One question many by-standers ask is why this matters to the Native tribes living in America so much.
The modern Native Tribes regard the use of their textiles, jewelry, and hair styles, such as headdresses important to themselves. These items have religious significance to them. Metcalfe states, "'We're being told that we don't have rights over how we are represented in America. There isn't just one Native American culture." Another Native appropriations blogger, Adrienne Keene, wrote, "'The Natives have a sophisticated government and communities, but how could they be seen as this if there are so many designers or people wanting to produce products that don't represent them at all.'" Keene could not have said it better. The Native Americans heritage is being used as something we Americans do not understand. Americans do not know the significance of the Native prints and turquoise jewelry. Americans regard these Native prints as a 'cool pattern' or the 'trendy' thing to wear. The Natives have recently gotten their freedom from us and still believe that this has something to do with why we do not hold their fashion in high regards. In 1880, white Americans would take these adorned Native American blankets into their home and use them as rugs. The would even ask the Native 'designers' of the blankets to make the colors more muted so it blended in with their furniture better. This downgraded the importance of the blanket. A blanket, handmade by the Native Americans was used for the white people to step on and even further, they were asked to change their own design to suit the white people better. This clothing is their identity and they intend to protect it. Unlike one may think, this has not been the first time that cultural caricatures have been formed.
This situation has been present in other patterns that the Americans look at as an everyday print. For example, another blogger, Lizzie Bramlett, explains that the pattern Americans know as ‘paisley’ was a holy symbol of the Zorostrians in Persia. Movie stars and fashion models can be associated with this same issue. Gwen Stefani was on horseback with feathers in her hair, with braids, in a music video. Karlie Kloss is a Victoria’s Secret Model and walked the runway in a floor length headdress, leopard bikini, and turquoise jewelry. There are designers today that are really trying to signify the Native American clothing. Kristen Dorsey, a modern Native American jeweler, is creating the ‘Modern Native Jewelry’ line. She is trying to steer away from the typical turquoise jewelry with silver, she is using copper and black pearls, found in the Mississippi river where her tribe lived before the Trail of Tears. Her signature piece is the serpent cuff, and the serpent is a Native American diety. She states “Its more than just making jewelry.”
In America there is a lot of controversy surrounding Native Americans and how they are perceived in society. Many Native American bloggers and designers are fighting this battle constantly and trying to create an environment where all Natives are represented as good, religious people. Someones cultural identity is important and vulnerable part of who someone is, and when one abuses this concept it takes away a persons identity. Sasha Brown put it simply, “We are not a culture, a theme, or a trend, style or costume, and mascots. We are not a relic of the past.”
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| Karlie Kloss, Victoria's Secret model, walked the runway adorned with Native clothing in 2012 |
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| Four Native women wrapped in Native blankets (1890) |
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| This young girl is modeling a Pendleton blanket, made into a dress by Lakota |
Works Cited:
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/appropriate>.
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/caricatures?s=t>.
Grinberg, Emanuella. "Native American Designers Fight Cultural Caricatures." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/30/living/native-american-fashion-appropriation/>.
Grinberg, Emanuella. "Taking Native American Fashion 'Beyond Buckskin' and Headdresses." CNN. Cable News Network, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/01/living/native-fashion-beyond-buckskin>.
Hix, Lisa. "Why the ‘Native’ Fashion Trend Is Pissing Off Real Native Americans." Collectors Weekly. Collectors Weekly, 1 Dec. 2011. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://m.collectorsweekly.net/articles/why-the-native-fashion-trend-is-pissing-off-real-native-americans/>.
Metcalfe, Jessica R., Dr. "BEYOND BUCKSKIN: Appropriation." BEYOND BUCKSKIN: Appropriation. N.p., 10 Apr. 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://www.beyondbuckskin.com/search/label/appropriation>.
Okafor, Udoka. "Cultural Appropriation: The Act of Stealing and Corrupting." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 04 Dec. 2013. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/udoka-okafor/cultural-appropriation_b_4363916.html>.
Scafidi, Susan. "A Much-Needed Primer on Cultural Appropriation - Fordham Law." A Much-Needed Primer on Cultural Appropriation - Fordham Law. Fordham University, 3 Nov. 2012. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://law.fordham.edu/faculty/28427.htm>.
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