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Open racism or just a costume?
This would've been more appropriate before/on halloween, but I didn't even know this place existed until yesterday, so it'll have to do now x)
Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love the history and the culture surrounding it, love scary stories, carve pumpkins like a mofo and dress up as wild characters out of my head to hand out candy. But, at the same time I dread it every year because I know I'm going to be bombarded by good old fashioned racism that's apparently still widely acceptable when it applies to the right race. Indian costumes.
Its just a costume, right? People dress up like whatever they want to be and some wanna be Indians. What's wrong with this?
Its wrong to me because of how its handled. Stereotypes run wild with the big headdress made from neon colored craft feathers, the deerskin loincloth for the "big warrior chief" and the crappy little rattle or tomahawk. The ripped, fringed dress for the "indian princess" with the two-braid wigs and the feather headband. War paint. Fake peace pipes. The works. Little kids don't really learn anything about Native Americans outside the (fabricated)Thanksgiving story in school, so in their heads they think this is Native culture. Indians all run around in huge feather bonnets with paint streaks on their faces, wearing nothing but a loincloth and whooping with a big tomahawk in hand. Nobody really teaches them otherwise either.
The thing that pisses me off the most is the gratuitous use of the word "squaw." Everywhere you turn you see costume packages with that word. "Squaw princess," "Squaw chief," "Little Squaw" etc. Does anyone even know what that word means?
To enlighten those who don't: Its an Algonquin word that means "vagina." When European settlers found the Algonquin they learned the language to help communication. When the 'be nice' phase of their plan faded out and the 'kill them for their land' part began, they used their language against them to belittle and oppress the people- and among the many insults, they called the women 'squaws.' Not only is it a racial slur, you're calling people cunts. So now those costumes are labeled Cunt princess and Little Cunt. Do you really want your child to be that for halloween, or see that word and associate it with Native people?
(EDIT: A commenter linked to a site giving a description of the true meaning of the word 'squaw' in the Algonquin language, and a history and explanation as to how the false meaning I posted might have been spread. The word actually means "woman." It takes some of the bite off, thankfully, but still makes the term no less offensive in the way its used by most people.)
It just blows my mind that this is acceptable. What would all of you do if you walked into a halloween store and there were Blackface or Nigger costumes hung on the walls, with black facepaint and big bulging lips and a 'nappy' wig in it? That store would be mobbed, the owners sued and the whole company probably put out of business for it. But Squaw costumes are still perfectly acceptable? In the 21st century, when racism is supposedly a thing of the past?
This just hits home to me, being of Ojibwe heritage. I don't understand why these things still exist, and why we let kids get exposed to it and think its okay from an early age to not only appropriate an entire culture, but encourage racist stereotypes.
What do you think? Are Indian costumes racist or just costumes? Has your child ever been an Indian for halloween, or have you yourself ever dressed up as an Indian? Is this something that should be taken more seriously, or should people that think this is wrong lighten up?
Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love the history and the culture surrounding it, love scary stories, carve pumpkins like a mofo and dress up as wild characters out of my head to hand out candy. But, at the same time I dread it every year because I know I'm going to be bombarded by good old fashioned racism that's apparently still widely acceptable when it applies to the right race. Indian costumes.
Its just a costume, right? People dress up like whatever they want to be and some wanna be Indians. What's wrong with this?
Its wrong to me because of how its handled. Stereotypes run wild with the big headdress made from neon colored craft feathers, the deerskin loincloth for the "big warrior chief" and the crappy little rattle or tomahawk. The ripped, fringed dress for the "indian princess" with the two-braid wigs and the feather headband. War paint. Fake peace pipes. The works. Little kids don't really learn anything about Native Americans outside the (fabricated)Thanksgiving story in school, so in their heads they think this is Native culture. Indians all run around in huge feather bonnets with paint streaks on their faces, wearing nothing but a loincloth and whooping with a big tomahawk in hand. Nobody really teaches them otherwise either.
The thing that pisses me off the most is the gratuitous use of the word "squaw." Everywhere you turn you see costume packages with that word. "Squaw princess," "Squaw chief," "Little Squaw" etc. Does anyone even know what that word means?
To enlighten those who don't: Its an Algonquin word that means "vagina." When European settlers found the Algonquin they learned the language to help communication. When the 'be nice' phase of their plan faded out and the 'kill them for their land' part began, they used their language against them to belittle and oppress the people- and among the many insults, they called the women 'squaws.' Not only is it a racial slur, you're calling people cunts. So now those costumes are labeled Cunt princess and Little Cunt. Do you really want your child to be that for halloween, or see that word and associate it with Native people?
(EDIT: A commenter linked to a site giving a description of the true meaning of the word 'squaw' in the Algonquin language, and a history and explanation as to how the false meaning I posted might have been spread. The word actually means "woman." It takes some of the bite off, thankfully, but still makes the term no less offensive in the way its used by most people.)
It just blows my mind that this is acceptable. What would all of you do if you walked into a halloween store and there were Blackface or Nigger costumes hung on the walls, with black facepaint and big bulging lips and a 'nappy' wig in it? That store would be mobbed, the owners sued and the whole company probably put out of business for it. But Squaw costumes are still perfectly acceptable? In the 21st century, when racism is supposedly a thing of the past?
This just hits home to me, being of Ojibwe heritage. I don't understand why these things still exist, and why we let kids get exposed to it and think its okay from an early age to not only appropriate an entire culture, but encourage racist stereotypes.
What do you think? Are Indian costumes racist or just costumes? Has your child ever been an Indian for halloween, or have you yourself ever dressed up as an Indian? Is this something that should be taken more seriously, or should people that think this is wrong lighten up?