Native American Appropriation
Introduction
What is cultural appropriation?Cultural appropriation, according to the Cambridge Dictionary is defined as the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture.
How has American culturally appropriated so much of traditional Native American culture?
Native Americans have gone through much abuse through their contact with Europeans. From being incorrectly labeled as "Indians" by Christopher Columbus in 1492 to being forced off their lands to satisfy a rapidly expanding America's greed and desire for westward expansion, early Americans treated the Native Americans extremely poorly. We have also definitely culturally appropriated much from them from our holidays such as Thanksgiving and Halloween from our sports teams (The Washington Redskins, the Chicago Blackhawks, etc). Even things like car names, like the Jeep Cherokee, we have stolen from Native American culture.
Examples of Cultural Appropriation
The Purpose of this Project and Where I visited
The purpose of my project is to learn more about the extent of Native American cultural appropriation and educate myself about its common uses and how to avoid being culturally ignorant about the past. I thought what better place to educate myself than the newest Smithsonian museum, the Native American Musuem. Here I learned a great many things.
Where I Went
What did I see and learn?
I learned all about the history of Native American and their cultures. However, the exhibit I was most interested in was a newly opened one titled "Americans." Opened in 2018, the exhibit "addresses the fabrication of Indian identity by the dominant, European-derived American culture,” reports Philip Kennicott in the Washington Post. The exhibit was fascinating and showed just how much of Native American culture we have appropriated even in this day and age. I definitely thought before experiencing this visit that this type of cultural appropriation only existed in the past, but this experience opened my eyes to the reality of the situation. A conclusion made by another awed visitor is very well put and I agree with his conclusion. He sees the following: "Images—some accurate, many not—of American Indians have permeated every aspect of American life, and have persisted “in the collective consciousness,” even as the people those images are based upon have been marginalized. One “long, tall gallery” is filled from floor to ceiling with objects bearing images of American Indians, while a series of side galleries tackle important historical moments that have contributed to perceptions that many museum visitors may have about American Indians—sometimes as romanticized figures, other times through sanitized or exaggerated interpretations of history" (Cunniffe 1). I spoke to several tribe members and experts while there and their opinions and insights were fascinating. I definitely gained greater knowledge and understanding from visiting the "Americans" exhibit at the Smithsonian Native American Museum.
The "Americans" Exhibit
Southwest Native American Artifacts
A fascinating video about Native American cultural appropriation:
Two Questions for you guys:
1. What do you guys think of Native American cultural appropriation? Also, what is the extent to which you notice in your everday life, as well as pop culture?
2. How do you think we can be more aware of our Native American cultural appropriation and what can be done to remedy the mistakes of past generations when it comes to this?
Work Cited
Work Cited
Dillon, Hester, et al. “American Indian Museum Tackles Challenging Issue of Cultural Appropriation.” Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly, 23 Jan. 2018, nonprofitquarterly.org/american-indian-museum-tackles-challenging-issue-cultural-appropriation/.
“Native American Mascot Controversy Takes Center Stage at the National Museum of the American Indian.” Smithsonian Institution, 2012, www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/native-american-mascot-controversy-takes-center-stage-national-museum-american-indian.
Fadel, Leila. “Cultural Appropriation, A Perennial Issue On Halloween.” NPR, NPR, 29 Oct. 2019, www.npr.org/2019/10/29/773615928/cultural-appropriation-a-perennial-issue-on-halloween.
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