By Ruth HopkinsI was an admirer of Karl Lagerfeld’s designs, so you can only imagine my disappointment when I saw photos from the Chanel’s Wild West inspired pre-Fall Show held in Dallas, Texas this past Tuesday eve. The show featured Native prints and white feather headdresses. Turquoise, feathers, fringes, and beadwork were also on display, along with plenty of cowboy hats and boots.
First, let’s get something out of the way. I don’t care what you’ve seen in old Hollywood movies or what pop media has told you: pairing cowboys and Indians as a matching set is trite and problematic at best. Being a cowboy is a profession. Being American Indian is about what race you’re born into. When someone dresses up like a cowboy, they’re taking the guise of someone who wears chaps and rustles up cattle. When a person wears an ‘Indian’ costume, they’re mocking an entire group of human beings based on their skin color and heritage. What’s even more disturbing is when society as a whole seems to encourage this practice, given that collectively, anyone with a colonial or pioneer ancestor is descended from someone who was agreeable to the stealing of Native lands as well as the massacre of Native women and children ala Manifest Destiny.
Yes, cowboys and Indians existed during the same time period and occasionally fought one another during western expansion, but American Indians are still very much alive. You don’t get to leave us in 1899. No matter how much the powers-that-be would like to pencil in our extinction, we remain. American Indians live on reservations, in cities, and everywhere in between. We walk among you. We are part of American society here and now, in 2013. We work, shop, and pay taxes like everyone else. Brand new American Indians are being made and born as I write this.
Unlike everyone who immigrated to this continent that embraced the idea of assimilating into the melting pot that is mainstream society, American Indians held onto their ancient cultures, languages, beliefs, and ceremonies; ones that predate the Declaration of Independence. Indeed, our ancestors fought for them under pain of death, and hid them when they were made illegal--for us, their children. Because our ancestors loved us, the Federal government’s policies to terminate and assimilate us failed. We haven’t lost touch with what is sacred. It is now our responsibility to keep these ways, see that they are respected, and hold those who attempt to exploit and abuse them accountable.
Over the past several years, Native appropriation in popular culture has become an epidemic. I don’t understand why this practice continues, despite protests from many Natives and their allies. With each incident followed by outrage and demands for the offensive behavior to end, as well as an apology and request for some remediation, it gets harder and harder for appropriators to feign ignorance. This leads one to believe new incidences of Native appropriation are purposeful, i.e. grandstanding on one’s white privilege by the offending party.
By Lauren IndvikChanel has issued an apology of sorts for the Metiers d’Art 2013/2014 collection show it staged in Dallas on Tuesday, which drew criticism (and equally passionate defenses) for appropriating symbols of Native American dress, including feathered headdresses, turquoise and Native-style prints and beadwork.
PixieDust1603: "Well, Chanel have apologised in the most passive-aggressive way possible."
Masquerade: "That 'apology' is no better than the act itself. 'Sorry you were too dumb to get our wonderful point.' Sigh, it's them who don't get the point."
And koibito summed it up: "Sorry we're not sorry."