Okay, it seems another celebutante has sparked an internet furor by posting a picture of herself in a halloween costume that is, well, uh...rather foolishly planned out, to put it mildly.
The person in question chose to dress as Big Chief from the Disney classic film 'Peter Pan.' And this person's rather unfortunate defense in less than 140 characters was that "A Native American costume was AN OPTION at a Halloween store." In other words, it was there, so it must be legit.
Well, you can imagine this went over like a lead balloon among the internet-savvy politically-correct, and, well, actual Native Americans and First Nations (as we're known north of the border).
The next line of defense was that she was dressing as a Disney character. This could be a fair point, except for the part where this character comes from a time and context that plays on the rather unfortunate understanding of the Indigenous peoples of North America, which disastrously translates into a caricature of a prominent position in a cultural and ethnic group. What she's failing to account for is that Disney took something significant or sacred to a specific class of individuals (an ethnic group) and turned it into a profane object of mockery. To put in into situationally-comparative context, it's the equivalent of saying it's okay to wear Blackface if what I'm really dressed as for Halloween is a Vaudeville actor or Al Jolson. .
The next line of defense, proffered by someone I believe is a cousin of the young woman in question, is that the family of said young woman has a historical claim to some descent from a particular tribe. I know that in the US, actual claims to Native American heritage often have to meet a blood quantum rule before being considered legit, and I can't speak to the eligibility of this young woman to make that legit claim for membership of her tribe or nation, but I would ask her and her cousin if either young woman really, really, really believes it honours her ancestry and/or family members of Native American descent to mock the sacred, ceremonial headdress of a Chief, made with the feathers and skins of sacred, honoured animals by wearing a fake headdress made of cheap, coloured, plastic, manufactured feathers (not blessed by a shaman, holy person or tribal elder). Because I have to say, I don't think that is how I would defining "honouring."
Miss M. went of a Twitter rant about the whole episode, to which I responded that I was proud of her. This led to a friend questioning me about why dressing up as something (e.g. a Native American) is viewed as something disparaging rather than honouring that thing, and made a guess that I dislike Disney and the Pocahontas movie and costumes. Yes, in fact, I have a strong dislike for Disney and it's gross portrayal of a historical figure in the name of a quick buck. I'm also not digging the Mulan thing either (though I do like Cricky and the Dragon). What sets those apart from most other Disney characters is that by and large, the Disney pantheon is made up of characters from myths and fairy tales, figments of imagination and folk tales from yore. These are not based on real people recorded in history. If you need to know why it's disparaging instead of honouring, see previous two paragraphs.
By these feckless pieces of "logic" strung together, I guess that tomorrow, I can get away with dressing like
"white trash" and call it honouring Caucasian American culture because
I'm dressed as a Trailer Park Boys character. Yet somehow, I don't think my mother, brother and sister would find it all that amusing. I think it would be seen as a little ignorant and even mean-spirited because the intent is to make a point in an inconsiderate way.
I'm a member of a First Nation. I don't dress up as "an Indian." I don't put on a fake headdress and call it honouring. I don't even put on a real headdress...because I'm not a Chief or a shaman or holy person or respected elder. I just don't do it, because I honour what those positions mean in that culture.
I think the more interesting question to ask my friend first is this: Why do you think doing it could be considered an act of honour towards a culture? What intent could exist to justify the act of dressing as a caricature?
A respectful end to this debate...
...Wish you were here.
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