It took me a minute to even get the joke in this cartoon. Let's break it down:
We all know all Indians do rain dances, right? (riiiight)
And high roller strip club patrons "make it rain" by throwing money up in the air so it falls down like rain on the stripper.
Therefore, it's funny, get it?
When they dance, it's making it rain (cause they're Native), but instead of rain, it's money (cause they're a stripper)!
ZOMG so funny.
And all the stereotypes managed to be jam packed in one little cartoon (caution: sarcasm ahead):
- The lovely warbonnet. since we all know ALL Natives wear those (especially the women, duh)
- The rain dance. I mean, at least for me anyway, I can't even bust a move outside without running the risk of starting a thunderstorm! It's a real problem. No outdoor wedding for me.
- The tomahawk. Cause we know Natives are war-like people that like to scalp teh whitez (watch me as I war whoop! Awooo!)
And on a serious note (/sarcasm):
- The casinos. Cause we ALL are super rich and make lots and lots of untaxed money! And we steal it all from you!
- The bikini and stripper theme generally, cause Native women haven't been sexualized enough throughout history. Makes me so mad.
Don't you dare get on my case about "it's a comic, it's just a joke, it's satire"--it's not. Images like these are what create the false stereotypes to which Native people are expected to ascribe. Because if all of the world thinks that Indians wear headdresses, carry tomahawks, do rain dances, or own casinos; it erases our current existence as a diverse group of contemporary people living contemporary lives and trivializes the continued struggles of Native peoples. Just because a tribe has a casino doesn't mean everything is all better after 500+ years of mistreatment and historical trauma.
And if anyone is still confused about "making it rain," the first time I remember hearing the term in pop culture was this song from Fat Joe and Lil Wayne (I put the clean version, but there's still lots shots of strippers, so perhaps NSFW? I mean, unless you work somewhere where watching music videos of bikini clad girls on stripper poles is accepted viewing...):
The original cartoon: http://www.explosm.net/comics/
UPDATE: For information on the "satire defense" see this piece from Rob Schmidt over at Blue Corn Comics: http://newspaperrock.bluecorncomics.com/2010/05/okay-to-stereotype-in-satires.html
(Thanks Leah and Yazzie!)