Tribal Fashion Roundup!

(http://www.etsy.com/shop/coyotepheonix)

I've gotten a few tips this week about more tribal fashion appropriations, so I thought I would compile a few of them into a single post, because let's be honest, I'm a little lazy this week.

I found the image above thanks to Lanova posting my hipster headdress piece on a blog that "loved" this headdress (thanks girl!). It's from Coyote Pheonix's Etsy shop, and the description reads:

Great piece for burningman or other festivals. Looks great as a decoration piece hanging on the wall as well. Ties at the base of the neck like a headband with leather strap.

Also, one of the tags on the headdress is "shaman". Ok, appropriations aside, are there actually people out there who see this, swoon, and say "I must have this! my life is not complete until I have a dead coyote to wear on my head!". But, I guess, considering 14% of this fine nation thinks President Obama is, in fact, the Antichrist, I wouldn't be surprised that such people exist (related? not at all. but I just read these poll results, so...).

This one comes from my sister's fabulous suitemate Kathleen:

Belt and keychains from Jack Spade in Soho, website here. These seem pretty out of place with the whole Jack Spade asthetic, to me anyway. They're known for their preppy men's bags and accessories, with military inspirations and "timeless" pieces. Not usually what we'd associate with the Native trends. interesting.

Finally, a picture of a page from Lucky Magazine via my friend Genia (click to make it bigger):

The mocassins front and center are the Nicole Richie mocs I posted earlier, and there's a pendleton bag on the left. I love how Native American trends are "global"--um, you can't get more American than the styles of the original peoples in the US.

Just a few samples of many...I think I could start an entire blog of just Native Appropriations in fashion. sigh. 

Coyote headdress post: http://teenangster.net/2010/03/coyote-phoenix/

Earlier posts:
Tribal Fashion, the newest trend?: http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/01/tribal-fashion-newest-trend.html

Nicole Richie's baby mocs: http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/02/nicole-richies-baby-mocs.html

The Strange Case of the Hipster Headdress: http://nativeappropriations.blogspot.com/2010/02/strange-case-of-hipster-headdress.html

(Thanks Lanova, Kathleen, and Genia!)

More Tribal Fashion: Gap "Navajo Tracker Hat"

My good friend Kayla (who is Hupa/Yurok/Karuk from Northern California) pointed me to this "Navajo Tracker Hat" from the Gap (no longer on sale so sorry I can't link to it). She pointed out, however, that the design looks very similar to the basket hats from her community, rather than decidedly Navajo:

(image via http://www.hoopa-nsn.gov)

and even more similar to this knit version:

(image via http://www.nativevillage.org)

This is a good example of using a more "well known" tribal name paired with a design or tradition from another community, adding to the perception that tribal traditions are interchangeable and the same across Indian Country.

(Thanks to Kayla for the photos!)

"Tribal Fashion": the newest trend?

Jezebel had a great post today highlighting Rachel Zoe’s newest “Zoe Report” entitled “Gone Native”. Zoe points to the work of Lindsay Thornburg, a designer who makes cloaks out of Pendleton fabrics (both vintage and contemporary) with names like “Navajo Nile” and “Walking Rock”. Zoe’s text reads:

“As my newest outerwear crush, I am blown away by each one of Thornburg’s ethnic-inspired cloaks. They are a brilliant interpretation of the current tribal trend which will carry over from winter as a hugely coveted look for spring.”

Ethnic-inspired? Current tribal trend? What exactly does that even mean?
Here are some of Thornburg's designs:

(images via http://www.lindseythornburg.com)

Also included at the bottom of the Zoe Report (presumably for those of us who can't afford a $950 cloak) is this Electric Navajo Poncho from Forever 21:





I always find it hard to articulate why it is that these things are so offensive. Jezebel commenter roxanneismyalterego puts part of it into perspective:

“Calling mass produced clothing "Native" or "tribal" devalues the culture of whichever group the clothing is inspired by. In a sense, you're saying, "it doesn't matter WHICH native or tribal group this was inspired by, it's just not WHITE."

Which is definitely a piece of the issue. A major problem with depictions of “Native” in reference to American Indians is the reduction of 500+ tribes, each with their unique history, culture, language, and traditions into one stereotyped image, one that we as Native people know well: the buckskin-clad, feather-headdress-wearing, face-painted, Plains-inspired Indian. They also only ever seem to appropriate three tribes in terms of names and “inspiration”—Navajo (or Navaho if you’re Urban Outfitters), Sioux (which is another antiquated name and represents a group of tribes, not just one), and Cherokee (believe me, I KNOW about that one). You never seem to see a Nisqually V-neck or a Wampanoag jewelry holder.

Dodai Stewart, the author of the Jezebel post, pointed to another great post on Racialicious to shut down an ill-informed commenter, and it really breaks down the problems with cultural appropriations. It’s all about oppression, power, and colonialism. You can read the whole post here.

some of the key quotes:

"'What’s so wrong with being inspired by another culture?’ Nothing, really. But “inspiration” drawn from a historically oppressed culture comes with a tangle of baggage born of generations of marginalization and bias.”

“A Japanese teen wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the logo of a big American company is not the same as Madonna sporting a bindi as part of her latest reinvention. The difference is history and power. Colonization has made Western Anglo culture supreme–powerful and coveted. It is understood in its diversity and nuance as other cultures can only hope to be. Ignorance of culture that is a burden to Asians, African and indigenous peoples, is unknown to most European descendants or at least lacks the same negative impact."

"It matters who is doing the appropriating. If a dominant culture fancies some random element (a mode of dress, a manner of speaking, a style of music) of my culture interesting or exotic, but otherwise disdains my being and seeks to marginalize me, it is surely an insult.”

As recently as our parents and grandparents’ generations, Native children were forcibly sent to government run boarding schools founded on a policy of “kill the Indian, save the man”, where they were taught their culture and traditions were wrong and backward, and beaten if they spoke their tribal languages. Until 1978 with the passage of The American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Native peoples in the US were not even allowed to practice their traditional ceremonies without fear of persecution. Indian reservations are some the poorest places in the US with the highest levels of unemployment. So, Rachel Zoe, the problem is that behind that trendy poncho there are hundreds of years of cultural genocide and ongoing oppression at play, and the fact that you deem it worthy of inclusion in your blog doesn’t and can’t erase that.

The Jezebel post also refers to many other recent fashion campaigns and examples from companies like American Apparel, Victoria’s Secret, and yes, even the hipster snuggie I posted about earlier. Let’s hope this trend is one that goes the way of ill-fated trends of yesteryear like overalls and dying your hair with kool-aid.

Jezebel post: http://jezebel.com/5450961/rachel-zoe-pronounces-tribal-trend-so-hot-right-now

Zoe Report: http://www.rachelzoe.com/lindsey-thornburg-cloak

Lindsay Thornburg's webpage: http://www.lindseythornburg.com/store.html

Racialicious post: http://www.racialicious.com/2008/09/18/cultural-appropriation-homage-or-insult/

Wikipedia entry on Cultural Appropriation (a good background read): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_appropriation

(Thanks to Charlotte R. for the tip about the Jezebel article!)

It starts with a trip to Urban Outfitters

I was killing some time a few days ago and wandered into Urban Outfitters in Harvard Square. It's no secret that many hipsters have an obsession with all things Native (more on that in another post), but I was a little surprised at how many examples I found. The following were in the home decorations section.

This dream catcher (in such traditional neon colors!) retailed for $10, on the low end for Urban, and was made in India (ha).


These slippers/moccasins were in the same section, and came in brown and red as well. I saw them as a take on Alaska Native mukluks, though the use of geometric diamonds is a bit southwest/plains.


Finally, down in the bargain basement, I found this "totem pole jewelry stand." You can see they weren't huge sellers.

I got home and tried to look up these three on their website, to get product names, etc. and had no luck, but did manage to find a few other examples online:

The Booty Buddy Blanket The comments section refers to it as "the hipster snuggie."

Tribal V Neck

Leather Navaho cuff: there is a lot to say about this one, not least of which is the antiquated spelling of Navajo and the plains-style beading.

even more examples: Native Socks, Cement Chief Necklace (yes that is a tiny headdress), and Geo Beaded Cuff. There are more, if you go to their website and just search "Native" or "Tribal."