Befriend us, don’t insult us

As a First Nations model, who has had the pleasure of meeting with many nations across what is now known as North America, I do not believe makeup artist Erin Heather was being hyper sensitive in addressing the image produced by GLASSbook Magazine.
Non-natives who wear American Indian costumes are pretending to be someone of another race. Those who play “dress up” by wearing an American Indian costume, headdress or war bonnet are not only failing to acknowledge the existence of over 500 recognized native nations, each separate and distinct from one another, they are making light of centuries of suffering, oppression and genocide endured by the indigenous people of this country. Enforcing racial stereotypes of native peoples as savages in nondescript feathers and fringe also perpetuates the myth that we are not active members of modern society.
This “Beautiful Native Headress” is actually a war bonnet. These bonnets were only used by a dozen or so tribes in the Great Plains, such as the Sioux, Crow, Blackfeet, Cheyenne and Plains Cree.
Also important, traditionally only men wore these war bonnets. In other words, the only people who should be wearing war bonnets are chiefs or well-respected warriors, like Tatanka Iyotanka, or Chief Sitting Bull of the Hunkpapa Lakota.
The bottom line for me is these individuals need to recognize that stolen images based on inaccurate, offensive stereotypes of cultures that they have made no effort to understand will not give them the fulfillment they seek in Art. As first people, we do not belong to you; therefore, we are not at your disposal or available for your misappropriation. Befriend us, don’t insult us.
If you are not going to properly research and simply go off a style board but are into tribalism, I recommend making a beaded headband, since headbands do not have the same sacred meaning of many headdresses and do not require you to understand complex cultural traditions behind a certain piece.
But be careful which pattern you use if you’re just referring to Google.
So please, I invite you to research and if you want to do a shoot with First Nations culture present identify which nation, what you will use and to be safe find a model of that nation or get permission to represent that nation.
Editor’s Note: Model Jade Willoughby, who grew up in Whitesand First Nation, writes about a controversy in the fashion world of models wearing First Nations headdresses as fashion. Willoughby was responding to a piece run by Glassbook magazine (www.facebook.com/#!/GLASSbook), but her comments touch on the broader issue of non-Aboriginal people wearing ceremonial dress as fashion.