![]() They're playing into the imperial narrative of Native extinction, reducing us to being a fantasy of the past that's fit for a costume. By wearing Native costumes, people are contributing to the mindset behind Native oppression: the idea that we're alien, subhuman, and somehow less deserving of the respect they give their own culture. Being Native means to be in constant danger: consider Native women being murdered and going missing in Canada and the United States Indigenous peoples of Central America being imprisoned at the U.S.-Mexico border as a result of the Trump administrations "zero tolerance" policy Natives persecuted in the migrant caravan coming from Central America, or the Mapuche people being brutally repressed by the Piñera administration of Chile in South America. ![]() These appropriators are also - intentionally or unwittingly - contributing to the oppression Native people face daily throughout the Americas. Appropriation affords people the privilege to wear someone else’s culture, without having to face the discrimination that members of the culture endure for doing the same. ![]() Why wear a culturally appropriative costume when there are so many ways to celebrate Native cultures without disrespecting Native people?Ĭultural appropriation is when someone, usually of a privileged socioeconomic background, borrows elements from oppressed groups who have been historically marginalized. Though appropriators often justify their costumes by saying that it’s meant to be lighthearted, they must realize intention isn't impact - and the impact is the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes about Native people that are rooted in colonial and western tropes. Native peoples have suffered through centuries of colonialism, capitalist exploitation, erasure, and condemnation - to then be romanticized and whitewashed in mainstream Western culture adds insult to enduring injury. ![]() I’m of the Taíno nation from the Dominican Republic and every time I see a Native costume, it makes me feel disrespected and devalued. Halloween is the time of year when people dress as something other than what they are, with these costumes sometimes being a satire of oppressed people’s cultures including my culture: Native American. In this op-ed, writer Valerie Reynoso breaks down the social and emotional impact of Native Halloween costumes on the Native community, and argues that shoppers should support Native designers instead. ![]()
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