7 Things You Should Think About Before Putting on That Culturally Offensive Costume

Article by Justin Allison

How Hollywood stereotyped the Native Americans

Additional Resources

• A Brief History of Native Representation in Film
• Inside Highered Colleges Prepare Halloween Advising
• New York Times Cultural Appropriation Halloween Costumes
• Unmasking Racism Halloween Costuming and Engagement of the Racial Other
• Were Culture Not Costume Ethical Analysis

About the Author

Michelle Bailey is a student at Utah Valley University, currently studying for her Bachelor degree in English with an emphasis in Writing Studies and an Editing and Design Certificate. She has three Associate Degrees in General Education, Interior Design, & Humanities and Sciences. She enjoys Classic Films and their histories as well as creative endeavors such as baking, sewing, and exploring nature.

Football Season (i.e., The Washington Redskins). Magazines. Fashion Shows. It’s everywhere. Especially for Halloween.

People will undoubtedly dress up in their favorite scary, funny, and sexy outfits. From witches to plumbers, and cats to superheroes there is a whole variety of choices out there for everyone to clamor too and outdo each other with. You have an idea on what to dress up as and you want to dress up like a Native American. It will be fun to paint your face and wear a headdress, and get into your trendy “tribal” costume-

HOLD UP.

Culture Appropriation: taking something from a culture, claiming it as one’s own and then subsequently removing all its meaning. Thus, wearing a headdress, and painting your face with no regard for the meaning behind it, is being guilty of culture appropriation.

From the New York Times: The term “cultural appropriation,” which emerged from academia but has been applied more broadly — say, to refer to Washington Redskins fans wearing feather headdresses or white people in cornrows — has drawn ire from opponents of political correctness. But supporters say it captures a truth: that the melding of cultures is often about which group has the power to take symbols, styles or language from another”.

(To learn more information about the history of the Washington Redskins team logo and name, please visit the Sports Logos website.)

You will get the people that say, “Well, stop wearing jeans” or “Stop speaking English” that’s our culture.

“Culture appropriation is more than simply just doing what another culture does, it’s taking those things and claiming them as your own or as white innovations” said Ken Sekaquaptewa a Hopi tribal member and Director of the Native American Initiative in the UVU Multicultural Student Services Center.

Before you start planning your costume for Halloween please keep in mind the negative connotations that comes from dressing in culture-based costumes and why it is such a big deal.

Most likely you’re not wearing the costume to intentionally offend anyone, and you never have thought about it in that way, but you should know the facts and it can be offensive.

The following are things you should know before putting on that culturally offensive outfit and tips to keep in mind.

1. Know Your History

Native Americans were here long before Columbus came in 1492. Over 50,000,000 Native people called this land home. After Columbus came, 80% of the Native population died due to disease, torture and murder. Natives were deemed “uncivilized” by those settling this land and were forced to adopt western culture and leave their traditional way of life to die.

This was a harsh reality, but is something you should know more about so you can make the right choice. Do you still want to wear the clothes that were taken away from the Native Americans as a costume during Halloween, and wear it as a fashion statement? Think about it.

(For more information about Christopher Columbus' Voyage, please see the History Channel's Website about the exploration. Ed.)

2. Don’t Generalize a Whole Culture into One

There are over 560 Native American Tribes today in the United States. We see it as a mockery by lumping all the tribes together into one. Just so you know not all 562 plus Native American Tribes wore headdresses traditionally. So, when your dressing up “like an Indian” you are generalizing a whole indigenous population into one.

It is important that you know the diversity of the different tribes and not think that there is only one type of Indian. Lifestyles of the varying tribes were vastly different. Tribes were at war with each other, just like how other countries go at war with others. Learn about the differences, and don’t be ignorant.

3. Know Why It’s Sacred to Native Americans

Most are ignorant to the fact that Native American regalia is sacred and should not be used as a costume. “You go through a process to earn those feathers on a headdress.” Jacob Crane, member of the Tsuu T’ina Nation, a First Nations Indian tribe in Canada, and a UVU student. “It’s not just given to you; it is a special process to earn them.”

People go through life long spiritual journeys to earn those feathers that they wear. For the Plains Indian tribes, feather war bonnets were a sacred display of a man's honor and courage, and each feather told a story. Eagle feathers are still sometimes awarded to Plains Indians who serve in the military or do other brave deeds today and you just decided to put it on for the fun of it?

4. Liken It to Something You Feel Passionate About

Imagine a group of people going to a Halloween party dressed up in Mormon Temple clothes or like the Catholic Pope and doing it just for fun and making fools of themselves. It’s the same thing, Native American regalia is more than just war paint and feathers, they are sacred and must be earned. Those that wear them are held in the highest regard and dressing up with those things to go to a party or a dance is taking away from that sacredness and meaning.

1. Would this offend you?
2. Would you like what you were seeing?
3. Is this okay?

(For more infomation on the Met Gala, please view the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Heavenly Bodies Fashion Exhibition webpage. Ed.)

5. Know Your Limits, Not Hollywood’s

Wearing the Native American outfits demonizes the Native American people. It creates this picture of a character and not an actual human being. Hollywood perpetuates these images with movies like Pocahontas, The Lone Ranger, and Peter Pan. “I don’t say ‘How’ I say hello. Once people understand it or are taught that, then they will be more aware that they are offending you.” Said Faith Browning, Navajo, and student at UVU. “How” is not how you say hello unless you are a Native American in Hollywood.

I know we wish what we saw on the big screen was real, and I know for a fact you know what is real and what is not. You can decipher after watching Transformers, that there’s not going to be robots fighting each other in the streets. So, why is it when you see Indians played in a movie that you assume that that is real? Learn what is real, and don’t take what Hollywood has shown you as truth.

(For more information about the real Pocahontas, please see the Smithsonian Magazine website article. Ed.)

6. Don’t Try to Use This Excuse, “I’m Just Honoring Them.”

Some will claim that they are just honoring the Native American with their outfits, but keep in mind that bastardization is not honoring or appreciating Native Americans. It’s hard to believe that when you go out and dress up like a Native American you are doing it to honor the past, especially when you have a short faux buckskin dress and brightly colored face paint.

7. Learn About the Culture

Don’t get me wrong - It’s okay to learn about these things and to appreciate other cultures and expand your knowledge.
Just appreciate and not take the culture expressions out of context.

It’s not a back-and-forth issue where there can be a chance to use these outfits as a costume, because a minority culture is being targeted. If the group is offended, then the conversation ends there, and it should not be done.

Conclusion

The history of American Indian people in the America’s is troubling. Reservations were set up in places and tribes were displaced from their original lands. For centuries, Native Americans have been belittled and not treated as equal. Wearing Native American costumes works the same way, you are belittling a whole culture and treating them as less than human when you treat them like a character.

Think about these things Before the big game, or Halloween. It will save you a lot of headaches and remorse in the future, I promise.

Back to top of page

Utah Valley University | English 3340 | Email me Here