Random Appropriation of the Day! (Gearing up for Valentines Day)

Taken at a rest stop on the drive from San Francisco to Portland, OR

(Thanks Kelly and Amy!)

Is Twilight good for the Quileute?

(image via hottopic.com)

Note: This piece assumes some limited knowledge of the Twilight series. If you need some background, look here. :)

I was so happy when I saw this fantastic OpEd in the NY Times about the relationship between the Twilight franchise and the Quileute tribe. The article was written by the Associate Director of American Indian Studies at UCLA, Angela Riley, who is an awesome scholar in Indigenous intellectual property, and it captures a lot of what I have been grappling with in regards to the whole Twilight phenomenon and its affect on Native communities, in particular the Quileute.

Admittedly, I read the entire Twilight series, and am un-apologetically Team Jacob (mostly because I want the Indian to win for once), but I still have a lot of issues with the portrayals of Natives in the books and movies. I'll delve a little into the presented images of the Wolf Pack in my Part 2 post, but first I want to focus on the commercialization, and in many ways, explotation, of the Quileutes.

 Riley begins her piece discussing all the ways that Quileute name and community has been commercialized in conjunction with Twilight: 

“Twilight” has made all things Quileute wildly popular: Nordstrom.com sells items from Quileute hoodies to charms bearing a supposed Quileute werewolf tattoo. And a tour company hauls busloads of fans onto the Quileute reservation daily. Yet the tribe has received no payment for this commercial activity. Meanwhile, half of Quileute families still live in poverty.

Add to Nordstroms the incredible array of New Moon products at Hot Topic, which you can see here.

The entire Twilight franchise has revenues estimated in the billion dollar range, and Riley goes on to note that the tribe has not received any revenue from the books, movies, or merchandising, nor were they consulted in any of the portrayals of their community. The upsetting part is, there is no legal precedent for involving or reimbursing the tribe. She points out that,

...the outside uses of the Quileute name, from the “Twilight” books to the tattoo jewelry, are quite likely legal. American intellectual property laws, except in very specific circumstances, do not protect indigenous peoples’ collective cultural property.

The only laws in place protect tribes from products that claim to be "Native made", but nothing protects tribal names from commercial use--think Jeep Cherokee, all the "Navajo" named items I've posted before, Apache helicopters, etc. Riley also notes that many tribes are able to market their own cultural property for profit, such as traditional weavers, silversmiths, and beaders from many communities. But what it truly boils down to is an issue of control--Native communities should have the right to determine how their community is portrayed, and this is closely related to sovereignty and self-determination. 

By not involving the tribe in decisions that directly affect their community, it serves as a direct affront to their status as a sovereign nation.

The Quileute’s Web site tells visitors about the tribal laws that govern Quileute territory. One of these laws specifies that burial grounds and religious ceremonies are “sacred and not to be entered.” Had MSN acknowledged the tribe as a sovereign government, it might not have broken that rule. The Quileute believe that respect for Indian tribal sovereignty could likewise bridge cultural gaps between other Indian communities and outsiders.

I agree with Riley that meeting with Quileute leaders and community members and involving them with the marketing process is an important first step. I see this community as setting the stage for Natives taking control of intellectual property and turning the tables of negative portrayals back into something that can ultimately benefit the community.

The Quileute are a small tribe on a small reservation that have been thrust into the national and international spotlight, and not by choice. However, I hope that with the help of scholars and lawyers like Angela Riley, the tribe can use the publicity to bring light to issues within their own community and perhaps these larger issues of cultural property and representation within Indian Country. 

Finally, the piece ends with a quote that I think encapsulates my entire thinking with this blog:

The ultimate choice, regarding not only the Quileute but all indigenous peoples, is not simply whether outsiders are free to appropriate tribal cultural property. For the sake of fairness as much as law, indigenous peoples must play a significant role in decisions regarding their cultural property.

It's not just about the right to appropriate, it's about control over portrayals of our people and our communities. Native people deserve a voice at table.

The whole OpEd (read it!): http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/opinion/08riley.html

(Thanks Mollie and Marjorie for the link!)

Model posing in Fancy Party Wear dress

Photoshop art of a female model posing in Fancy Party Wear Dress.

FAMOUS ART QUOTES, MUSIC QUOTES, PAINTING QUOTES, FILM MAKING QUOTES, PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES:

Often while traveling with a camera we arrive just as the sun slips over the horizon of a moment, too late to expose film, only time enough to expose our hearts.
~ Minor White

A photograph is usually looked at - seldom looked into.
~ Ansel Adams


All deep things are song. It seems somehow the very central essence of us, song; as if all the rest were but wrappages and hulls!
~ Thomas Carlyle

Art hath an enemy called ignorance.
~ Ben Jonson

If the King loves music, it is well with the land.
~ Mencius

Help for Cheyenne River

 (image via http://47whitebuffalo.wordpress.com)

In the past few weeks, many of the South Dakota tribes have been hit incredibly hard with the recent winter storms. Many communities are still without power, and power companies estimate it will be another 4-5 weeks before power is restored. With temperatures dipping well below zero, supplies of food and water on the reservations are desperately needed.

with much of the media attention in recent weeks focusing on the big storms in DC, little has been done to help the growing crisis. According to Cheyenne River officials, all types of emergency supplies are needed:

“The tribe this past weekend opened up an emergency fuel fund,” Conrad said. “And people are going around checking on elderly and families with small children. We are working with Dreams of Eagles, a Native American non-profit in Omaha to get supplies up from Omaha this week. Batteries are needed, candles, non-perishable foods, toilet paper, diapers, infant formula and water. Our reports are that the supplies that are getting to the reservation are dispersed rapidly, and some aren’t able to get any.”

Please consider donating to the Cheyenne River--they have an easy online form that goes directly to the tribe and community. Click here to donate!

Supplies and donations can also be shipped to:

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chairman's Office
Attn: Ice Storm Emergency Supplies
PO Box 590 2001 Main Street (Tribal Offices)
Eagle Butte, SD 57625

Here is the Indian Country Today article detailing the extent of the emergency in the Dakotas: http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/plains/83646472.html

Donation Link: https://secure.piryx.com/donate/0oFFsK8c/Cheyenn-River-Sioux-Tribe/

Appropriations at the Boston Museum of Science

This past weekend I took a trip to the Boston Museum of Science to see the Harry Potter Exhibition (which was amazing and awesome and anyone who is a fan should go see it...but I digress), and since our tickets got us into the rest of the museum, we wandered around the galleries a bit. I didn't even have my Cultural Insensitivity Radar (I should trademark that) on, because I figured "science" would be a safe zone, right?

Apparently not. The above image is a diorama on the second floor, not in the context of an exhibit, in fact kind of just stuck in a hallway. It depicts a "Hopi Indian Village," and is about six inches away from a diorama of an "African Watering Hole".  In addition to the diorama, there was also an interesting display in another part of the about migration and genetics with some eyebrow raising use of graphics and language, and a couple of other small things.

After the jump, more images of the dioramas, as well as the analysis of the migration and genetics display.


(all images can be clicked for a bigger version)

This is a close(r) up of the interior of the diorama

Even closer. They are performing a "Snake Dance" according to the didactic panel. Are any Pubelos/Hopi's able to verify the accuracy?

One last close-up

 

Sorry for the photo quality (I really need to get a better camera if I'm going to keep doing this blog!) but the most interesting and disheartening part of this descriptive panel was the pervasive past tense. Apparently Hopi's and the Snake Dance are not something alive and continuing today, according to the museum. 

This was the neighboring display, the African Watering Hole. These were the only two dioramas, and it is interesting to note that this one does not include people. So animals in Africa=Natives in US? It's hard to imagine the typical museum visitor would be able to make a distinction between the two. 

This is my friend Jenny showing how close the two displays were to each other, further adding to the idea that they are somehow related, or meant to be viewed on the same plane. 

Next we jump to the Human Body exhibit, which was actually pretty cool--we played with stethoscopes (Jenny couldn't find her heartbeat and thought she was dead), found out which of our eyes were dominant, weighed ourselves to find out how much blood we had (Jenny would die first in a knife fight, I have more blood), and then there was this display:

"Mapping People in Native (Indigenous) Populations." I'm glad they used the Native/Indigenous distinction, though it got to be a little overkill to see the parentheses in every sentence. The point of the display was to examine the roles of migration and genetics in human evolution...I think. But they throw "culture" in there too.

This is the side panel. "Most of us no longer live in the same place or cultural group as our great-great-great-great-grandparents." Um, actually, a lot of us Natives (Indigenous) do. Well, at least those of us who weren't forcibly removed from our homelands.

 

This was kinda a cool graphic showing levels of lactose intolerance (the other side had the Americas). There was also a map talking about a certain bitter chemical that only certain indigenous populations can taste.

But then there was this:

Skin color in Native (Indigenous) Populations.

That's the Americas side. 

We decided Jenny was some sort of Asian. But in this photo I guess she could be North African too. 

How they describe Skin Color to the kids. (click for bigger image)

We REALLY wanted to find a volunteer to ask these questions. I'd love to hear the talking points that they give volunteers, especially on "How does skin color affect us today?" are they actually trained to start a discussion on race and racism with children? 

Finally, this cave art was on the wall above the display. 

I do think it is an interesting display, and I liked the images about lactose intolerance, but I don't know, it just felt a little wrong, and very "otherizing"--like these "Native (Indigenous) Populations" have evolved away into "modern" humans, and are not like "you" (the visitor) at all. 

Then as we were leaving, we stepped into the exhibit on human reproduction. Since we didn't think we needed the lesson (ayye) we left, but not before seeing this:

Guess what? Indians have babies! Totally reminds me of the scene of Simba's birth from Lion King:

haha.

This is the larger context of the display, a "cross-cultural" depiction of birth--and I just noticed, of fatherhood in particular. Interesting!

So that's it for the whirlwind tour of the Boston Museum of Science. Museums in particular have such a complicated and upsetting history with Indigenous Peoples, and it's weird to see that a museum focused on "science" (not Natural History, or Archeology, or Anthropology) can still have so many instances of cultural appropriation.

Random Appropriation of the Day!

Billabong shirt at TJ Maxx.

Ilka Hartmann Photography

I was pointed to this link via Julia on Twitter (thanks!), and I absolutely love Hartmann's images. She has a large collection of photos on her site, not just of Natives, but I think her most striking images are the ones of urban Indians and AIM leaders from the 1970's and early 80's. I also love that most of the images are from the Bay Area, the place that I called home for the last 6 years--though it does make me a little homesick.

After the jump, more photos and a short video of Hartmann talking about her exhibition in SF which included images from the Alcatraz occupation, AIM events, and the longest walk 1978 (I also included links at the bottom for more information about the history behind the images).





This is the video of Hartmann walking us through her photos, highlighting some of the major events in AIM history that she documented. It's actually really cool to hear her talk about the images, the context, and her relationships with the subjects, it makes them even more powerful.

More pictures:

 

Philipp Deere, Medicine Conference,
Intertribal Friendship House, Oakland, CA, 1979

 

Dance Class
Intertribal Friendship House, Oakland, CA

Baby Boy
Intertribal Friendship House, Oakland, CA

In addition to the urban Indian photos, I was drawn to the images from a sunrise ceremony on Alcatraz before the Longest Walk (more info on that here), because they remind me of the ceremony we attended every year on Alcatraz in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day. It adds a whole new layer of meaning and a stronger feeling of solidarity to the event.

What I like most is that the images offer counter-narratives to many of the commonly held stereotypes about Natives, and give some insight into the often forgotten community of urban Indians, as well as the often overlooked Indian involvement in the civil rights movement. With such simple photographs Hartmann manages to capture so much emotion and history. Her work is very refreshing after the hundreds of negative images and stereotypes we see everyday.  

Definitely go check out her site, and please note that all images I posted are (c) Ilka Hartmann and can be found at: http://www.ilkahartmann.com/

Ilka Hartmann Photography: http://www.ilkahartmann.com/

History of the AIM movement: http://www.aimovement.org/ggc/history.html

Alcatraz occupation information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Alcatraz

(Thanks Julia!)