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Perspectives of cultural appropriation
Perspectives of cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation introduction
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Miss Universe Totem Pole Costume: The Misrepresentation of Indigenous Culture in mainstream media Your Name (First M. Last) Name of School or Institution Miss Universe Totem Pole Costume: The Misrepresentation of Indigenous Culture in mainstream media In 2015, Paola Nunez Valde caused an uproar during the Miss Universe pageant when she strutted across stage in her national costume. Valde’s costume consisted of a totem pole hanging from a pair of bedazzled bikini bottoms. According to Weiser and Kaiser (2016), a totem pole is a “spirit being, sacred object, or symbol of a tribe” in Canadian Indigenous culture. This photograph stirred up controversy throughout Canada, as many people viewed the trivial use of the totem pole to …show more content…
be offensive. In this paper I will discuss the context of the photo, how this use of the totem pole is considered to be cultural appropriation by many indigenous people, and my critical stance on the photograph. Context and Subject This controversial image is a photograph of Miss Universe contestant Paola Nunez Valde dressed in a totem pole costume. During the national costume portion of the pageant the contestants are required to wear a costume that represents the nation they’re competing for. According to Hopper (2015), in the past Canadian contestants have worn costumes relating to hockey and Canadian Mounties. During the 2015 Miss Universe pageant Canada was represented by Valde who is Dominican-born Canadian. As stated by Hopper (2015), Valde chose to wear a costume which portrayed a totem pole hanging from a pair of bikini bottoms. This costume caused offence to many because of its “cartoonish representation of native culture,” Hopper (2015) explains. Additionally, Hopper (2015) reports that Valde attempted to explain that this costume was not a tribute to Canadian Indigenous, but instead was paying homage to her home country: the Dominican. Furthermore, the designer for this costume was also dominican, says Hopper (2015). Hopper (2015) quotes Miss Universe's official statement which reads, “Yes, there are many different totem poles, not just First Nations totem poles.” Though there may be totem poles in the Dominican, according to CBC (2015), “they don't play as prominent role in the culture as they do on Canada's west coast.” Controversy To begin, many Indigenous people who saw Valde’s costume viewed it as a trivialization of the totem pole, which is a very prominent part of the Northwest Indigenous culture.
According to Tribaldirectory.com (2016), “it is believed that the earliest totem poles were created during the 18th century.” The totem pole is considered to play a big part in Indigenous culture, and can be the canvas for different ancient stories. As explained by Tribaldirectory.com (2016), totem poles feature depictions of stories that included human and animal figures, as well as stories and scenes of everyday life. In addition, Tribaldirectory.com (2016) say that totem poles were used to serve as emblems of clans and households, as well as show a person's merits and supernatural experiences. Totem poles have long history in the Pacific Northwest Indigenous community, and many viewed Valde’s costume as cultural …show more content…
appropriation. According to Nittle (2017), cultural appropriation can be defined as “taking intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artifacts from someone else's culture without permission.” Valde’s costume for Miss Universe can be seen as cultural appropriation as she took the totem pole from the Native American culture and used it without permission in a disrespectful manner. Many Indigenous people viewed this use of the totem pole to be considered offensive as the totem pole is an important part of their culture and Valde belittled cultural relevance wearing it as a costume. Furthermore, Nittle (2017) goes on to say “it's [cultural appreciation] most likely to be harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive.” Throughout North American history indigenous people have been killed and forced to conform to European standards, which is evident through the use of residential schools. Moreover, Nittle (2017) explains how cultural appropriation is a concern for a variety of reasons: Firstly, “this sort of “borrowing” is exploitative because it robs minority groups of the credit they deserve.” Secondly, “the dominant group is deemed innovative and edgy, while the disadvantaged groups they “borrow” from continue to face negative stereotypes that imply they’re lacking in intelligence and creativity.” In addition, Nittle (2017) explains that often cultural appropriation does not often celebrate the culture being appropriated but instead misrepresents it entirely. Critical Stance I believe that this costume worn by Valde in the 2015 Miss Universe is offensive.
It erases the true meaning behind the totem pole, and makes it seem like some kind of “sexy” costume. Valde did not choose this costume as a way of paying respect to the Indigenous people of Canada, but instead as a way of being “edgy”. As explained by Nittle (2017), cultural appropriation “can reinforce stereotypes about minority groups.” Valde was able to take a piece of the Indigenous culture and use it as a costume, and not pay homage to the real meaning behind it. The way that Valde used the totem pole does not sit well with me as it’s a very blatant case of cultural appropriation. I find it hard to believe that the Valde, who was representing Canada, hadn’t considered the Indigenous totem pole when wearing this costume. Valde claimed that it was paying homage to her home country of the Dominican but the totem pole featured in her costume looks strikingly similar to totem poles found in Eastern Canada. I also find their excuse hard to believe as the national costume portion of the pageant is meant to represent the country that the contest is competing for. It is considered tradition for Canadian contestants to wear a Canadian based costume. It’s highly unlikely that Valde would choose a costume that paying homage to the Domincan when she was competing under the title “Miss
Canada”. This costume also went against my moral views as I believe that Valde and the Miss Universe pageant should have admitted their mistake and apologized opposed to covering their mistake. According to Hopper (2015), Miss Universe's official statement which reads, “Yes, there are many different totem poles, not just First Nations totem poles.” This statement does not apologize for using the Native American culture as a costume but instead covers it up by saying that it’s actually not offensive. Whether they intended to or not, they hurt an entire culture of people and to not fully own up to that is extremely disrespectful. Even if the costume was meant to be Dominican it still trivialized a part of the Indigenous culture and the Miss Universe pageant did not handle this situation well. Conclusion In conclusion this paper has provided a rhetorical analysis on the photograph of Paola Nunez Valde wearing a totem pole costume. Firstly, this paper discussed the photograph and the context behind it. In the photograph you can see Valde wearing a totem pole costume during the national costume portion of the Miss Universe Contest. Secondly, we discussed why this costume stirred up controversy and the larger social issues behind this photograph. The totem pole plays a very large part of the Northeast Indigenous culture, and to have to hanging from Valde’s bikini bottoms was considered to be cultural appropriation. Lastly, I discussed my critical response to seeing the photograph and how I felt upon doing more research into the topic. I believe that this costume is offensive, and that Valde and Miss Universe should have issued an apology to the Indigenous people they offended. Reference Weiser, K., & Kaiser, K. (2016). Native American Totem Poles. Legends of America. Retrieved March 29, 2017, from http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-totems.html Hopper, T. (2016). ‘There’s been a tremendous misunderstanding’. National Post. Retrieved on March 29, 2017, from http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/unfortunately-theres-been-a-tremendous-misunderstanding-miss-universe-canada-carved-over-totem-pole-outfit Nittle, N. (2017). What is cultural appropriation and why is it wrong? Thoughtco. Retrieved on March 29, 2017, from https://www.thoughtco.com/cultural-appropriation-and-why-iits-wrong-2834561 CBC. (2015). Miss Universe Canada's totem pole dress shocks First Nations people. Retrieved on March 29, 2017, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/totem-pole-dress-1.3376366 Tribal Directory (2016). Totem Poles. Retrieved on March 29, 2017, from http://tribaldirectory.com/information/totem-poles.html tribal directory 2016
The southwest coast of Florida used to be inhabited by the Calusa. “It seemed that by any contemporary measure the Calusa Indian people had been complex when Spaniards arrived in the 1500’s…The Calusa king ruled over all of South Florida from his capital town on Mound Key. According to Spanish accounts, the Calusa had permanent towns, tributary relations, wealth accumulation, social stratification, royal sibling marriage, an elite military, human sacrifice, engineered canals, high mounds, well-developed art and music, and a religion that included elaborate rituals, a trinity of spirits, and life after death” (Marquardt 2)
In “Toddlers In Tiaras” Skip Hollandsworth purpose is to get readers to understand Pageants are fun but can also be dangerous many predators attend them to seek out their next victim. Pageants can be very overwhelming and sometimes affects the participants in the long run. His exigency is the unknowing exploitation of little girls who are decorated with makeup, fancy clothes, and extensions added to their hair and the death of JonBenet Ramsey was taken serious but is believed to be a consequence of being in a pageant. “We love the beautiful dresses and the big hairstyles. We love the bling and makeup. We love our girls showing lots and lots of style, and we love seeing them sparkle”(Annette Hill). In the article Skip is speaking to many types of audiences.
`Black Robe" tells the story of the first contacts between the Huron Indians of Quebec and the Jesuit missionaries from France who came to convert them to Catholicism, and ended up delivering them into the hands of their enemies. Those first brave Jesuit priests did not realize, in the mid-17th century, that they were pawns of colonialism, of course; they were driven by a burning faith and an absolute conviction that they were doing the right thing. Only much later was it apparent that the European settlement of North America led to the destruction of the original inhabitants, not their salvation.
The Kwakiutl Indian tribe existed before the discovery of North America by the European culture and inhabited the coast of the Pacific Northwest of the United States and British Columbia in Canada. The tribe is rich in tradition and culture and has remained steadfast in their beliefs, history, teachings and artisan skills which have been passed down generation to generation. The artisans in the Kwakiutl tribe mastered the art of creating special ceremonial masks that are not only beautiful and aesthetically interesting to the eye, but also mechanically intriguing in which the masks serve a specific purpose to a theme during different ceremonies that are conducted by tribal specialists during certain times throughout the year.
Pages one to sixty- nine in Indian From The Inside: Native American Philosophy and Cultural Renewal by Dennis McPherson and J. Douglas Rabb, provides the beginning of an in-depth analysis of Native American cultural philosophy. It also states the ways in which western perspective has played a role in our understanding of Native American culture and similarities between Western culture and Native American culture. The section of reading can be divided into three lenses. The first section focus is on the theoretical understanding of self in respect to the space around us. The second section provides a historical background into the relationship between Native Americans and British colonial power. The last section focus is on the affiliation of otherworldliness that exist between
Aztec and tribal prints may be popular, but a lot of people are upset that LuLaRoe is using them. They also have one that looks like skulls and isn't even just a pair of LuLaRoe Halloween leggings. Another one they have is Dreamcatcher LuLaRoe leggings. As Everyday Feminism shared, this can be considered racist. It is explained saying, "Despite this, folks still misrepresent our wares, and
The Tohono O’odham tribe has been weaving baskets for at least 2000 years. Although the reason for weaving has changed through the years the Tohono O’odham are still using the same weaving styles as their ancestors. Basket weaving for the Tohono O’odham has gone from an everyday essential to a prestigious art form. Basket weaving for the Tohono O’odham represents an active way of preserving their culture, valuing traditions, and creating bonding ties within the tribe; consequently weaving has transcended into an economic resource.
Thomas King’s “Totem” is a highly symbolic story that utilizes an art museum and a totem pole to discuss society’s lack of tolerance for native people and the presence of their ancient culture today. In the story, the staff at an art museum find a totem pole making noise in the gallery’s basement and do everything within their power to get rid of it. The museum staff’s reaction to the totem pole symbolizes majority groups’ refusal to tolerate native people. Despite their history on the land, which the totem pole’s extension deep into the ground represents, natives are frequently oppressed and mistreated. Walter Hooton, the museum director, says, “‘…this totem pole is not part of the show, and we need to move it someplace else.’” This quotation
In “Toddlers In Tiaras” Skip Hollandsworth purpose is to get readers to understand that pageants are teaching young girls to young women that the sexualization of their looks are their main value, leaving a negative effect on contestants physically. He believes parents are usually the main reason why young girls join the pageants to begin with so, he targets parents as the audience of his essay. To get readers to understand his point of view and to persuade them to agree with him he displays evidences from reliable sources using ethos, pathos and logos throughout the article.
Native Americans chose to live off the land such as animals and the trees for houses from the time of early civilization in the Americas to when Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic. In Thomas Morton’s writing he said “they gather poles in the woods and put eh great end of them in the ground, placing them in form of a circle.”
A quote from Davis’ article that supports this claim is, “The mascots, and most other images of Native Americans in popular culture, lump all nations (i.e., "tribes") of Native Americans together, incorrectly conveying that there is a single Native American culture, and rendering the diversity of Native American cultures invisible. For example, only some Native American nations have political structures that are dominated by a male chief, and headdresses are worn by members of only some nations” (12). This shows the misrepresentation of Native American culture caused by using mascots because coming up with the image for the team’s mascots leads to overall generalization that every nation has the same culture. The mascot images used by many sports teams quite literally portray the use of the headdresses and male chiefs, two of the specific big misrepresentations of Native American culture. The reality is that many of the nations have their own unique cultures, and practices that not every one of the other nations uses. Not all the nations are alike, there is diversity among the nations, this means there is no way to use the image of Native Americans as mascots without generalizing the culture of every nation as one. Which would therefore cause widespread misrepresentation of Native
“Rituals and Traditions; It Takes a Tribe,” written by David Berreby and “Indians: Textualism, Morality, and the Problem of History” written by Jane Tompkins, both exemplify a typical controversial topic in the United States of America today. The US prides there self on the basis of freedom, and how Americans are made up of individuals with backgrounds from all around the world. Many consider the US to be a “melting pot”, a society where cultures are just blended together and not recognized fully on their own, where as others consider the US to be a “salad bowl”, where people of international cultures hold fast to their traditions and practices and coexist with the cultures around them. Both authors of the readings propose that generally speaking,
Now Totem Poles are not being made as much as they used to. There are not as many Totem Poles passed down from generations because they are decaying and rotting. There are many different things to carve in a Totem Pole, for instance, in the Book ”Touching Spirit Bear” Cole carved many different animals.
The judges of the Miss America pageant have changed through the years to reflect the changing ideals of the pageant itself. “In the early years of the pageant, the judges were primarily artists and illustrators, in part because such men – and they were all men – were considered to have the best eye for the beautiful feminine form. In more recent years, efforts have been made to attract judges who represent the various facets of the pageant” (Banet-Weiser 54). The selection of judges from the fields represented in the pageant show that the Miss America pageant is more than just a strictly beauty pageant. “Defining beauty is an elusive, if not impossible task. No single definition fits because as culture evolves, so does the...
Symbolist mentality is a pattern which can be observed in every Indigenous Religions; it offers an animistic view of the world which helped the tribal cultures to survive and be in balance with nature. Molloy argues that "In a world that is animated by spirits, human beings must treat all things with care. If a spirit is injured or insulted, it can retaliate." (Molloy, Michael. Experiencing the World's Religions: Tradition, Challenge, and Change. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2008. Print.)