May 10, 2009

Sitting Bull ice cream

Correspondent Morten Krogh is leading the fight against this stereotype-based Norwegian product:

Diplom is viser ingen respekt til historisk personIn July 2008 I discovered one product in a foodshop here in Oslo that really shocked me. Sitting Bull ICE-CREAM from Diplom-IS. Therefore I made this Facebook site to stop DIPLOM ICE. Check it out, and support this group.

Here is the official DIPLOM ICE site.

SITTING BULL [link no longer works]

Please check it out, and tell me what you think about the logo, and the name.

They are also using a picture of the cartoon series called Hiawatha on the product, and they are using Sitting Bulls name.

IT'S REALLY Disrespectful.

:-( NO. If they are going to continue to sell it they can change the name.

Diplom-Is is the trademark of Diplom-Is AS, and is the best known and most popular ice-cream brand in Norway.

You can get in contact with Diplom-Is. I will...:-(
Tel: + 47 02001
Fax: + 47 67 06 66 01
E-mail: firmapost@diplom-is.noComment:  I assume the group's title is something like "Diplom Ice Should Give Respect to This Historic Person."

As I told Morten, I think the image is a cartoon character like Disney's old Hiawatha. I'm not convinced it is Hiawatha.

I'm not as bothered by this as I am by products such as Crazy Horse malt liquor or Crazy Horse nightclub. Unlike these products, I don't think ice cream is inherently disrespectful to Indians. Sitting Bull might appreciate or endorse this product if he were alive.

Would the ice cream be okay if it used an actual picture of Sitting Bull? If it was called L'il Sitting Bull Ice Cream? Or if it was called Hiawatha Ice Cream to match the picture? I don't know, but it would make more sense.

This product is like Pocahontas tires or Tecumseh pajamas--a meaningless and incomprehensible appropriation of a Native name. The image is a phony Indian "brave" who has nothing to do with Sitting Bull, who has nothing to do with ice cream. The only thing noteworthy about it is how mismatched the name, image, and product are.

But as offenses go, it's not at the top of my list. I see stereotypes this bad all the time. Therefore, I can't devote too much time to it.

For more on Native stereotypes, see the Stereotype of the Month contest.


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4 comments:

  1. dmarks7:18 AM

    "It would be like Pocahontas tires or Tecumseh pajamas--a meaningless and worthless appropriation of a Native name. "

    Or a Jeep Cherokee.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:30 AM

    Actually, dmarks, there is a Tecumseh landmower. Plus, a lot of local businesses name their companies after the local Indians, so in places where there aren't a lot of Indians, white-owned businesses appropriate the names.

    The kid's hair doesn't even look Lakota. If you're going to name a product after a famous Sioux chief, at least give the mascot long hair; since the 70s, short hair's been a mark of assimilation on South Dakota reservations at least.

    ReplyDelete
  3. dmarks4:19 PM

    Come to think of it I can't recall seeing any photos of short-haired Sioux (Dakota or Lakota) leaders.

    By the way, I heard the radio host Michael Feldman (who is comparable to Garrison Keillor, probably liberal, and not a political ranter) say something like this Saturday:

    "Chief Pontiac on his way to the Happy Hunting Grounds".

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mimbreno7:33 PM

    While the fight against dairy is a weighty issue, I am also concerned about the fight against stereotype based blog products. The horror.

    ReplyDelete

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