July 15, 2009

Indian chief wine holders

'Offensive' souvenir figure pulled from store shelf

By Kayla GahaganThe owners of a Rapid City souvenir shop have removed a miniature statue after Native Americans complained it was offensive.

Roger and Cindy Thompson, owners of Gold Diggers on Mount Rushmore Road, said they pulled a ceramic wine holder off shelves Thursday after receiving a complaint from a Native American woman.
The owners of Gold Diggers say about 40 percent of their employees are Native American and the issue has been blown out of proportion.

"We cater to the Native American community; we admire them," said Roger Thompson. "We don't make fun of them, we employ them."

Cindy Thompson said she asked her Native American employees if they thought the statue was offensive before she put it on the shelves. She said no one disapproved.

"One said, 'No, it's really cute,'" Cindy said, and another added, "No, it's 2009."

The couple issued a written apology to the woman and said they didn't realize the wine holder would offend anyone.

Gold Diggers manager Jackie White said the holder was included in a pallet of several wine holders of the same design, which also featured cowboys, antlers, bears, moose, raccoons and horses.

She said the Native American statues will be thrown out, because they can no longer be returned to the manufacturer.

"It's completely ridiculous. We didn't mean anything by it."

Roger said some may be offended that the wine holder is offensive to others.

"It's like slapping a Native American in the face," he said, because it assumes that all Native Americans have a problem with alcohol and can't have a wine holder in their house. "A percentage of any population has a problem with alcohol. Many Native Americans are responsible users of alcohol."

The Thompsons said it was never meant to be disrespectful, and their store welcomes people of all cultures and backgrounds. Cindy said Gold Diggers, which features Native American jewelry and other items, was founded on her own appreciation of the Native American culture and artwork. She lived on reservations in the Southwest for many years.

Complaints filed

It's not the first time Native Americans in Rapid City have pushed back against merchandise and displays. A large bronze statue in front of Prairie Edge of a Native American man with his hands tied behind his back was replaced last year after complaints. Most recently, McDonald's fielded complaints about its Night At The Museum Kids Meal toy: Gen. Custer riding a motorcycle.
Comment:  "It's 2009"? Did I miss the cutoff date when the "drunk Indian" stereotype stopped being a stereotype?

The Thompsons sound rather dull-witted to me. I can't tell if they're unconscious racists or simply insensitive morons.

How could you not know that a drinking-Indian image is offensive? Do the Thompsons also sell Chief Wahoo memorabilia and Night at the Museum Custer dolls?

Asking employees whose jobs may depend on their answers is a poor way to assess community opinion. Especially when the owners' position seems clear, as it does in the article.

Cindy's version of an apology: It's ridiculous that you're forcing us to apologize. If you're offended by our products, it's not our fault.

Roger's version of an apology: Some Indians drink responsibly. How dare you insult them by implying that all drinking Indians are drunk Indians?

I guess this is what passes for "racial sensitivity" in Rapid City. The Thompsons' non-apology apologies would sound self-serving, defensive, and insincere anywhere else.

Antlers drinking wine?

I'd also like to know about the other wine holders "of the same design." I guess they could depict bears and raccoons guzzling wine. Even moose and horses. But antlers? How exactly does a rack of antlers drink wine?

I'm guessing the antlers product is merely holding a bottle, not drinking it. Which would mean the Indian wine holder does not have the same design. It would mean someone wanted to depict the Indian drinking wine, not merely holding it.

ShopWiki shows us what the cowboy and horse wine holders might look like. Twisted Grins shows us what the rest of the animal wine holders might look like. A typical antler wine rack suggests these items do not all have "the same design."

If the wine holders showed John Wayne...Elvis Presley...Marilyn Monroe...John F. Kennedy...George W. Bush...Barack Obama...and Jesus guzzling wine, then I'd say the manufacturer was being evenhanded and could consider adding an Indian. But including an Indian with a drunk cowboy and drunk animals isn't doing the Indian any favors. It implies the Indian is as coarse and uncivilized as the other critters.

Then there's this charming product:

Native American Indian Chief Wine Bottle HolderNative American Indian Chief H & K Wine Bottle Holder
... great gift to celebrate Native Americans.
Yeah, because a Plains chief with a spear and a tomahawk is the epitome of Native Americana. These chiefs liked to get their hands dirty (bloody). They did all their killing and murdering themselves. They didn't delegate it to their savage warriors--oh, no. It was so important that they wore their full ceremonial regalia while they butchered people.

Uh-huh, sure. In other words, we celebrate Indians by repeating the oldest and stupidest stereotypes of them.



"Me savage war chief! Kill many white man! Then drink bottle of wine to get blitzed and pass out."



For more on the subject, see The Big Chief and Drunken Indians.

P.S. We've heard about the Custer toys already. But a statue of Indian with his hands tied? In front of the Prairie Edge store, which deals in Indian arts and crafts? As recently as 2008? Is there anybody in Rapid City who isn't totally clueless?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ok. If I can choose between which is more offensive--
1.) The epithet--"Redskin"
Or
2.) The Indian Chief wine holder

I would pick the latter. If I was one of the "40% of Indian employees" who worked there, I wouldn't hestitate to break the wine holders once I saw it. I would be doing my people a great favor and wouldn't shed a flippin' a tear about it.

Geno--

Anonymous said...

I always thought that this notion--

"It implies that Indians are coarse and uncivilized as other critters."

Is totally outdated and deader than disco. For one--
1.) Racist KKKrackers of the far Right and embeciled inbreeds are the not the most civilized beings in the U.S. today. Here's why:
A.) They can't have a rational debate/dialogue without resorting to infantile name calling and using racist overtones and playing the race card.
B.) Have you actually seen an inbreed? If no, they're not the kind of folks who practice good hygiene I.e.--hairy/hirsuted creatures sorta like a sumatran orgunatan ape. Bad and missing teeth-ihence snaggled-toothed guttermouth, drippin' of METH/or tobacco juice. Some of them resembled much like "the faces of meth" etc
C.) They are backwarded, antequated, thus retrograded species of humanity. They vie for days of the pre-Civil Rights era.
D.) They talk funny, like this--
"Oh wumerful!!"
"Go git em joe!"
"Hand me dat can of boodlight."
"Yahooo!"
Technically, one can say they suffer from severe speech impediment. Reminds me of a charcter in South Park.

But in all and all, in reality, its those rabid racist rednecks who are the least civilized in today's modern society. I don't know how it is in Rapid City, but here in Maricopa County, AZ, pretty much everyone hates an inbreed simpleton. They are retarded, filthy, vile bunch of low IQ'ed shenanigans. I've seen how these lesser natavists treat Hispanics here in the greater Phoenix area. They are the worst type of subhumans one can imagine. I aint sorry to say it, but its totally true.

GENO--

dmarks said...

Re: "If the wine holders showed John Wayne...Elvis Presley...Marilyn Monroe...John F. Kennedy...George W. Bush...Barack Obama...and Jesus guzzling wine, then I'd say the manufacturer was being evenhanded and could consider adding an Indian"

If it were the same stereotypical Chief image included along those other icons, I doubt it would be that much better, would it?

Rob said...

The stereotype would still be a problem, DMarks. But I don't think it would stand out as much as it does now.

dmarks said...

That first photo (the one of the Tindian) only just now showed. What a bizarre "sculpture".

Rob said...

When I link to other sites' images, sometimes the links go dead. Sometimes they go dead the next day, which suggests that the owners have found out about my linking to them.

Fortunately, I save copies of all the significant images I find. Therefore, I was able to repost this image easily.

P.S. If you ever find a missing image in one of my postings, feel free to e-mail me.

Rob said...

For more on the wine holders, see Souvenir Demonstrates Rapid City Racism and Pumpkinhead "Indian" Inspired Activism.

Rob said...

A response via e-mail:

Wow Rob,

Your documentation of so many racist offenses in this latter day and age just shows how desperately we need to educate a lot more people at a very young age.

Thanks for all you do,

Amy

Anonymous said...

Cindy and roger thompson are a couple of lowlife racists and this is not the first time they have insulted people. They called my wife a "fucking jew' and told us to go back to our own country when we complained about defective jewelry they sold us. This is not the way to treat people and stay in business. We filed a complaint with ripoff report to warn others about these crooks.

Anonymous said...

GOLD DIGGERS JEWELRY=RACIST CROOKS
We were ripped off by this crooked business and now we are warning people ABOUT these racist shitbags!

Rapid City, SD 55702-2344
Phone: 800 347-8107

FUCK YOU CINDY AND CRAIG THOMPSON RAPID CITY SHITBAGS!

HAHAH WE ARE GOING TO MAKE YOU SCUMBAGS FAMOUS!!
Gold Diggers Dba Berg Jewelers= scumbags

Dakota AMC Club scammer craig thompson

Ripped off by cindy and roger thompson/ gold diggers jewelry

CINDY AND ROGER THOMPSON ARE A COUPLE OF LOWLIFE RACIST SACKS OF SHIT!

Gold diggers jewelry=DEFECTIVE JEWELRY SOLD BY CROOKED SHITBAGS We were ripped off by the crooked business gold diggers jewelry and now the owners refuse to refund us any money after selling us defective jewelry! Real nice you shitbags!! GO suck some more cocks craig thompson you lowlife rapid city cocksucker hahah...ALSO THESE SHITBAGS CALLED MY WIFE A FUCKING JEW!!! SO FUCK YOU CRAIG AND CINDY THOMPSON RAPID CITY!! YOU ARE PILES OF SHIT !!! THIS IS ALSO GOING UP ON RIPOFFREPORT.COM SO HAVE A NICE DAY HAHAAHAHAH