September 13 coincidentally happens to be Bella’s birthday in the books.
Tinsel is very interested in paving the way for other Native American artists and to that end has invited Noah Hunt and his band mate Jay Daffe, who make up the duo “The Definition Of,” to be the opening act. Noah is from the Lumbee Nation and currently resides in Kennewick, WA. The concert will begin with an honor song by Arlie Neskahi of the Navajo Nation.
Actually, there are a couple of ways to look at this. Your outlook may depend on whether you're a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty type:
1) She's doing something positive for the tribe: because she believe in Native people. Because she believes she's Native herself. Because she feels guilty over her claims of being Native.
2) She's doing something positive for herself: building her credibility with Native people. Inoculating herself against claims that she isn't Native. "If the Quileute tribe believes I'm Native, who are you to question me?"
Of course, it could be a combination of both. Who knows?
For more on the subject, see Tinsel Korey Visits Quileutes and Tinsel Korey Answers Critics.
I have to disagree: she's not doing anything, just performing. This little appearance is all about Tinsel Korey, The Promotion Of. She's building street cred and attempting to get a 'pass' from Native people. Creepy. On the other hand, my friends who aren't Native "give back": they educate themselves and engage and offer their support when my community needs it. Hell, they even know how to maintain a respectful distance (when to back off). They claim to be nothing other than who and what they are. We aren't so desperate that we need to accept liars, are we?
ReplyDeleteToo bad it isn't Taylor Lautner "giving back". He's a name, plus he actually seems like a nice guy who'd be willing to learn something about the Quileute people. I'd like to see that. He may be clueless, but he's a kid and I can understand why he took that role in the first place - he saw nothing wrong in it, you could lay the blame on the casting director. I mean, despite claiming a pinch of blood, *his* redface stops when the camera isn't rolling...
- m.