March 03, 2010

Italian Dance of the Indians

Someone sent me a link to this offensive video. It shows a group of Italians dressed as phony Plains Indians and performing a pop song-and-dance routine.

I can't embed it, but you can see it here:

LUCA FRENCIA "La Danza degli Indiani"

or here:

The Indians of Luke French

Some comments from the latter posting (translated from Italian):I have no words. I am sorry that there are people who take things so lightly.

I endured only 10 seconds of this stuff.

I do not want to mock anyone, but I do not want you poking fun at people of other cultures with these clowns, especially for profit. Withdraw this carnage of video.

You have insulted, ridiculed, their civil and human dignity. ... If you really still think this is all harmless, a pure play, you know that you are wrong.
Comment:  Since the translations are flawed, we get only a rough idea of how the people in this blog--Native Americani.it--feel. But you can see for yourself how bad the video is. Only a blind fool would think there's nothing wrong with it.

For another bad music video, see MC Mong's Indian Boy Video.

2 comments:

Rob said...

Lorie said...

First, not a fan of pop music and watching the off-beat choreography that is supposed to represent some sort of Native American dance made me somewhat ill. It's one thing to appropriate someone's culture and respect it. It's quite another to use it in such a manner that it becomes offensive.

Rob said...

Alessandro Profeti said...

Hi, I'm Alessandro, the owner of the Italian Blog Nativi Americani.it.

For me this video is VERY shameful.

This is the translation of the song text in this video:

AUGH!
Lynx Eye, Sitting Bull,
Blind Hawk, Bald Bear,
Crooked Wolf, Swift Foot
The Indian is dancing, the drums are sounding
The party is on in the Indian camp
They dance at the sound of the drums
They drink and smoke in good company
They feast and dance with cheerfulness
They start the fires around the camp
The party continues until dawn, the night doesn't want to finish
The Indians' dance cannot be stopped
During day time the Indians go hunt and the women get the village ready
To have a great party every night
Cheerfulness must not be lacking,
The fires are started around the camp
The party continues until dawn, the night doesn't want to finish
The Indians' dance cannot be stopped
Lynx Eye, Sitting Bull,
Blind Hawk, Bald Bear,
Crooked Wolf, Swift Foot