Callaloo founder responds to criticism

In a thread on Facebook, Marlon Singh, one of the founders of Callaloo, responded to the criticism the event has received:To the Native American Community:

I am receiving numerous emails in regards to the misrepresentation of six nation and north american native aboriginals. We in turn deeply apologise for this as it was not done with any malicious intent or specific purpose of demoralization of your culture.

Carnival is similar to halloween its a pagan festival in which different themes are picked differently each year be it space, greece, the romans or fantasy and fiction.

We picked the theme "NATIVE AMERICAS" because we work closely with members of the Cree and Ojibway community, we agreed and built and designed costumes together probably not copying identically native wear but putting a caribbean carnival twist to it.

RIGHT NOW WE HAVE CHANGED THE THEME FROM NATIVE AMERICAS TO CARIBBEAN NATIVES AND TAKEN DOWN NUMEROUS COSTUMES AND PRINTED MATERIAL,(CALLALOO.NET) WE HAVE ALSO CHANGED ALL NAMES ASSOCIATED WITH ANY INDIGINOUS NORTH AMERICAN CULTURE BUT IN TURN FOCUSED ON MY HOME COUNTRY WHICH I AM PART CARIB INDIAN,AGAIN WE APOLOGISE AND FOCUS NOT ONLY NOW BUT FOR FUTURE CARNIVALS TO CEASE AND DESIST IN DEPICTION OF ANY NORTH AMERICAN ABORIGINALS, WE HOPE WE CAN WORK IN PEACE AND HARMONY AND AVOID ANY CONFLICTS OR VIOLENCE DUE TO THIS IN THE FUTURE.

YOURS RESPECTIVELY,

MARLON
647-702-6169My response:  Thanks for taking the time to respond, Marlon.

I'd say your theme change is a step in the right direction, but not nearly enough. You're still associating genuine Caribbean, Central American, and South American tribes with hyper-sexualized Native women. In short, you're still exploiting Natives as sex objects.

P.S. "Probably not copying identically native wear"? I think we can say "definitely not." I'm confident no traditional Native women have ever dressed like Las Vegas showgirls.

Other responses

Others were more gracious:I'm impressed with the fact that Marlon responded and is taking some steps to change the theme of their festival. Since Cree and Ojib First Nations people are involved with this I'm assuming they are not too upset. I've seen pictures of Brazilain Carnivals before and the women sure do dress very scantily. So to have a "Brazilian" style carnival with Native women dressed like Vegas Showgirls is definately offensive, but not the end of the world for sure. I'm more concerned with the "Plastic Shaman" like James Arthur Ray out there who are exploiting Indingenous ways for profit. Or White Eagle Medicine Woman with her "Prayer Formances" for $35 a head. I'd be interested to hear what your Cree & Ojib friend have to say on this subject Marlon. Again, thanks for at least caring!

The fact that Marlon took the time to acknowledge the issue publicly and did what they could to work with everyone's concern is really good, many others would not have done this.A few more comments:

Singh and company have now removed the tomahawks and arrows from the home page. I'm glad our criticism is producing results. I'm sorry it was necessary.

It's not clear if Singh's Cree and Ojibway friends actually know the details of the event. And since Callaloo primarily stereotypes Caribbean and South American Indians, Canadian Indians aren't the main victims.

I believe Central America and the Caribbean are part of North America. So Singh is wrong when he says he's not doing anything with North American Native cultures. He's not doing anything with his impression of North American cultures, maybe, which means chiefs and teepees. But he's still stereotyping North American Indians.

Actually, it doesn't matter which Indians he chooses to stereotype. Or whether he's part of the culture he's stereotyping. Stereotyping is wrong, period. There are no free passes for images that objectify Native women across two continents. Nothing that contributes to the horrendous violence against women is acceptable.

For more on the subject, see Callaloo = Sexual Objectification and Callaloo Stereotypes "Native Americas."

Below:  "Tribal Princesses"...with a Plains tipi in the background. So much for disassociating Callaloo from North American cultures. It couldn't be much clearer that the whole event is an excuse to parade sexy savages.