Bieber gets Indian chief tattoo

Justin Bieber Risks Native American Wrath (Again) With New Tattoo

New tattoo features the logo of Stratford Cullitons

By Grace CarrollJustin Bieber's new tattoo features a Native American chief--even after his comments about being 'part Inuit' sparked outrage just last year.

However, he doesn't seem to have run into any criticism from his young fans. The Beliebers' comments included, "I surprisingly love it ... Well it's on you @justinbieber but no seriously !! I do!" and "That's so cool!!!!!"

The tattoo features the logo of junior ice hockey team the Stratford Cullitons which is apparently a tribute to his grandfather, who took Bieber to see the team play when he was younger.

Bieber posted the photo to his Instagram, writing, "My grandfather always took me to the stratford culliton every friday night this is for u Grampa ... My man @chenterios hooked it up."Justin Bieber Gets Indian Inked as Nelly Furtado Supports Idle No MoreCanadian pop singer Justin Bieber has pulled another move bound to be received with head-scratching in Indian country, getting an image of an Indian head tattooed on his back.

Bieber irked many Natives with ignorant comments he made to Rolling Stone in July about his supposed Indian heritage. "I'm actually part Indian," he said. "I think Inuit or something? I'm enough percent that in Canada I can get free gas."

The issue of Bieber's Native heritage was never settled, but he says his Indian head tattoo is a tribute to his grandfather.

Don't take that the wrong way--Bieber is not saying he researched his genealogy and found that his grandfather is (or was) of Native heritage. That didn't happen. What happened was this: Bieber's grandfather used to take young Justin to Stratford Cullitons hockey games. The logo for the Cullitons--formerly the Warriors--is an Indian head. "This is for u Grampa," Bieber wrote when he sent out a photo of the tattoo via his Instagram feed.Comment:  True, the old Stratford Warriors mascot was stereotypical. And most people wouldn't feel the need to memorialize an old stereotype with a tattoo.

But Bieber hasn't made any more claims about his or his grandfather's heritage. He hasn't linked his alleged Native heritage to the tattoo. So I doubt anyone will care.

Still, it's kind of lame. How about tattooing your grandpa's name or face if you want to memorialize him? No one will get the grandfather connection unless Bieber explains it.

Tattooing an Indian chief is about like wearing a Indian headdress. It's what hipsters do to differentiate themselves. The message is that Bieber is cool and tribal and multicultural--not white and square like other plain-vanilla pop stars.

For more on the subject, see "No Free Gas, but Free Admission" and Justin Bieber Thinks He's Native.