Jennifer Lopez wears "tribal" outfit

Jennifer Lopez Wears "Tribal" Outfit for American Music Awards Opening Number

By Rachel LubitzOn Sunday night, Jennifer Lopez opened the American Music Awards with a musical medley celebrating the year's top songs.

As she shook her stuff on stage, fans took note of her signature ageless glow, her perfect caramel highlights and her "tribal" jumpsuit, which she paired with a Native-inspired fur coat.

Although Lopez had several looks throughout the night—like a fun hot pink dress and a bright yellow jumpsuit—this was the one look that earned a certain kind of reaction. While most fans noted her impressive dance moves (and the fellow celebrity reactions), some viewers cited the outfit as an uncomfortable instance of cultural appropriation.There Was a Major Problem with Jennifer Lopez's Opening Performance at the AMAs

This is something we should be paying more attention to.

By Tyler McCall[W]e recognized the costumes' details from Italian label Dsquared2's controversial fall/winter 2015 collection. Nicknamed "Dsquaw," the line came under fire from Native American groups for cultural appropriation, not just because of the name ("squaw" is an derogatory word used to refer to Native American women) but because of the theft of their cultural heritage. DSquared2's designers Dean and Dan Caten are Canadian, which means they should be familiar to such sensitivities.

This is how the original description of their line read:"The enchantment of Canadian Indian tribes. The confident attitude of the British aristocracy.

In a captivating play on contrasts: an ode to America's native tribes meets the noble spirit of Old Europe. Magic and mysterious tribal influences meld with royal references in a bold, quite eccentric aesthetic, revealing luxurious materials and high-end, artisanal details.Comment:  Brown folks in cornrows, dreadlocks, and braids! So wildly outfitted and tattooed! They're fierce...savage...tribal!

For more fashion faux pas, see Los Angeles Magazine's "Going Native" and KTZ Rips Off Native Designs.

Eisenberg's "squaw and chief" bit

Five Racist Ways The New Yorker is Embarrassing Itself

By Aura BogadoFor the "Shouts & Murmurs" humor column in its May 25th issue, The New Yorker presents “Men and Dancing,” a collection of four absurd dialogues written by actor and playwright Jesse Eisenberg. In each dialogue someone is pressuring a man to perform a dance that is part of his job and the man makes every excuse in the book to avoid doing so. For example, a quarterback presses a wide receiver to do a touchdown dance and a royal aide pushes a court jester to dance for the king.

The first dialogue—where an imaginary Native "squaw" insists that her "chief" perform a rain dance to help their starving tribe's crops grow—is deeply troubling.No Joke: New Yorker Published a Squaw-and-Chief Bit by Jesse EisenbergThere are all sorts of problems with this characterization of Native Americans—and there's a big problem with the use of the word "squaw," which we thought everyone understood was a racial slur. Aura Bogado makes it plain and simple in her Colorlines piece "Five Racist Ways The New Yorker is Embarrassing Itself."

Eisenberg's bit about Natives displays all the enlightenment of a Tintin comic book or an early Popeye cartoon—but those cringe-inducing products of their time were made over 80 years ago. To see The New Yorker print the word "squaw" like it's just another noun, here in the year 2015, is a reminder that even the smartest guys on the newsstand can still be fairly dumb when it comes to Native stereotyping.Jesse Eisenberg learns zero lessons from Adam Sandler fiasco: “Two Dogs could do a great rain dance”

The actor and frequent New Yorker contributor's Shouts & Murmurs column is being criticized for racist jokes

By Erin KeaneThe depths to which the New Yorker might sink when it comes to appeasing celebrities who want to place their creative work in the venerable magazine’s pages, especially the fiction section and humor columns, have yet to be fully plumbed, but sometimes they get it right. Not this week, though—Jesse Eisenberg’s “Men and Dancing” piece in Shouts & Murmurs, four vignettes explaining just how much some men dread dancing in public, is the dreaded double-whammy of barely-funny meets actually offensive. A quarter of his piece traffics heavily—and wholly unnecessarily—in racist stereotypes about Native Americans, and the fact that this scene of a “Squaw” urging an unnamed chief to perform a rain dance even made it to print is either a truly spectacular act of cynical Shouts & Murmurs celebrity column trolling, or total editorial cluelessness.Actor Jesse Eisenberg called out for using the term 'squaw' in The New Yorker

'What year is it @NewYorker? Your racism is circa 1930's,' tweeter Jamie Wilson writes

By Kim WheelerWab Kinew @WabKinew
Hey @NewYorker love your magazine, but hate the fact you used the slur "Squaw" in an attempt at a humour column http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/25/men-and-dancing

Hayden King @Hayden_King
In all the vacuous, ignorant writing on squaws, Chiefs and rain dancing, this is exceptional. Top notch, @NewYorker. https://twitter.com/NewYorker/status/600481247425654785Eisenberg's squaw and chief schtick a teachable moment

'Historical ignorance only goes so far,' says professor Marlene Atleo

By Wawmeesh G. HamiltonJust because actor Jesse Eisenberg didn`t know the history of the word 'squaw,' doesn't mean he is excused for using it, Marlene Atleo said.Comment:  For more on "squaw," see Cultural Appropriation for Halloween 2014 and Republican: Only Good Indian Is Dead.

Cultural appropriation for Halloween 2014

It wouldn't be Halloween without the racist and stereotypical appropriation of ethnic cultures. As usual, Indians noted many examples of people selling or dressing up in inappropriate costumes:

17 Redface Costumes You Can Buy: Walmart Really, Really Doesn't Get ItChange comes slowly, and while many in the United States are waking up to the racism of Native-themed sports mascots and Halloween costumes, it is the lumbering giants of commerce who will probably be the last to see the light. The NFL won't take action on the Redskins until advertisers and the media reach a tipping point. We can analogize that with a big-box mega-lo-mart like Walmart, which isn't likely to do the progressive thing about Halloween costumes until it's the best business decision.

How far out of touch is the U.S.'s largest retailer? Inspired by the "fat girl" Halloween costume fiasco, we rooted around the "Native American/American Indian" costumes and found dozens of stereotypical getups—that was expected. But the product descriptions! It's the voice of white privilege smirking at the quaintness of a minority culture. Were these written in the Mad Men era?

15 People Who Plan to Be a Native American This HalloweenWell, it's nearly Halloween, which means it's that time of year again when cultural misappropriation runs amok; when you end up at a party and some one comes clad in faux Native American garb, i.e. a chicken-feathered headdress and multi-colored racing stripes on his face. Invariably, the man's date comes costumed as a "Pocahottie," and is completely oblivious to the plague of violence against indigenous women in North America. So, folks, here are 15 people who have publicly expressed their interest in dressing up as a Native American this year.
Analyses

As usual, several postings denounced dressing up as Indians for Halloween and explained why it's wrong. Here's a selection of them:

I am NOT a costume![W]hen you wear an “Indian” or “Savage” or “Native American” costume you are basically stereotyping a culture, you are also making their culture a historical reference that sends a message to everyone: Native Americans no longer exist, only in history books and old western films. You are not recognizing the present day Native people who are professors, doctors, actors, and nurses who still identify with their Native culture and are successfully existing in the modern world.Is your costume racist?‘Indian Squaw’ outfits are almost always sexualised. To wear this is to ignore the fact that for Native American women, the rate of sexual assault is twice that of the national average in the USA. Women of colour are more likely to experience violence and sexual abuse than white women. And if their cultures and traditions are constantly sexualised and objectified, if they continue to be considered ‘exotic’ rather than human, this won’t change anytime soon.What Hazmat Suits, Ray Rice, and the Washington Redskins Have in Common With Human TraffickingIn a study titled "Of Warrior Chiefs and Indian Princesses: The Psychological Consequences of American Indian Mascots," researchers found that high school students who were exposed to common American Indian images (e.g., Chief Wahoo, Pocahontas, Chief Illinwek) had lower self-esteem and lower sense of worth to the community; and college students exposed to these same images identified fewer achievement-oriented goals. The images and portrayals that society offers marginalized populations may have implications for youth development, and they may invoke a larger discussion of the role that these images play.Halloween: The Season for Culturally-Insensitive FashionThe argument that you can "try on" a cultural identity for a day and then discard it speaks to the ability of being able to return to your special place of privilege. You can take off your headdress and sleep at night, knowing that you don't have to wake up the next morning to confront a history of colonialism and genocide that has left your community living in an impoverished reservation, having to deal with segregation, racism and gross cultural misrepresentation in the form of films, sports mascots and holidays. As the "We're a Culture, not a Costume" Campaign put it, "You wear the costume for one night, we wear the stigma for life."The Perils of Culturally Appropriative Halloween Costumes“Aren’t there bigger issues to worry about,” my Facebook acquaintance asked at one point. Part of my essay addressed this question like this: reducing a minority group to a Halloween costume is only one symptom of the majority culture’s inability to see us as people, and tendency to reduce us to stereotypes. There are other symptoms, many of them more present, more real, more hurtful. But an insult is not painless just because it is not a slap, a kick, a police dog sicced on you at a protest march.Comment:  For more on Halloween, see Gerard Butler's Girlfriend in a Headdress and Party City Stereotypes Indians.

Republican: Only good Indian is dead

Hagedorn apologizes for old posts about Indians, women, gays

By Heather J. CarlsonFirst District Republican candidate Jim Hagedorn is apologizing for old blog posts that targeted Indians, gays and women.

On his Facebook page, Hagedorn wrote that he had written political satire years ago and "even though most of my writing were composed more than 10 years ago, national and DFL liberals are determined to attack me personally, mostly by exhibiting snippets of out-dated, misunderstood or out-of-context material and calling me derogatory names."

Nonetheless, Hagedorn wrote that "I do acknowledge that some of my hard-hitting and tongue-in-cheek commentary was less than artfully constructed or included language that could lead to hurt feelings. I offer a sincere and heartfelt apology."

Hagedorn won an upset victory in the Aug. 12 Republican primary over the party-endorsed candidate Aaron Miller, of Byron. The Blue Earth Republican will take on 1st District DFL Rep. Tim Walz in November.

Hagedorn wrote the posts between 2002 and 2008 on a blog called Mr. Conservative. Among the posts was one that referred to alleged voter fraud in the 2002 South Dakota election involving American Indians. He wrote that "Many of the votes registered for absentee ballots were found to be chiefs and squaws who returned to the spirit world many moons ago." He went on to write, "Leave it to liberals to ruin John Wayne's wisdom of the only good Indian being a dead Indian." Another referred to two Washington senators as "bimbos in tennis shoes."Comment:  The only thing "out-dated" about Hagedorn's comments are the racism and sexism he evinces.

"Misunderstood" or "out-of-context"? There's no context that makes his racism towards Natives acceptable. Certainly not "tongue-in-cheek commentary" or "satire." He wasn't satirizing someone else's beliefs, he was expressing his own. This is what he thinks about Natives, and it's racist.

The only question is how racist Hagedorn is, not whether he's racist.

His first comment about Natives merely shows his ignorant and stereotypical thinking. It's not overtly hateful, although consigning Natives to the past is a belittling and dismissive act.

His second comment is overtly hateful. He's basically wishing Natives dead. There's no excuse, none, for this hate speech.

This is the type of person who exemplifies conservative Americans. Judging by the comments in mascot debates, many people would agree with Hagedorn's remarks. Natives are "chiefs and squaws" who should've disappeared long ago. Who have no business telling white people what to do with their beloved Native fantasies.

Lewis and Clark in Drunk History

Drunk History: There's Nothing Funny About Violence Against Native American Women

By ElissaI’ve recently grown to love Drunk History. There’s nothing like the narration of a filter-free lush on the brink of a blackout to underscore the absurdity of Our Nation’s History, the kind that becomes fables in our young heads as soon as we’re old enough to memorize facts from textbooks. Drunk History is a Comedy Central series that presents drunken storytellers—comedians and other personalities—recounting historic events, with which historical reenactments are paired.

I was curious to see what Drunk History would do with the story of Lewis and Clark’s journey in the recent “Nashville” episode, which aired on August 27. As a lecturer of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington, I teach classes on literature and film, most recently a class on the representations of Native characters in the Twilight Saga.

The Drunk History treatment of the story of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was appalling. Yes, Drunk History has established a track record of using “mature” language—the people are wasted. They swear. Yes, the storytellers fudge the facts—that’s part of the point, and serves as a reminder that history is created by a massive chorus of voices, those with facts behind them and those without. But in narrating the Lewis and Clark segment, Alie Ward and Georgia Hardstark crossed a line from ribald to reprehensible.Some specifics:The Native people have arrived on screen inexplicably pumped for a fight. We know these guys are “(beep)holes” because they’re partially unclothed, which is pop culture parlance for savage. The Lakota Chief shows up (fully clothed, so we know he’s no barbarian), played by Pakistani-American actor Kumail Nanjiani. Do the producers mean to make a comment by casting a non-white, non-Native actor in this role?

We’re told that “each of Lewis and Clark’s men got like four wives, for the night—like hookers.” “Like, I’m gonna check out these old hooker wives.” “And sure enough, everyone on the expedition, they got (beep) crazy STD’s.” The Native men are cast as pimps, the women as whores, and the white adventurers are just there to enjoy the bounty.

Ward and Hardstark continue to narrate as Nanjiani reappears in the role of another Native man, this time donning the iconic headband in place of the headdress. Both pieces of costuming have been used throughout cinema’s history to erase the cultural distinctions among individual tribes, stripping us of our individuality and reinforcing a false notion of “pan-Indian” unity.Comment:  For more on Lewis and Clark, see Review of A Blackfeet Encounter and Manifest Destiny Comic Book.

Young Native Fashion's "Squaw" line

Someone named Stephen Eagle E Ellis posted this photo on Facebook:

Stevie Eagle E--CEO Shlepp Entertainment Ltd

Young Native™ Fashion 2013 by Angela DeMontigny featuring Ayi Jihu.

Spiritual Quintessential Unique Aboriginal Woman--SQUAW!"Squaw" clothing line...so you can be a fashionable Pocahottie without the leathers and feathers.

Prove to your man that you're a sexy squaw who'll do what he wants in the boardroom and in the bedroom!

Native activists began criticizing them for using the word "squaw," so Young Native Fashion posted an response. It explains why taking back Native slurs is like taking back Native land:If Indian land was taken by the white man, ruined, destroyed and made into a dump against your will and you had the chance to reclaim that land fix it and make it better would you not do it?

Or would you just walk around it and leave it? Forever curse it and consign it to the past and even more so attack those who would try to fix it?

This makes no real sense as this is YOUR WORD, your land. Those of you who speak of weakness because of trying to reclaim what is yours are in fact missing the point completely. You are spoiling for a fight at all opportunities but you are not engaging the wider world 'idle no more' or not in your fight because of thinking like this. To win your battles you need to engage the wider world. Not just the 'Native' world. Because you are part of the same world and in reality no one owns the land. We are all squatters on God's land.

You may not agree with the use of the word squaw and that is your personal right. But You do not own it or it's use and your personal attacks on someone trying to do something positive, and forward thinking sound bitter and twisted.

This is a Native word that meant a wonderful thing that was made into a negative thing which we are attempting to return to its original meaning, our way.

It's that simple.Critics don't agree

The critics weren't mollified:This is appalling! I don't even know how to begin telling this person how wrong/ignorant/selfish/etc. they are!! Please feel free to express yourselves!

I know how to begin...by writing this guy and letting him know how we feel!

Their reply here may seem noble, but they are hypocrites. Giving a well-worded response doesn't absolve them of pushing their exploited products.

I just got one thing to say about the above reply...blahblahblah to try to justify your action you attack someone else is acting like a teenager. It is always someone else's fault.Comment:  Angela DeMontigny is a Native fashion designer based in Ontario. Ayi Jihu (center) is some sort of "Chinese star" who inspired DeMontigny.

Since Young Native Fashion's explanation refers to "YOUR WORD," I assume it was written by Ellis, not DeMontigny. I'm guessing Ellis is non-Native and adopted the "Eagle E" nickname for this project. Because eagles are Native, you know.

A few thoughts on this reclamation project:

1) Words such as "squaw" and "redskins" don't need to be reclaimed and rehabilitated. The words have evolved into slurs and will remain slurs for the foreseeable future because racists need racial epithets. If we were to erase them from existence, other slurs would arise to take their place.

2) Young Native Fashion's motives are highly suspect since trying to profit from "squaw." If you're so concerned about rehabilitating "squaw," how about starting a nonprofit to do it? If your choice was rehabilitating "squaw" but not making money or making money but not rehabilitating "squaw," which would you choose? Do we even have to ask?

The same analysis that applied to Redskin Magazine also applies here. Ellis isn't doing something noble here. He's using the stereotype, not challenging it, to enrich himself.

Selling sex

Incidentally, any resemblance of the black man (presumably "Stevie Eagle E") and his models to a pimp and his prostitutes is purely coincidental.

Just kidding. With the model's skin and poses, the company is obviously selling sex rather than clothes. Because the clothes we can see are unremarkable shirts and skirts except for the logos. So it's not farfetched to imagine the pimp-and-prostitute scenario.

Coincidentally, someone posted a Brocket 99 video the same day. "Brocket 99 is the name of an underground comedy audio tape that parodies aboriginal people in Canada and the name of two documentary films about the tape," according to Wikipedia. The video was titled "Every Squaw I Screw" and the thumbnail showed a hottie in a headdress. Activists quickly got it removed.

The song and its lyrics reinforce the point about what's wrong with "squaw." If it was ever a neutral word, it isn't now. In most people's minds, it basically means "Native slut." It encourages people to think of Native women as sex subjects.

We should get people to stop using the word, not try to rehabilitate it. Even if rehabilitation worked, would mean years of promoting the objectification of women like the models above. It would do nothing to change underlying attitudes toward Native women, which are what really need changing.

For more on "squaw," see Bakery to Rename Squaw Bread and Company Pulls "Sassy Squaw" Costume.

Bakery to rename squaw bread

Old Town Baking Company in Rancho Cucamonga to rename its squaw bread

By Neil NisperosA bakery in this city is changing the name of its popular squaw bread after some Native Americans deemed it offensive.

Old Town Baking Company owners have received emails and Facebook messages in recent weeks demanding that the name be changed.

Native American groups consider "squaw" a deeply derogatory term, said USC professor David Treuer, an acclaimed novelist who writes Native American-themed literature. Treuer said he was taken aback when he saw the bread during a recent visit to a local grocery store.

"I saw the bread and I was a little stunned," said David Treuer, who is from the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Indians in Minnesota.

"I know it's a type of bread, and they're not the only company that makes that bread. I was sort of surprised to see a bread with that name in the bakery aisle of the local supermarket. It is universally understood, particularly with native people as a slur. It has been used as a slur for a couple hundred years."

Treuer sent an email to Old Town Baking Company officials on Feb. 8 informing them of the offensive nature of the word.

Treuer's brother Anton, a professor of Native American studies at Bemidji State University in Minnesota, created a Facebook page calling on Old Town Baking Company to change the name of the bread.

A debate soon erupted on the Old Town Baking Company Facebook page over the term. The commentary included Anton Treuer posting a message that said, "We can't demand respect with disrespect."

The owners of the bread company said some of the messages were hurtful.

Don Bishop had tears in his eyes when he recently discussed his family being characterized as racist. His grandmother was Cherokee and was born on the Oconaluftee Reservation in North Carolina.

Bishop's grandfather used the phrase "sweet squaw" as a term of endearment for his grandmother, and the sweet wheat bread baked by his grandmother was referred to by her as "squaw."

Bishop said he was shocked when he learned about the offensive nature of the term. A post on the company's Facebook page said, "We have always known this word to mean 'woman.'"

"My father-in-law remembers his grandfather using the term in a loving and respectful way and perfected the recipe as a tribute to the Native American culture," Bishop said.

"We ... are heartbroken and so sad that we would unknowingly have a name of one of our products that could be offensive to the Native American community."Comment:  Once again, it's nice to see a Native protest via social media produce quick results.

This protest began a week or two after I posted Native Stereotypes in Breakfast Foods and Milton's Squaw Bread. But this is a different company and I don't think there's a connection.

I gather squaw bread is a type of bread and many people and companies make it:

Does anyone know what Squaw Bread is?All it is, is a slightly sweet bread.Where Did All the Squaw Bread Go?

So these bakeries didn't choose the name "Squaw" because they thought it sounded cool. They were merely offering a type of bread commonly known as squaw bread.

So nobody meant to slur Natives with this term. But the fact remains that Natives don't like it. There's no reason to use a term that few people are familiar with, and a good reason to change it. So give up "squaw bread" and call it "Grandmother's Bread" or something.

For more on "squaw," see Columnist Defends Mummers Parade and Limbaugh Calls Warren "Squaw Indian Giver."

Native stereotypes in breakfast foods

In this posting:

I eat stereotypes like you for breakfast

Adrienne Keene notes that she could have a breakfast made only of Native-themed products: Calumet Baking Powder, Indian Head Corn Meal, Squaw Bread, Land O'Lakes Butter, Sue Bee Honey, Orangina drink, etc. She continues:The sad thing is I could keep going and going…I’m sure you come across other products in your daily life as well (feel free to share in the comments). And this is just food. In isolation, each of these would seem like no big deal–these are the “good” stereotypical images. The “noble savage.” No wild eyes or big noses, just headdresses and Indian maidens. But when taken as a collective, is it any wonder that most people in the world think of Native peoples as headdress-wearing Plains chiefs or buckskin-clad Indian women? I’m not saying there isn’t stereotypical imagery of other racial/ethnic groups in branding, but the ubiquity of Native imagery is striking.

Many/most of these products have “historic” ties to the logo, but that’s no excuse. If you look in the “about” pages of the companies, many of them mention the wish of the founders of the company to “honor” the local Native peoples. But, for example, sorry Umpqua Ice Cream, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians don’t wear plains headdresses. It’s 2012. I think it’s time to critically examine the way that Native peoples are represented in branding and advertising. Why is this still socially acceptable?

Much like Indian mascots, these images are not “honoring,” they serve to collapse hundreds of distinct nations and cultures into one stereotypical lump, and perpetuate stereotypes of Native peoples living like they did in the 1700′s, rather than modern people who are shopping at the local Star Mart (without a headdress on). Truly, for many people, these are the only representations of American Indians that they see. Add on to that Indian mascots, hollywood stereotypes like Tonto and Twilight, and is it any wonder that Native peoples and issues continue to be marginalized and forgotten? How is a small child supposed to know that all Indians don’t say “how” and wear feathered headdresses everyday, when every morning they are putting Land ‘O Lakes butter and Sue Bee Honey on their squ*w bread?

I don’t know about you, but this breakfast didn’t sit too well with me. Turns out racial inequality isn’t so yummy, it just makes my stomach hurt.Comment:  For more on food stereotypes, see Thunderbird Energetica Energy Bars and Plains Chief on Pemmican Package.

Milton's Squaw Bread

A link from correspondent DMarks:

Squaw BreadSome people take one look at our all natural Squaw Bread and think its pumpernickel. But this dark and hearty bread has a surprisingly sweet flavor thanks to a hint of honey. Squaw bread is a popular flavor served in restaurant bread baskets here on the west coast, but our bakers have gone a step further by adding the wholesome goodness of whole grains, fiber, and protein.Comment:  Apparently this company didn't get the memo about the word "squaw."

For more on "squaw," see Columnist Defends Mummers Parade and Limbaugh Calls Warren "Squaw Indian Giver."

Columnist defends Mummers parade

Recently, Philadelphia's Mummers parade included white folks dressed as American Indians, Asian Indians, and blacks. Now another columnist has tried to defend this obvious racism. His key argument about why the parade was okay:

Thou Shalt Not Wear a Native American Headdress

By Thom NickelsWearing Native American headdresses used to be a rite of passage for most American boys. My childhood Boy Scout troop, for instance, had many halo and straight-up Native war bonnets that we wore during Scout Jamborees in Maryland along the Mason-Dixon line. Dressed up, we built campfires, put on war paint, and hunted one another down in a great Native American fantasy that usually ended in a great bonfire and a circle dance. (Today, a bonfire would be outlawed as "dangerous" and war paint as "unacceptable.") Such ceremonies taught us to be respectful and to honor the American Indian. These rituals were the high point of camp life, so much so that for the longest time I wanted to be an American Indian. Pretending I was American Indian was such an intense childhood obsession I'd take my bow and arrow, spear and halo war bonnet and lead charges against my faux cowboy or Calvary friends on the steep hills behind my house in Chester County. I didn't care that I was the only kid playing the part of an Indian because I saw the American Indian as a scared underdog in an unjust war with the land-stealing Calvary.

The girls in my Chester County country neighborhood would often don a headband with one feather sticking straight up in the back. They played Native squaws. In those days, nobody thought that outdoor theater like this was disrespecting Native culture. If anything, the opposite feeling was usually present: by our dressing up as American Indians, we felt we were honoring our true American ancestors in a special way.Readers respond

Because this column appeared on the liberal-leaning Huffington Post, the comments were actually good--thoughtful and intelligent--for once. A sample:Matthew Atkinson

Sorry, but I am totally out of sympathy with your complaint, starting from the first sentence in which you decry "political correctness" with the pathetic cliche about a "warpath." This is not about your fond memories of pretending to be another race. For us (I am Native), headdresses are not costume pieces or decorations. They are holy. They indicate achievements and reverence akin to wearing a priest's stole--you don't simply put on a fake one and go play. For you to describe our ceremonial lives as mere "inconsequential minutiae" is PRECISELY the attitude of arrogance and cultural bigotry that makes our protectiveness necessary. The fact that you have a history of behaving in such ways is not a validation of the history, any more than the legacy of blackface is a defense of that. It's a shame that you've attached such nostalgia to bigotry as a rite of passage, but that's what makes this our problem.

Grafton Kevan

WTF.

American Indian people: "We find it offensive when you dress up as caricatures of us."

Thom Nickels: "We do it to honor you! You're being oversensitive! We're not gonna stop!"

Sane people: "..."

Clarification: Thom, you cannot honor somebody by doing something they find offensive. When somebody tells you they find something offensive, you can either ignore them, which is in your rights but disrespectful, or you can be respectful and comply with their wishes. You cannot honor somebody by being disrespectful.

This is not hard. The fact that you can write this many words about this topic and not stumble upon this simple fact is pretty impressive, though.

Celeste Smith

My father used to “play Indian” as a child too. The only problem was, he always wanted to be the “cowboy” which was ironic because we are Oneida/6 Nations People. He told me this was because the cowboys always won and the Indians always lost. Westerns were big (in the '50s) and of course, little kids emulated those stereotypes in play. The white kids in the neighbourhood thought it was great they had “real” Indians to chase and terrorize. You see the difference between us is that when you are done playing Indian you can take off the headdress. We cannot. We are stuck with dealing all those stereotypes you have created for us, good or bad, and we are the ones who have to live with them.

J-Roc77

Seems much of the time I see people complaining about 'political correctness' they are complaining about being called out for demeaning other cultures, race or ethnicity.

I find it interesting that you claim wearing a headdress as a rite of passage for your youth, totally oblivious to the rites of passage of the people you supposedly honor with such portrayals in your appropriation. Claiming it is just as much yours as the people who still use the traditions because you played with their culture, religion and traditions as a toy when you were a kid only shows the lowly stance you hold these people and their culture. It is a kids' toy to you, a romanticized idea or a source of amusement. It means something different to those who you claim are being overly sensitive and you refuse to acknowledge their side but insinuate they should accept yours as theirs.

You state you wanted to be a Native American is if it were a job or simply a lifestyle, have you ever played Mexican or black? Instead of warpaint you can wear black-face and you can pretend to fight against slavery or something, why not?

You are willingly ignorant to the other side of the story or to actually put some context into your actions. You are too busy in a mock defense of your right to speech, freedom etc. to realize your actions do not protect you from the consequences of your freedoms you choose to exercise.

Nancie Velasquez

I totally missed the part where you said the girls dressed up as "squaws." You do realize that that's a derogatory term right? What am I saying, of course you don't. That's the same as calling a black guy or gal a n*****. Let me suggest a past time for you to try next...go paint your face black and go out to see how people react. I'm so tired of people like you saying others are overly sensitive about our heritage and culture.I posted some additional thoughts as a comment too:

What you and all those children were respecting, Thom, is a clownish caricature of Native culture. You know, the savagery of primitive people whooping and dancing and committing other acts of wild abandon. That's not what Native cultures were like.

You were not respecting real Native cultures--either those that existed then or those that exist now. If you were, you'd be volunteering on a reservation, supporting Idle No More, or writing pro-Indian columns. I'm guessing your "childhood obsession" hasn't translated into any of these actions.

Respecting a caricature of Indians is exactly like respecting blacks by supporting minstrel shows, Aunt Jemima, and Amos 'n' Andy. Do you consider those fair and honorable representations of blacks? If there's a difference, explain it to us, because I don't see it.

Nickels tries again

Nickels's closing argument is worth noting too. He tries to shift gears radically and ends up proving his critics' point:Two years ago, a male acquaintance of mine dressed up as a 19th-century Turkish sultan for a Halloween ball. He was walking with friends across North Broad Street when he was attacked by another man who said he was insulting Islam. My friend was beaten pretty badly and spent a day in the hospital.

Now, dressing up as a 19th-century Turkish sultan is something straight out of an MGM movie set. A costume like that, to the modern mind, has a storybook quality with only a vague connection to Islam. Yet somebody was outraged and took matters into their own hands.

Welcome once again to our super-hypersensitive world.The response I posted:

What exactly is the point of your Turkish sultan anecdote? First you say you had a deep childhood reverence for Native cultures. As demonstrated by your cartoonish costumes and mock savagery, presumably. Then you say your "Turkish" acquaintance, and by implication the costumed Mummers, had only "a vague connection" to reality. In other words, these people were falsifying an ethnic group, not honoring it.

Which is it? Were the Mummers trying to "honor" Indians the way you supposedly did in childhood? If so, why did they wear phony costumes only vaguely connected to reality? Or were they and you stereotyping Indians because you were too ignorant to know any better? If so, why did you expect to get a pass for your belittling behavior?

Please elucidate.

For more on the subject, see Racist "Make Me Indian" App and Halloween = "Socially Acceptable Racism."

Below:  Kids who probably think about Indians the way Nickels did.

Limbaugh calls Warren "Squaw Indian Giver"

Limbaugh: Elizabeth Warren is ‘Heap Big Squaw Indian Giver’

By David EdwardsConservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Thursday referred to Senator-elect Elizabeth Warren as “Heap Big Squaw Indian Giver,” confirming that he would continue to provide ammunition to critics who accuse him of being both racist and sexist.

Speaking on his radio program, Limbaugh noted that a group of Democratic senators had written a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) asking to delay a medical device tax that was passed as part of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

“Elizabeth Warren, for example, she gave her whole-hearted approval to Obamacare,” Limbaugh explained. “Now, she is one of the senators that wants to take that back.”

“She’s an Indian giver,” he ranted. “Yes! I intended to say that! Elizabeth Warren, Heap Big Squaw Indian Giver!”

During her Senate campaign earlier this year, Warren faced criticism over a claim that her mother was part Cherokee and part Delaware Indian. At one point, Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) staffers mocked her heritage by shouting “war whoops” and doing the “Tomahawk Chop” at a campaign rally.

“It is those types of actions that perpetuate negative stereotypes and continue to minimize and degrade all native peoples,” Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation Bill John Baker said in September. “We need individuals in the United States Senate who respect Native Americans and have an understanding of tribal issues.”Comment:  Limbaugh admits he used this racist label intentionally. Therefore, he's a self-confessed racist. Good to know.

Of course, there's nothing with approving Obamacare in general, then asking to delay one provision. Especially when we're facing a fiscal crisis. This is typical of the "controversies" fabricated by conservatives to increase their popularity and stoke resentment against people of color.

And they wonder why they lost in November. Keep spewing your bigotry against women and minorities, Rush! Keep losing national elections!

For more on Limbaugh, see Limbaugh Cheers Freedmen Expulsion and Teabaggers Lie About Thanksgiving.

Company pulls "Sassy Squaw" costume

Company pulls 'Sassy Squaw' costume, apologizes

U.S. company says it chose kids' costume name because it was catchyA U.S. company is pulling a children's Halloween costume it called "Sassy Squaw" after CBC North made inquiries about its name.

The costume for young girls featured a hide dress, feather hairband, beaded necklace and pink leggings with what look like ancient cave drawings. It was being sold at Sears.com and on Amazon.ca.

The costume was designed and manufactured by a San Diego-based company called Incharacter. Their other costumes based on aboriginal culture include Cheeky Cherokee, Indian Brave and Maiden and the gruesome kids costume Spirit Warrior.

The designers said they chose the name "Sassy Squaw" because they thought it was catchy.

Yellowknife resident Gail Cyr said with ongoing campaigns to try and reduce the high numbers of missing and murdered aboriginal women, “This kind of stuff does not help.”

“It gives a primitive view of what aboriginal girls and women are all about,” she said.

“There’s a lot of change to try and get away from the basic standard stereotype which we have been subjected to all this time, and this stereotype is actually dangerous now because it's affecting our aboriginal women and girls.”Comment:  That's one costume down and thousands, perhaps millions, to go.

Apparently the company pulled only the "Sassy Squaw" costume, and only because of its name. There's no evidence it pulled the other stereotypical costumes.

Still, it's good that the company responded without a lot of whining about how innocent and fun its costumes are. That alone is a step forward.

For more on "squaw," see "Squaw Bury Short Cake" and Tomahawk Tassels Stereotypes Native Women.

"Squaw Bury Short Cake" assignment

A posting by someone named Abbey Thompson caused a stir on Facebook:This is my son's math assignment from Friday. I am at a loss for words, how can a public school distribute things like this in this day & age!!? I thought Lakeland Union High School was making progress in the area of race relations until I saw this. He didn't even know what the word "squaw" meant until now.., thanks to his math teacher.

Chief Short Cake Math Assignment Gaffe Has Lac du Flambeau Members Urging Cultural Sensitivity“What happened after Chief Short Cake Died?” That was the question posed at the top of 17-year-old Noah Archer’s assignment on Friday, September 28. The answer to which was, “Squaw Bury Short Cake.”

His mother, Abbey Thompson, snapped a photo of her son’s completed assignment with her cell phone and uploaded it onto her Facebook page on Sunday, September 30 and it’s drawn quite a response.

Thompson, a member of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Wisconsin, said she’s received messages from people all over the United States and Canada.

“As a white person, I am pissed my tax dollars are being spent to belittle and oppress Native students,” Mary Sharlow says on Facebook. “I am pissed my tax dollars are being spent to promote white privilege. I am pissed LUHS continues to teach racism.”

Thompson was “at a loss for words” when she posted the picture and said she “thought Lakeland Union High School was making progress in the area of race relations until I saw this.”

Richard A. Vesbach, the math teacher who assigned the homework and is in his third year of teaching at LUHS, has written a number of letters apologizing.

“It is with deepest regret and intense humility,” he begins one of the letters, dated October 1 and addressed to Joni Theobald, the Lac du Flambeau Tribe’s education director. In the letter he explains that the assignment was in an outdated book of worksheets from the 1980s he found in the room when he first started teaching. He also says he has discarded the book.

“None of that excuses what has happened and I take full responsibility for my actions,” Vesbach continues. “No one else is to blame but me. As a result, LUHS has appropriately sent me home for the day. I recommended that they not pay me.”Comment:  Some people tried to claim this wasn't a problem because "squaw" simply means "woman." That may be the word's origin, but it's come to have a negative meaning.

And even without "squaw," the exercise is culturally insensitive. It gives the chief a phony name and makes light of his burial.

Indeed, whenever we focus on Indians, it's almost always about the chief. We treat other Indians as a faceless mass of warriors. Which helps to deny their humanity.

Would we accept other outdated jokes about ethnic groups? For instance:

Q: Why did the farmer plant a black man up to his thigh in his garden?

A: He wanted to see a knee grow. [Negro...get it?]

No, I don't think so. I can't imagine anyone's seeing this joke without quickly removing it from the book. Yet the "squaw" joke is just as bad.

So the s-word isn't the only problem. The whole concept of belittling an ethnic group is offensive. Basically, there's no excuse for using any ethnic "humor" in a workbook of this kind.

For more failed attempts at Native "humor," see Legion "Joke" About Murdering Indians and Topeka Mayor Tells "Rain Dance" Joke.

Tomahawk Tassels stereotypes Native women

Speaking of sexy Indian princesses who encourage the rape of and violence toward Native women, here's a perfect example:

Tomahawk Tassels:  Canoe AdventureTomahawk Tassels performing her "Canoe Adventure" at the Southern Theater at Balls Cabaret, March 2009. Tomahawk Tassels is a burlesque artist out of Minneapolis. Originally a member of the Alley Cat Revue in St. Louis, she is one of the rare independent burlesque artists in the Twin Cities. She has performed with all the major burlesque shows in the Minneapolis area, including: Lili's Burlesque Revue, Foxy Tann and the Wham Bam Thank You Ma'ams, Le Cirque Rouge, and The Midnight Muse Revue. Tomahawk's Native American inspired burlesque performances blend classic vintage style with cheeky American history. This sassy squaw has been shaking her lovely back yard all over the Midwest since 2006!

Blogger Lisa Charleyboy provides some background on the stripper:

Tomahawk Tassels IIWell almost a month ago I wrote about Tomahawk Tassels, "The Cherokee Seductress", who is a burlesque dancer who incorporates Native American heritage in her performances. At that time I wasn't sure if she was part Native as she hadn't replied to my inquiry. Well guess what? Yes she got back to me and yes she is in fact Native (much to everyone's relief)!

She is Cherokee and Irish, with her estranged father having Cherokee blood. "Growing up in Oklahoma, I have been exposed to Native American history and culture since I was very young," she says. "I realize how I took it for granted, and only now am able to fully internalize and express that history. Part of my personal journey is to research my roots and ancestral history. Burlesque performance has been the perfect medium for this."

She uses her performances "to remind others of our rich American Indian history while also making a satirical social commentary on stereotypes, specifically from the 1950's." This is an endeavour I find interesting, since I have a fascination with both 50s stereotypes and the kitsch that evolved from that propaganda movement.Yes, what a relief that the "sassy squaw" has a Cherokee princess in her background somewhere. I guess that makes her racism okay.

Some commenters rightly ripped Charleyboy's benign posting:I think it's pretty awful and not cool at all. It's kind of hard to make a "satirical social commentary on stereotypes" when most of the people watching probably have no idea that what they are watching IS a stereotype. But that's just my two cents.

Are you kidding me? She is yet another person claiming Cherokee heritage in an attempt to legitimize her appropriation of Indigenous culture. Doing her "Indian" performance is what sets her apart and she's exploiting my culture to do so. Makes me sick to my stomach the way she tries to justify and legitimize the perpetuation of Indian stereotypes.

I suggest not going to see Cadillac and Tomahawk, as I've met both of them in many social situations, and I believe them to be nasty people. I think INTENTION is everything, and Tomahawk's intention is to get famous by exploiting and making a mockery of her part Cherokee blood. And no, I don't think that the Trail of Tears inspired her to take her clothes off.

Saying you are part-Cherokee is different than being Cherokee. (Seriously, who doesn't claim to be a "little Cherokee" these days?) It's just a prop or a shtick anyway. But ironically, she seems to think that her act is somehow internalizing and expressing her supposed heritage and Cherokee history. Kind of like an African American playing the part of the plantation "Mulatto Temptress" to reconnect with her Black "heritage."

Long and short of it is that I think she's full of it and that her entire act is racist. I am offended by it, and it supports, exploits and REINFORCES the "Native Princess" and "Indian Squaw" stereotypes. All I can say is that I would love to see her perform that act in the middle of Little Earth in Minneapolis and see how the Native women who live there would feel about her exploration of her "roots."Comment:  Yes, Tomahawk Tassels is a racist. Whatever she thinks she's doing in her little mind is irrelevant compared to what's on display.

Indeed, she's doing the same thing as minstrel performers in blackface from previous eras. They weren't commenting "ironically" on their racist stereotypes and neither is she.

For more on Tassels' pathetic rationalizations, see The Dudesons, Polish Jokes, and Minstrel Shows and Okay to Stereotype in "Satires"?

"Negro" and "Squaw" place names

Race-Based Names Dot the Landscape

By Kim SeversonThe onetime name of Gov. Rick Perry’s Texas hunting camp is currently the most famous example of an egregious race-based place name, but it is not the only one.

Consider Runaway Negro Creek, which flows near a state park outside Savannah, Ga. The name is printed on nautical charts, but park rangers find it so uncomfortable to use, they try to avoid saying it.

It is one of several hundred places that have the word “Negro” in their names and still exist on government maps and in the local vernacular in dozens of states.

They are vestiges of racial attitudes that not that long ago made it acceptable to label a piece of property once leased by Gov. Rick Perry’s family as Niggerhead, which had been painted in block letters on a large rock at the entrance to the rural northern Texas hunting camp. The word was once so common it was used as a brand name for everyday items like soap, canned shrimp and tobacco.

Although it would be hard to find anyone willing to argue that the term or its variants should still be on any maps or signs, many people now also say that Negro—a government-approved alternative to the harsher epithet used in the past to name mountains, rivers and other places—should also be removed.The article goes on and on about "Negro," but has only this to say about "Squaw":One person’s offensive name may be another’s point of pride, as communities are learning as they grapple with requests to change sites that use the term “Squaw.”Comment:  I don't know if "Squaw" is a bigger problem than "Negro" in terms of number of places. But it's a bigger problem in terms of offensiveness. The article should've devoted more space to "Squaw" and less to "Negro."

For more on the subject, see "Niggerhead" Out, "Redskins" In and Debating Frog Woman Rock.

Racist TeePee Games website

Someone alerted me to this company website. I trust its problems are blatantly obvious to everyone.

TeePee Games--about us

TeePee Games is a game player's discovery platform for smartphone, social and Flash games. The service allows casual game players access to the games best suited to their profile, cutting through the noise of app stores and top-ten lists. TeePee Games combines a huge array of social features provided by established services Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and contains them in one place online. The company was founded in 2010 and is funded by private equity.

TeePee Games is headquartered in London, United Kingdom

Management Team

We think the casual game industry has been run by cowboys for too long, now it's the turn of the indians! Read more

Investors

Someone has to pay for the peace pipes. Read more

Press

Gather round the campfire braves, the Chief has a story to tell. Read more

Careers

Want to join our Chief and become a tribesmen? Read moreTeePee Games--management team

TeePee Games combines over 50 years of management experience in the gaming market from console to online and mobile games the management's industry achievements are second to none.

Click on the profiles below for more infoEach of the eight people in the photo has his or her own stereotypical picture and "Indian name":Nick Alexander
Wise Man

Tony Pearce
Chief TeePee

Simon Jones
Chief Dream Catcher

Charles Macleod
Warrior

Darren Newman
Chief Scout

Lauren Omond
Head Squaw

Marc Woodhouse
Cave Painter

James Duncan
ScoutA couple of these job titles are particularly bad. In addition to using a slur, "head squaw" says nothing about Lauren Omond's job--she's a project manager. This is a good example of why "squaw" is a worthless word. It compartmentalizes Omond--she's only a "squaw," not a wise person, warrior, or scout--without adding any information. "Woman" provides just as much information and isn't a slur.

But the grand prize for stupidity has to go to "Cave Painter." There may be a few cases of Indians painting in caves, but it wasn't a regular practice. The TeePeaBrains obviously are thinking of the Cro-Magnon people colloquially known as cavemen. Incredibly, they've confused a modern American minority with an extinct subspecies of primitive cave-dwellers. Thanks for telling us that Indians = cave painters = prehistoric brutes, idiots.

Also worth noting is the background design on the home page. A campfire on the left, a cow or buffalo skull on the right. Sparse vegetation between them, suggesting a barren desert. Mesas and poles (cacti?) in the distance.

This type of scene vies with chiefs and teepees as the most stereotypical Native imagery. It implies Indians live in the remote wilderness somewhere. Presumably they're dressed in ragged buckskins, grubbing for roots and berries, like some sort of human coyotes.

Never mind that 70% of Indians live off the reservation in cities, or that they all uses cars, phones, and computers. To Teepee Games, Indians are an inferior subspecies of human, primitive and savage. Hence the "racist" tag in the title.

Reactions

People on Facebook were predictably outraged. Some of their comments:Racist game developers choose a thoroughly racist marketing strategy. WTF were they thinking?

OMG

We could do crackergames.com where they sit around a Hooters figuring out how to rape, steal and colonize.

WOW....I don't even have words to describe how wrong on so many levels that site is....

Wooooow...just goes to show how ignorant some people still are.

Pathetic!!Fortunately, the geniuses at Teepee Games want our feedback. Here's how to do it:

FeedbackThanks for playing on TeePee Games! The web site is still in Beta which means we are still tweaking and moving things around.

YOUR FEEDBACK WOULD BE VERY APPRECIATED!

We can't wait to hear from you!
Just reply to this email to beta@teepeegames.comThis is why Hollywood doesn't make modern Native movies starring Native actors. Because almost everyone thinks Indians are primitive people of the past who wear headdresses and live in teepees.

Most people who see this website will think: "Yes, Indians were primitive people of the past who wore headdresses and lived in teepees. Since the site confirms my thinking about them, it must be right."

If you're still not clear on this company's problems, read any of several dozen postings on hipster headdresses and related subjects. For instance:

"Indian Market Special" headdress
Tribalism is trendy
Khloe Kardashian thinks she's Native
Callaloo stereotypes "Native Americas"
Natives attack "Indians" showband

Below:  People in the British Isles seem to love their racist perception of Indians. Here's the same type of stereotyping by a similar group of people.

Debating Frog Woman Rock

I thought renaming Squaw Rock as Frog Woman Rock was unremarkable--a change barely worth mentioning. Judging by the comments on the original article, though, local residents are angry. Below are some of their remarks and my responses.

Note that no one is claiming the name change will affect them personally. It's all about who's in control. "We don't want our (white) name changed to their (Indian) name. We don't want the state spending our (white) money on those people (Indians). Even if the name change doesn't hurt anyone, it's our (white) decision, not theirs. We're the deciders because it's our (white) country now."

Let the debate beginI am afraid that I have to agree with Robert Bradford owner of the property. It will always be Squaw Rock to me. You would think that the state would have more pressing issues to deal with other than this trivial crap.You'd think all the people whining about the name change would have more pressing issues to deal with than their whiny hurt feelings.Gimme a break....Might as well name it "River Rock" and have the casino sponsor it.Have the casino sponsor it? There it is...the racism underlying the opposition to the name change.That article is really bad. Renaming because of its roots in questionable Indian lore and derogatory to women so we'll call it frog woman based on Indian lore. lolz.The Indian lore is questionable but the umpteenth "lovers leap" story isn't? Try the other way around.Seriously? This is the most stupidest thing/name I've heard! I'm w/ everyone else, it'll ALWAYS be Squaw Rock!The old name will be gone and forgotten in a generation or so. Good-bye and good riddance.Is the tribe funding the name change or is it more tax dollars being wasted? Either way it's a waste of time and money.

A fifth generation Sonoma county resident...it will always be Squaw Rock.

Saddened by the name change and appalled that Hopland Rancheria tribal members felt they needed to spend their energy in this totally worthless endeavor...a minor point won perhaps but the ensuing confusion will guarantee that Squaw Rock will always be Squaw Rock.

The real issues is that Squaw is not a PC term and we now have to pander and cater to everyone in this country.You mean you have to pander and cater to people whom you've traditionally oppressed and ignored? Boo-hoo!Ridiculous! Apparently these esteemed "historians" have too much time on their hands.What exactly do you expect the California State Historical Resource Commission to do instead?Let's name it "Just lost my paycheck at the casino rock."Or "white people won so they can name the rock whatever they want" rock.

New name is educationalSquaw, squaw, squaw and mother freakin squaw freakin rock!!!

I have NEVER heard the name or story about the frog woman! There are alot of traditional names, that might somehow be designated as not being politically correct. But how about keeping names and stories traditional? Does everything have to be "politically correct," so afraid of offending anybody/everybody? Come on. Squaw Rock will always be known, especially by locals and EVERYBODY native to the area as "Squaw Rock," regardless of whatever pc label might be attached.You never heard the story about Frog Woman? Sounds like a good reason to change the name. That is, to educate latecomers like you about the 10,000-year-old history of the land.What a joke....It is Squaw Rock and will always be Squaw Rock. It is a great legend. Not at all condescending or racial. Part of our local history. What a waste of time and money. What is it going to be changed to next year?It's condescending and racial because it's one of dozens of phony legends around the country of Indian maidens leaping to their deaths. It's part of the stereotypical belief that Indians had to die tragically because they were doomed to vanish. I.e., that they had no recourse other than to commit suicide.

White people invented these legends to explain where the Indians went. Whites didn't remove or kill the Indians, according to the spurious legends. Indians "vanished" themselves by leaping off rocks.

If anyone actually thinks this legend has a basis in fact...go ahead and provide the evidence for it. Make sure it's original source material, not romantic rumors passed down from one white man to another. Good luck with your answer...you'll need it.OH PLEASE can we stop with the PC bullsh#t???? First, ask the Native Americans if they feel disrespected by the name of that damn rock. If so, ask them why they haven't done anything about it for the last 50 years, if it's so f'ing offensive? Why spend time and TAXPAYER MONEY on such a stupid project? No wonder California is so screwed up....Ask them...and if they explain their reasoning, ignore it. In other words, you don't care what stupid Indians think. So noted.

As for the PC claim, "political correctness" = silencing criticism.I hope all the frog women out there don't get offended, cause then they'll have to change the name again...LOLI hope all the white people don't cry themselves to death over this simple name change.

What about the cost?I only want to know one thing, how much did this cost, during a recession.To issue a proclamation authorizing the name change on future maps and documents? A very small amount, I suspect. Not enough to justify all this whining, certainly.Always will be Squaw Rock to me...this was a milestone all of my life and this is a JOKE that they would try to rename this to a mythical "frog women" come on people...think about this when we vote for our local representatives and county officials...let's keep some history and culture here!Let's keep some white history, you mean.

Yeah, white people have stolen and renamed "only" 99% of the Indians' land. We want that last 1%, dammit. God gave America to the Europeans, not the Indians!Talk about some bull the locals have known Squaw Rock's majestic lore and learn at a young age the lessons from the story get off your high horse Cali and back off Squaw Rock.What lessons...that Indians committed suicide for no good reason? That they, not white men, were responsible for their deaths?

Why would anyone teach an obviously phony legend? Do you really think a young woman could lift a stone large enough to crush two people? Wow.Technically I'm a "squaw." What's so impolitically (unpolitically?) correct about it? All it means is an indigenous woman, i.e. an American Indian woman.squaw [skwaw]
noun

1. Often Offensive. a North American Indian woman, especially a wife.

2. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive.
a. a wife.
b. any woman or girl.I guess I am an idiot....I always thought "squaw" was a woman Indian, not a derogatory word.Now you know better. Most Natives consider it offensive these days. For more on the subject, see Squelching the S-Word.I've always called it "Progressive Slots Rock" and I will always call it that!

Always will be Squaw Rock...next there's going to be a lighted venue sign with directions to the casino built on it....

Wow! This is big news. It's just what we need, frog rock. Now where do I go for food stamps?You gotta love the implicit racism here. These people think the only reason this is happening is because the tribe's paying for it. And it's doing so to advertise its casino. Not because the government has listened to Indians and heard them say "squaw" is offensive and inappropriate for a place in Pomo country.

No, Indians and the people who support them can't have sincere motives. Because of their "savage" background, they must have some hidden agenda. That's what "those people" do: threaten to take what's ours with their tomahawks and name changes.

And the final comment implies the state is catering to Indians with this decision just like it does with food stamps and other government benefits. Nice.

A few voices of reason

There were a few supportive comments--other than mine, that is:You are all fools it has only been called Squaw Rock for 50 years WOW. 1st generation or 5th generation it dosent matter how long you people been here you still just got here we been here for THOUSANDS of years and it has always been Matha Kawo Kabe.

Apparently a lot of people disagree with the name change, but I applaud it. A derogatory term is a derogatory term.

Why complain now? It's a done deal and it was the right thing to. I noticed none of you were motivated to go to Auburn during public comment to oppose the name change. Hutray, I'm glad! I'm going to party like it's 1491. Signed Shawn Padi, Chairman of Hopland Band of Pomo Indians and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer.

I will probably always call it Squaw Rock but I couldn't care less if they change it. It's neat to read some new stories on it, though. On the other hand, if it was called Nigger Rock I bet nobody would object to changing the name would they? I can totally see where the demand for change is coming from. It's a cultural thing.And in response to "That's B.S.--how do we protest?"You could kill the Indians, take over their land, and re-name it.

Wait a minute....That wins the prize for the best comment on this thread.

For more on geographic place names, see Explorers Didn't Consider "Squaw" Offensive and Changing Park Name = Guilt Trip?

P.S. As usual, I edited the comments slightly to make them more readable.

Below:  Don't you dare take away our white power Squaw Rock Indian mascot!

Squaw Rock renamed Frog Woman Rock

Say hello to Frog Woman Rock

By Glenda AndersonA landmark rock formation towering over the Russian River and Highway 101 in southern Mendocino County is about to get a new—and more politically correct—name.

The California State Historical Resource Commission today is expected to re-designate what for more than 50 years has been known as Squaw Rock.

Henceforth, it officially will be known as Frog Woman Rock, reflecting a Pomo Indian legend of a man-eating creature, part frog and part woman, who lived in a cave in the face of the rock.

Squaw Rock is being jettisoned as the name of California Landmark No. 549 because of its questionable roots in local Indian lore and also to eliminate the word squaw, originally an East Coast Indian word that has taken on a derogatory connotation, said tribal representatives and state historians.The origins of the dueling names:The moniker is believed to stem from a Lovers Leap tale cited in the 1880 “History of Mendocino County,” said William Burg, a state historian.

As that story goes, a young chief named Cachow from a Cloverdale tribe promised to marry Sotuka, daughter of the chief of the Sanel tribe in Hopland. But he instead married another woman. In anger and despair, Sotuka, holding a great stone, threw herself from the cliff, killing herself along with Cachow and his new wife, who were camping at the base of the cliff.And:State officials said further research by the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians and historians has determined that the Lover's Leap account was never adequately verified as legitimate local Pomo lore and that an altogether different story is a better fit.

In central Pomo dialect, the name for the rock is Maatha kawao qhabe, which translates as frog woman rock, according to a study by linguist Victoria Patterson in 1985. And in local Pomo legend, the giant rock north of Cloverdale was home to Frog Woman, a mythological figure often portrayed as the clever and powerful wife of Coyote, who makes many appearances in Pomo lore as a trickster. She also makes appearances as the wife of Obsidian Man.Comment:  Is there any question that the new name is better? The old name has several problems beyond the offensive "squaw." For starters, the legend is obviously bogus.

1) Most young Native women can't lift a "great stone" big enough to crush two people.

2) It's a cone-shaped rock, not a sheer cliff. A woman couldn't leap to her "death" because she'd bounce down the incline a few times before coming to a rest. If she were lucky, she might not even injure herself.

3) Given the rock's shape, there's no way a woman could hit two people at the bottom with her own body and a stone held in her grasp. The woman and the stone would fly in different directions. And it's unlikely the stone would land anywhere near the targets.

4) How could the legend's scenario have happened? The woman climbed laboriously to the top of the rock? And waited on the off-chance that the chief and his new lover would stop below her? Then found a conveniently sized rock on the bare hilltop and threw it and herself down the slope?

That's pretty damn ridiculous if you think about it. What happens if the chief and his new lover don't stop at the base of the rock? She climbs back down and climbs up another day? How many days in a row did she do this until the chief conveniently stopped directly below her?

Again, this isn't a cliff that people pass by on their way to the village every day. It's an isolated cone-shaped rock. There's no way anyone would climb it to commit homicide or suicide.

Romanticizing dead Indians

The name is flawed for other reasons as well:

1) Why emphasize the "squaw" portion of the legend? Why not Unfaithful Chief Rock, Suicide Rock, or Crushed Bodies Rock? Could it be to romanticize the "vanishing Indian"? Because thinking about star-crossed lovers is more comforting than thinking about ethnic cleansing?

2) Judging by the number of "Lovers Leap" place names based on Native legends, Indian maidens committed suicide at an enormous rate. Maybe this is the origin of the high suicide rates still prevalent on reservations.

That's a sarcastic way of saying most if not all of these legends are phony and derivative. We shouldn't encourage the false belief--a subset of the romantic- and vanishing-Indian tropes--that Indians killed themselves in tragic circumstances. Unless we have hard evidence that a legend is true, there's no reason to immortalize it with a place name. And every reason to use a culturally appropriate replacement.

For more on romanticized Indians, see Love/Hate Relationship with Indians, Lamenting Indians = Letting Indians Die, and Hollywood Loves Dying Indians.

Squaw Rock = Indian mascots

This issue is much like the renaming of sports team names and mascots. Basically, who the hell cares about something so trivial? No one's forcing you to think or saying something you don't want to. You still can call it Squaw Rock to yourself, or among your friends and family members. There's no penalty whatsoever for using the old name.

What you can't do, though, is control the agenda beyond your own sphere of influence. You can't tell the community or the world that your Anglo-American history and culture are the only ones that matter. Someone else gets to say how we name geographic places--and by extension, how we frame other issues and arguments.

That's what this is all about: the loss of white power and privilege. Euro-Americans can't stand losing the power they've exercised for the last 500 years. They don't want to share it; they want it all.

No "dirty redskin" is going to tell them they were wrong to steal this land. To rename it, develop it, or ruin it. Americans think they have a right to everything from the air and water to their "pet" Indian mascots. Anyone who disagrees is a threat to their centuries-old dominance.

In short, Indian place names and mascots are like a baby bottle or security blanket for childish Americans scared of the dark (people).

For more on geographic place names, see Explorers Didn't Consider "Squaw" Offensive and Changing Park Name = Guilt Trip?

Below:  "The above landmark rock formation towering over the Russian River and Highway 101 in southern Mendocino County will get a new name Friday: Frog Woman Rock." (John Burgess/The Press Democrat)

"Squaw skank" joke on Tonight Show

A controversy from December:Larry the Cable Guy management:

Parallel Entertainment
9255 Sunset Blvd. Suite 1040
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(310) 279-1123

On December 4, Larry the Cable Guy told a joke using the word "squaw" followed by an intensely negative description on The Tonight Show. Has our country taken a giant step backward with this sudden rash of racism and hateful spewing by such celebrities as Michael Richards, Mel Gibson and now Larry the Cable Guy?

Celebrities are role models; their words travel around the globe and their fame depends on the support of the public. Comments made by well known, long established stars such as Michael Richards and Mel Gibson are astonishing in that they attack the very people who make their careers possible. Let's hope that Larry the Cable Guy makes a fast and sincere apology to Native Americans, who up until now have been a source of support for Larry.

The word "squaw" was derived by the early European traders from an Algonquin word that described women's genitalia and was used to refer to prostitutes. Its misuse has followed American Indian women throughout history and the meaning has evolved into common usage. Its meaning, however, has never escaped American Indian women who have always found it offensive. Larry the Cable Guy proved its prevalence in being used in a derogatory manner by accompanying the word squaw with the slang word "skank."

According to an article by Karen Hill and Linda Artichoke in "The Cherokee One Feather," "Native women are the most battered, most stalked, most murdered group of women in America" and that a Department of Justice report on violence "states the perpetrators of violence against Native American women are not Native 70 percent of the time."

Christine Rose
Executive Director
Changing Winds Advocacy CenterGray Wolf adds his thoughts:I just don't know what I was thinking--I thought all Native people would be upset by some racist comic using a racial slur on national television, but I guess I was wrong! "Larry the Cable Guy" goes on the Jay Leno show and uses the term "squaw skank" in one of his jokes(?) and almost no one says anything about it. I remember once talking to my friend Irene Bedard and she said something to the effect that it was deemed okay to insult Native people because we were the invisible people--her words never rang truer than today when I tried to get people to say something about the offense against Native people and especially Native women--Native men are expected to protect Native women but it seems as though we have become so complacent that even such a derogatory comment as this does not warrant any action. I hear Native people complain that they are tired of such insulting treatment but when it comes down to doing something about it, no one does anything--well almost no one, I and a too few others are at least trying to make an issue of this. I have given you all the e-mail address of Mr. Cable Guy and also the number of Mohegan sun Casino where Mr. Cable Guy is booked in Sept.--it's okay for him to take our money but not okay to apologize for his behaviour. This is our fault for as long as we allow the disrespect, it will surely come. Yes Irene, we are the invisible people, but now we are forgetting about ourselves! Hopefully what I have written will touch some of you and you will decide to make a difference--it is time to STAND UP, SPEAK UP AND NOT GIVE UP THE FIGHT for our dignity, for our future, for our children--you may write to mr. cable guy at www.larrythecableguy.com or at his Myspace at www.myspace.com/larrythecableguy tell them how you feel, see if our dignity is more important than the dollar.Comment:  I believe the joke went something like this:

"What do you call xxx?"
"The Squaw Skank Redemption."

I thought I reported on this incident or a similar one last year. But I can't find it in my blog, so I guess not. Maybe I was going to report on it but forgot.

For more on "squaw," see Vintage Indian Valentines and "The Squaw's Appeal" in Belle Magazine. For more on The Tonight Show, see Columbus Joke on Tonight Show and Immmigration Joke on Tonight Show.

Vintage Indian valentines

The Vintage Valentine Museum website offers several valentines featuring stereotypical Indians:

Native American/American Indian Themed





Comment:  For more romanticized images of Indian children, see Painting Natives in Ceremonial Garb and Oxborough Paintings Infantilize Indians.