Paul Frank announces Native collaboration

Paul Frank Announces First-Ever Fashion Collaboration with Native American Designers

Upcoming "Paul Frank Presents" Limited Edition Collection in partnership with four Native American artists

By Saban BrandsPaul Frank announced today its first-ever "Paul Frank Presents" fashion collaboration with four Native American designers from different tribes and regions across the country. Set to debut in August 2013, the collaboration fuses the iconic Paul Frank brand with four different artists' aesthetics, each rooted in their heritage. The collection, which will include a tote bag, hand-beaded sunglasses, graphic tees and Hama bead jewelry is an expression of the Native American culture and a way for the artists to integrate their perspective and tribal identity into fashion.

Drawing inspiration from their communities, each artist is bringing to life a visual identity with roots from their culture. Louie Gong, a designer from the Nooksack tribe who creates custom drawings and paintings on materials, is creating a silk-screened canvas tote bag for the collection. Candace Halcro, from the Plains Cree/Metis tribes, is skilled with the classic Native American beading technique and will showcase her talents on authentic Paul Frank sunglasses. Dustin Martin, a graphic T-shirt fashion designer from the Navajo tribe, is using a phrase taught to him by his grandfather to inspire the prints of the famous Paul Frank character, Julius. And Autumn Dawn Gomez, a jewelry designer from the Comanche/Taos tribes, is creating accessories inspired by various landscapes, which have impacted her life.

"We're honored to be working with such talented and enthusiastic designers for this fashion and accessories collection," said Elie Dekel, President of Saban Brands. "Each artist has really captured the whimsical and fun energy of the Paul Frank brand and incorporated it into their designs for the line. We are so excited to share these items with Paul Frank fans very soon!"Paul Frank, Native American artists collaborate on accessories

By Booth MooreAfter so many egregious misappropriations of Native American culture by fashion brands (“Navajo” T-shirts at Urban Outfitters and feather headdresses on the runway at Victoria’s Secret), it was interesting to see this come across my email.

The whimsical Los Angeles-based Paul Frank, the brand that turned a sock monkey into a fashion statement, is collaborating with four different tribes in regions across the country in what seems to be an authentic way, giving artists the opportunity to design accessories for a special “Paul Frank Presents” collection launching in August on PaulFrank.com.Backstory omitted

I presume the LA Times story was based on the press release. Oddly, something seemed to be missing from both articles. What could it be?

The Paul Frank x Native Designers Collaboration is Here!

By Adrienne KeeneI don’t know if it struck you, but noticed right away an omission from the press release. There’s no mention of why this collaboration came about. I wouldn’t expect a whole re-hashing of the “Dream Catchin’ Powwow” fiasco, but maybe a mention of the fact that this collaboration came in response to an insensitive party?

I’m about to go all PhD on you here, so bear with me, but Dr. Bryan Brayboy at ASU often uses the term “Genesis Amnesia” (from Pierre Bourdieu) to discuss how, especially in regards to Indigenous and colonized peoples, we often forget the beginning. Everything becomes normalized–the power structures, the historical narrative taught in schools, policies towards Indigenous Peoples–and society accepts this as “the way it’s always been” and stops wondering why. Hegemonic power structures rely on us forgetting the beginning. Native peoples are “poor” and “alcoholics” because they are “lazy” or “unmotivated,” not because of centuries of systematic policies that have worked to put us in this position. Hipster headdresses are a fashion trend because they’re “fun” or “playful,” not because centuries of colonialism have painted Native traditions and spirituality as inferior and stripped the objects of their sacred origins, leaving them up for grabs.

So what does that have to do with Paul Frank? As much as it feels uncomfortable, we can’t forget the beginning. We can’t move away from the fact that this collaboration was born out of community mobilization and Native activism against a hurtful, racist party. Because if we erase that beginning, 20 years from now, Paul Frank is just seen as the happy company that collaborates with Natives–which is great, don’t get me wrong–but that takes away the power of what has been accomplished here. Remembering the origins reminds us of the inherent power structures in society (and therefore the fashion industry), that it took hundreds of angry voices, Native and non-Native, working together to move us forward this far. Remembering the beginning is how we continue to move forward together. History is written by those in power, so we need to continue to push to have our version shared and not forgotten.Paul Frank Native American-designed collection an apology for powwow party?

By Booth MooreOn Tuesday, I wrote a post about the new "Paul Frank Presents" collection of accessories designed in collaboration with Native American artists. ... But I failed to include the backstory. Dr. Jessica R. Metcalfe, a Turtle Mountain Chippewa from North Dakota, who writes about Native American art, fashion and design, as well as owning and operating the site BeyondBuckskin.com, where many of the artists tapped by Paul Frank sell their designs, elaborates on the collaboration in an illuminating post here.

"While I am undeniably thrilled about the announcement and all that it represents, the press release failed to mention the various factors that led to this collaboration," Metcalfe writes. "Last September, the lifestyle brand Paul Frank hosted a "powwow"-inspired fashion event that featured some questionable party favors and activities."

"After a sizable backlash from people from Native American communities and our allies, the brand removed over a thousand images of the event from their Facebook page, and the president of the company, Elie Dekel, reached out to myself and Adrienne Keene of Native Appropriations. He reached out to the two of us, I think, because we had been the loudest in pointing out the obvious racism behind this event ... and so it began--the gesturing to apologize for this major slip-up," Metcalfe writes.

Although Paul Frank's collaboration with Native American artists will undoubtedly help bring the work of these talented young people to a wider audience, the company should have been forthcoming in press materials about the journey it took to get here. Because what is corporate responsibility without full disclosure?Comment:  Oh, yeah...that. The reason this whole collaboration came about. Paul Frank must've forgotten to mention it.

For more on the subject, see Paul Frank Vows to Do Better and Paul Frank's Racist "Powwow."

Below:  "Paul Frank parent company Saban Brands President Elie Dekel, surrounded by products featuring Julius the Monkey at the company's office in Century City on June 7, 2011." (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

1812 survivors take The Road

Charting a New Aboriginal Narrative

By Christopher JonesIt’s not easy cramming three lives and 50 years of history into a one-hour play but that didn’t stop playwright/director Herbie Barnes (above left) from giving it a go. Opening Friday at the Indigenous Arts Festival (June 20 to 22) at Fort York National Historic Site, The Road is based on an ancient photograph of three Six Nations elders who survived the War of 1812 and lived long enough to see Canadian Confederation in 1867, for better or worse.

The Road examines the choices facing First Nations people then and now—whether to adapt and assimilate or to push-back and fight: one of the three characters chooses the middle path of conciliation as a way to resolve the struggle.Comment:  For more on Native theater, see Sliver of a Full Moon and The Dawes Commission Play.

Below:  "Three of the last surviving Six Nations members who fought in the War of 1812, photographed in Brantford in 1882. Left to right: John 'Smoke' Johnson, John Tutela, and Young Warner." (Library and Archives Canada, C-085127)

Depp keeps his ancestry ambiguous

Another article in the growing press coverage leading to the July 3 debut of The Lone Ranger.

Johnny Depp, the 'Indian': Is He or Isn't He?

by Angela AleissDepp’s claims of Cherokee heritage (put forth in 2002 on Inside the Actors' Studio, although in 2011 speaking to Entertainment Weekly he added "or maybe Creek") along with his streaked black-and-white painted face and a stuffed crow perched atop his head have caused many to cry foul. Still, others say that Disney—which has a long history of working with Native Americans—is not adequately addressing their issues.

For his part, Depp told MTV.com that the film is “an opportunity for me to salute Native Americans.” The actor has said he hopes to fix years of Indian misrepresentations in Hollywood and has repeatedly stated that his great grandmother had mostly Cherokee blood.

But Native American leaders and educators are not buying it. They question Depp’s claims of Cherokee heritage, particularly the studio’s attempt to keep it ambiguous.

“Disney relies upon the ignorance of the public to allow that ambiguity to exist,” says Hanay Geiogamah, Professor of Theater at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. Geiogamah (Kiowa/Delaware) was a consultant for Disney’s Pocahontas and served as producer and co-producer for TBS’ The Native Americans: Behind the Legends, Beyond the Myths aired in the 1990s.

“If Depp had any legitimate blood of any tribe, Disney would definitely have all the substantial proof of that already. It’s not that hard to establish tribal connections,” Geiogamah says.

Richard Allen, Policy Analyst for the Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, agrees. He says that many celebrities have claimed Cherokee heritage—often based upon family stories they’ve heard—but like Depp they never try to verify it. “They all tell me they have high cheekbones,” Allen says.

Geiogomah believes that because so few roles in Hollywood go to Native American actors, Disney’s big-budget movie is a “missed opportunity.” Depp could have played the Lone Ranger and instead promoted a younger Indian actor to play Tonto, he points out. After all, Canadian Mohawk actor Jay Silverheels portrayed the character in the 1950s TV series.

“Now they re-introduce Tonto with a non-Indian. So can you call that progress?” Geiogamah asks.Comment:  Forget Disney. Depp has the resources to hire all the genealogists he wants to establish his family tree. If it was important to him, he'd do it.

And if he identified ancestors who weren't clearly white or Indian, he could take a DNA test. That alone would tell us what percent Native he is.

Of course, Depp may have pursued these investigations privately. He may already know how Native he is.

The fact that he could determine and release his ancestry but hasn't is suggestive. It suggests he's a white man who wants to identify with his Native "brothers and sisters"--i.e., a wannabe.

If he had some Native ancestry, Disney certainly would want to reveal it to mute the criticism. And if he doesn't, Disney certainly would want to keep it a secret. Because critics would lambaste Depp if they knew he wasn't Native at all.

What's funny is how Depp claims to be honoring his Native side. You know, the one he can't or won't identify.

He shows his "respect" by remaining ignorant about his ancestors and (presumably) their history and culture. By getting a tattoo of a Plains chief. And by fabricating an imaginary Indian from a white man's painting.

Another revealing poster



The tomahawk in the Japanese image reinforces the notion that Tonto is a savage warrior. Which is the main message of the facepaint and bird on the head, of course.

These are strange, exotic things that only a strange, exotic person would do. So Indians and their barbaric customs are far outside the bounds of normality--outside the realm of reality, even.

Depp has confirmed this in several ways. For instance, by making Tonto a generic warrior, and by naming his band Tonto's Giant Nuts. Judging by the trailers, Tonto probably doesn't act savagely, but I doubt he has a huge skill set. This Tonto is all about the primitiveness and strangeness--down to his crude understanding of English.

Good luck getting a person like that elected president or appointed to the Supreme Court. It would be like electing a clown, pirate, caveman, elf, or Jedi Knight. No one would take such a person seriously because they're a cartoon-like character by definition.

That's the real-world harm of a caricature like Depp's Tonto.

P.S. The author is an acquaintance who consulted with me while writing this article.

For more on Johnny Depp, see Skyhawk: Depp Is a Charlatan and Comanche Chairman Justifies Tonto's Stereotypes.

Moccasins on the Ground vs. Keystone XL

Native Sun News: Moccasins on the Ground battles Keystone

By Talli NaumanIn the wake of three public-school emergency preparation drills that cast Keystone XL Pipeline and uranium mining dissenters as “terrorists,” the grassroots Native American non-profit Owe Aku (Take Back the Way), announced its upcoming Moccasins on the Ground training would be held on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation June 14-16.

The teach-in would be the latest in a series to demonstrate means of peaceful resistance to the Canadian corporate proposals, said Owe Aku founder Debra White Plume, a Lakota grandmother from Manderson. White Plume told the Native Sun News that the dissenters are not a threat, rather “The KXL and uranium mining: That is what all communities need protection from," she said.

The training in Bridger will focus “on skills, tactics, and techniques of nonviolent direct action, such as blockading heavy equipment,” in the event that the U.S. President Barack Obama approves a permit allowing the private fossil-fuel distribution project to proceed, Owe Aku International Justice Project spokesman Ken Lebsock said in a written statement.

“An organized, prepared community is our best protection if President Obama chooses to issue the KXL permit,” White Plume added.And:Lebsock emphasized that the three-day training session in Bridger would consist of workshops on strategic media, street medic training, knowing legal rights in civil disobedience, building solidarity, human rights and the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as Lakota sacred teachings on water.

“Delegations are coming from the four directions to participate in this training, all people who want to learn are welcome,” says Vic Camp, organizer for Owe Aku.

Among activist presenters expected are: White Plume and Camp; actress Tantoo Cardinal of Ft. McMurray, Canada; Winona LaDuke of Honor the Earth; Kandi Mosset of the Indigenous Environmental Network; Nina Waste of Idle No More, Manitoba, Canada; Bruce Ellison of the National Lawyers Guild, Alex White Plume of the Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty Council; Faith Spotted Eagle of Treaty to Protect the Sacred, and Jo Red Sky of the Warriors Alliance.

Trainers also were expected to include representatives of the Great Plains Tarsands Resistance, Texas Blockade, People’s Media Project of Chicago, Protect the Sacred of Ihanktowan Nation, Christian Peace Maker Team, Lakota Media Project, Deep Green Resistance and many other organizations and individuals.Comment:  In America, Indians, environmentalists, and anyone else who opposes "progress" (i.e., development) are "terrorists."

For more on the Keystone XL pipeline, see Tribes Spurn Keystone XL Meeting and Natives Keep Protesting Keystone XL Pipeline.

Below:  "Sara Jumping Eagle, Robin Lebeau, Faith Spotted Eagle, Tantoo Cardinal, Debra White Plume, Nina Waste, Winona Laduke, and Joy RedSky."

Longest Walk 4 Return to Alcatraz

Native Americans prepare to defend homelands, walk across America

By Brenda NorrellNative Americans focused on defending their homelands and upholding the Rights of Nature during June, as they prepared for non-violent resistance to the threats of the tarsands pipeline, uranium mining and coal-fired power plants.

Native Americans also prepared to walk across America for the fourth time to affirm Indigenous rights. The Longest Walk 4 Return to Alcatraz, will depart from DC on July 15, returning home to Alcatraz Island for a ceremony on Dec. 22, 2013.And:Longest Walk 4 organizers said this weekend that the five month walk, Longest Walk 4 Return to Alcatraz, will begin with a sunrise ceremony in DC on July 15 and follow closely the route of the original Longest Walk in 1978.

The walk will affirm Indigenous sovereignty. The guiding force is land based spiritual beliefs. The walk focuses on protection from the exploitation of the land, including the tar sands development and pipelines. Further, the walk focuses on protecting and maintaining traditional spiritual beliefs, protecting sacred sites and stopping the exploitation of Indigenous women and children.

“The time has come to make our voices heard again for our own Indigenous Peoples, as the original message affirming Indigenous Sovereignty has become clouded through the efforts of the nation-states. The threats to our continued existence and way of life are more severe than ever, yet it has become better disguised. We hope to help bring the original vision back to the forefront,” organizers for the Long Walk 4 said this weekend.Comment:  For more on the subject, see Longest Walk 3--Reversing Diabetes and Indians Commemorate Alcatraz Anniversary.

Moccasin tops for missing women

Northern women sewing for North American moccasin project

600 moccasin tops being sewn in memory of missing, murdered indigenous womenWomen from across the North are stitching up a storm to prepare for a massive art project.

They are part of a group that's making more than 600 pairs of moccasin tops in memory of Canada's missing and murdered indigenous women.

The beaded works will be displayed as part of a travelling art installation project called Walking with Our Sisters. Each pair of moccasins symbolizes the unfinished life of a missing or murdered woman.Comment:  For more on violence against Native women, see Young Native Fashion's "Squaw" Line and Sliver of a Full Moon.

Sleepless Entertainment's racist "Tribal Cosplay"

A Facebook friend posted an item about Sleepless Entertainment in Miami, Florida.

Apparently some Miami nightclubs hold dress-up (cosplay) nights on Thursday. I gather Sleepless Entertainment arranges the events and provides a few professional dancers to entertain the crowds, who may or may not dress up in the evening's theme.

Past themes include:

Down the Rabbit Hole (Alice in Wonderland)
Halfway to Halloween (skeletons, ghouls, etc.)
Star Wars Cantina
Lost City of Atlantis (mermaids)
Twisted Circus

So...Halloween-style parties every week. It seems harmless enough, except for this:

Pow Wow Tribal Cosplay Thursdays @ Spazio Nightclub

April 4 at 11:00pm in EDT
Spazio Nightclub in Miami, FloridaFeathers, Grass Skirts, Fire, Belly Dancing...ALL THE ABOVE will be waiting for you at our next event! Be sure to Dress up for FREE ENTRY ALL NIGHT or RSVP for free entry till 12:30!What was the event like? This pictures of Poca-hotties and hunks is typical:



No doubt they'd say they're members of some generic "global tribe" But they're using the Native American word "pow wow" and Native-specific headdresses, facepaint, and other accouterments. It's hard to read this as anything but stereotypical and racist mockery of Indians.

The fire-twirling and tiki-style mask aren't part of any American Indian culture, although they might qualify as Native Hawaiian. Yet these performers also have the facepaint and handprints specific to American Indian cultures. So Sleepless Entertainment is telling us all indigenous people are the same. The company's view is that they're barbaric people who wear strange costumes, do strange dances, and worship strange gods.

Look at the cosplay line-up: fictional characters, supernatural beings, aliens, mermaids, circus freaks...and Indians. One race is relegated to fantasy-land along with elves, fairies, ghosts, goblins, unicorns, and the rest. (Note the woman with elfin ears.) As far as Sleepless is concerned, Indians don't exist except in some make-believe realm.

Can you imagine if Sleepless held a Safari night with people dressed up as Africans in grass skirts and bones through their noses, shaking their spears and rattles and dancing with animals? That's exactly what this Tribal Cosplay night is. Yet no one seems to recognize the inherent racism.

I wonder what America's 566 federally recognized tribes would think of being portrayed as drunk, dancing, preening peacocks. I.e., as primitive savages who have no intellect, culture, or religion. Who exist only to satisfy their basic urges, like animals.

And spare us the arguments about how they didn't intend any offense, it's just harmless fun, don't take it so seriously, worry about more important things, etc., etc. Unless you have something new to say, don't bother defending this racist behavior.

For more on the subject, see Nicole Ritchie Dressed as "Indians" and Half-Naked Drummer Dressed as "Indian."

Anti-government extremism = white supremacy

Anti-Government Extremism Has Roots in Prewar South

By Robert Parry[S]omething extreme has surfaced in modern American politics: an ideological hatred of government. From the Tea Party to libertarianism, there is a “principled” rejection—at least rhetorically—of almost everything that government does (outside of national security), and those views are no longer simply “fringe.” By and large, they have been embraced by the national Republican Party.

There has also been an effort to anchor these angry anti-government positions in the traditions of U.S. history. The Tea Party consciously adopted imagery and symbols from the Revolutionary War era to create an illusion that this contempt of government fits with the First Principles.

However, this right-wing revision of U.S. history is wildly askew if not upside-down. The Framers of the U.S. Constitution—and even many of their “anti-federalist” critics—were not hostile to an American government. They understood the difference between an English monarchy that denied them representation in Parliament and their own Republic.

Indeed, the key Framers—James Madison, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton—might be called pragmatic nationalists, eager to use the new Constitution, which centralized power at the national level, to build the young country and protect its fragile independence.

While these Framers later split over precise applications of the Constitution—Madison opposed Hamilton’s national bank, for instance—they accepted the need for a strong and effective federal government, unlike the weak, states’-rights-oriented Articles of Confederation.

More generally, the Founders recognized the need for order if their experiment in self-governance was to work. Even some of the more radical Founders, the likes of Sam Adams, supported the suppression of domestic disorders, such as Shays’ Rebellion in Massachusetts and the Whiskey Rebellion in Pennsylvania. The logic of Adams and his cohorts was that an uprising against a distant monarch was one thing, but taking up arms against your own republican government was something else.

But the Tea Partiers are not entirely wrong when they insist that their hatred of “guv-mint” has its roots in the Founding era. There was an American tradition that involved resisting a strong and effective national government. It was, however, not anchored in the principles of “liberty,” but rather in the practice of slavery.

The battle against the Constitution and later against an energetic federal government—the sort of nation-building especially envisioned by Washington and Hamilton—emanated from the fears of many Southern plantation owners that eventually the national political system would move to outlaw slavery and thus negate their massive investment in human bondage.

Their thinking was that the stronger the federal government became the more likely it would act to impose a national judgment against the South’s brutal institution of slavery. So, while the Southern argument was often couched in the rhetoric of “liberty,” i.e. the rights of states to set their own rules, the underlying point was the maintenance of slavery.Comment:  For more on the Tea Party, see Racism in the Republican Primaries and Teabaggers Seek White Christian Rule.

My Chief Cherokee

I forgot about this, but I had a Chief Cherokee as a boy. My brother had Johnny West, the Chief's cowboy counterpart, so he must've been more of a Western imperialist.



As a Facebook friend reminded me, Marx offered Geronimo, Fighting Eagle, and Princess Wildflower as well as Chief Cherokee. On the cowboy side, there was Col. Custer, the villainous Sam Cobra, and a whole West family. Plus horses, wagons, and a fort.

My brother and I didn't have any of these extras. An eBay search shows some of them:

marx west (native, indian, scout, chief, geronimo, eagle, wildflower, princess)

This must've been when I was around 10 or 12. I also had a souvenir totem pole allegedly carved of ivory. As well as my Hopi kachina coloring book and the robot kachina I made in arts and crafts.

Funny how I forgot about Chief Cherokee and the totem pole. I had more Native influences in my childhood than I realized.

Of course, I didn't think about why a Plains Indian was named Chief Cherokee. Stereotype alert!

For more on Native-themed toys, see Comanche LEGOs Based on Lone Ranger and Happy Meal Characters Stereotype Indians.

Origin of Oklahoma's license plate

Religious imagery of Oklahoma tag wasn't considered, senator says

By Sean MurphyState Sen. Clark Jolley sponsored the bill to create a new license plate five years ago to replace Oklahoma’s old tag that featured an Osage Nation shield that is also depicted on the state flag. Jolley also helped lead a panel to narrow the selection down to five finalists and said there wasn’t any thought given to the religious significance of the design.

“I don’t think any of us had any thought that this was some kind of great statement of religious significance,” said Jolley, R-Edmond. “I’m not an expert on Native American religious heritage. I just thought of a guy shooting an arrow into a cloud so that rain would fall.”

Charles Vargas, a member of the Chiricahua Apache Nation’s governing board, said the tribe’s ancestral lands ranged from what is now Arizona and New Mexico into the high plains of Oklahoma and that many tribe members are honored that the license plate features a Chiricahua Apache warrior.

“I think it’s very powerful imaging, and it’s used in a very positive manner,” Vargas said. “If it’s something the people want in that state, how could we deny that.”

Billy James, a 29-year-old student at the University of Oklahoma, said he has always liked the design of the license plate.

“I definitely like keeping the Native American history on the license plate,” said James, who is Catholic. “I think it’s a good reminder of where we came from. I think it’s a good representation of our state.

“I find the history of other people’s beliefs in no way offensive to my own beliefs.”Comment:  For more on the subject, see Oklahoma License-Plate Lawsuit Reinstated and Oklahoma License-Plate Challenge Dismissed.

First Story smartphone app

Twitter, apps link aboriginal people

First Story pinpoints city's historic sites

By Jonathan Charlton"There is kind of an invisibility that's not true, say in Winnipeg or Saskatoon," says Victoria Freeman of York University. "The Toronto population at large often is unaware there are indigenous people in the city at all, or that indigenous people ever lived there."

She and Heather Howard of Michigan State University hope to change that with a new smartphone app. They presented their work to the NAISA conference at the University of Saskatchewan on Friday.

First Story documents historic sites around Toronto on a map with text, video, photos and music.

A user can pick out dots on the map, or the app can identify places as the user walks by.

It's a modern update of The Great Indian Bus Tour of Toronto, which used to show people the city through aboriginal eyes.

"Youth use smartphones. Everybody uses them. We're combining the history with a layer (of) events in the native community in Toronto so that people will be checking it all the time," Freeman said. "It really brings the history alive in a way that, on your weekend reading a book, doesn't."Comment:  This is infinitely better than the racist "Make Me Indian" app.

Imagine a phone app that could give you tidbits of Native history and culture anywhere in the US or Canada. That would be something.

Winter in the Blood premieres in LA

A good overview of this movie. I especially like the part about the importance of using Native actors and taking a chance on Chaske Spencer as the lead.

'Winter in the Blood': Movie adaptation of Welch novel debuts at film festival in LA

By Patrick DouglasTo cast the film, the brothers turned to veteran casting director and Great Falls native Rene Haynes. Haynes specializes in Native American casting and brought in actors like Gary Farmer, Julia Jones, Eddie Spears and Saginaw Grant.

Her recommendation of using “Twilight” actor Chaske Spencer to play the lead character Virgil First Raise was key, Alex Smith said.

“She was a champion for Chaske,” Alex explained. “It was a big gamble because we hadn’t worked with him before, and we didn’t know if he could carry the movie but it was a jackpot. He carries it heroically.”

“Being in Montana, we got in touch with (producer) Sherman Alexie in Seattle to get ahold of Rene in Los Angeles only to find out that Rene’s from Great Falls,” Alex said. “The funny thing was; we had to go to Rene to meet Chaske, who lives in Brooklyn, to find out he grew up in Poplar.”

“It was this weird going outward to come back inward thing to do this project,” he said.

Having a story primarily involving Native Americans with Native actors was extremely important, Alex said.

“It’s a very underrepresented demographic or ethnicity in American film,” he said. “The stories are deep and the stories are really beautiful. Obviously there’s a lot of tragedy involved and a lot of loss and displacement but there’s also an amazing amount of power and understanding of the natural world, of families, of communities.”

“We relied very heavily on our Native cast to keep us authentic and create the emotional storyline, the emotional journey of the characters to make it true to life,” Andrew said. “Not being Natives ourselves, we filled out that sensibility by empowering the cast as much as we could.”Comment:  A couple of notes:

Haynes "brought in actors like Gary Farmer, Julia Jones, Eddie Spears and Saginaw Grant"? Who were the Smith brothers thinking of using before they consulted Haynes? You can find these actors on almost any list of Native actors, so how difficult was it to cast them?

Is it really a risk to cast Chaske Spencer as the lead? It's not as if there's a big-name Native actor who can open this film better than Spencer.

This is a textbook case of where you don't need a "star" such as Brandon Routh or Taylor Lautner. Keep the budget low and maybe you'll earn a profit.

Just do your due diligence to make sure Spencer is reliable, and test him to make sure he can do the job. If he's right for the role, go for it.

For more on Winter in the Blood, see Filming Winter in the Blood and Welch Movie Reaches Kickstarter Goal.

Popcorn drives Lower Brule economy

Popcorn Sovereignty: Growing the Lower Brule Tribe's Economy

By Tanya LeeThe Lower Brule Tribe in South Dakota hopes to leverage its popcorn enterprise into a driver of inter-tribal economic development, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has just awarded the tribe a $300,000 Value-Added Producer Grant to help.

The tribe's USDA Value-Added Producer grant was one of 110 such awards totaling $16.9 million given out this year to help agricultural producers increase earnings by expanding their markets, creating new products or developing new uses for existing products.

Lower Brule Tribal Chairman Michael Jandreau says the tribe will use the funding, which it will match with $310,000 of its own money, to develop a robust marketing program for the renewable resource and create more jobs for the 3,800-member tribe.

While many tribes are using casino profits to diversify their economies, Jandreau said that is not the case here. The tribe does have a gaming enterprise, the Golden Buffalo Casino & Motel, but it began its agriculture business in 1977, long before the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was even passed.

So far, the farm has provided $30 million in revenues to the tribe. That money has produced not only jobs, but also provided a steady income stream for the tribe and made it possible to buy back several thousand acres of homeland within the external boundaries of the reservation, says Jandreau.Comment:  In related news, Indian reservations have economies that aren't based totally on casinos. Who knew?

For more on the subject, see Lower Brule Popcorn Company.

Below:  "Lakota Foods also sells six-ounce bags of flavored popcorn, like butter, cheddar and white cheddar."

Top three Native stereotypes

The top 3 stereotypes or beliefs that people have when they walk in to my Native American Studies courses or #FileThisUnderReasonsWhyITeachNAS

By Cutcha Risling BaldyThe top 3 stereotypes or beliefs that people have when they walk in to my Native American Studies courses--

#3: Native Americans are poor because they want to be poor because that’s how they get all the free stuff from the government that the government gives them.

#2.5 Native Americans who are not poor have casinos. Those casinos make them so rich that they buy the government off to give them things.

#2 If you go to a reservation you will get shot. Or beat. Or shot and beat. Or somebody will be mean to you. They will probably be mean to you and then shoot you.

#1 Everything you need to know about Native peoples you can learn by watching Disney’s PocahontasComment:  Let's rephrase these a bit, like so:

1) Movies about noble or murderous savages are realistic portrayals of Indians.

2) Reservations are cesspools of crime, poverty, despair, and hopelessness.

3) Indians don't pay taxes, live off welfare, and get everything free--either from the government or casinos.

In this form, I could support these as the top three Native stereotypes. They sum up the perceptions most Americans have about Indians.

For more on the subject, see Comanche Chairman Justifies Tonto's Stereotypes and Mithlo's TEDx Talk on Stereotypes.

Indians killed Han Solo!

A Star Wars article notes an interesting comic book featuring Indians:

10 Star Wars Characters Who Needlessly Met Han Solo

By Rob BrickenIn the Star Wars Tales comic—which, to be fair, contains adventures that aren’t even considered part of the expanded universe canon—the Falcon is shot by Imperials, escapes through hyperspace, and crash-lands on a very familiar planet. It’s familiar because it’s Earth, which we know because Han Solo is killed by Native Americans. His body—and the Falcon—is found more than 100 years later by Indiana Jones and Short Round, while investigating the legend of Bigfoot, who is of course Chewbacca. Sure, Han was dead when he "met" Indiana, and it wasn’t even close to being in even the vaguest continuity. Still, I must remind everyone of this nightmarishly dumb encounter so that those in the future will not replicate these mistakes. NEVER FORGET.Several commenters disagreed with Bricken's take on this comic. For instance:Okay the Indiana Jones one I like.

It's depressing but it's a fun short comic story that isn't part of any canon, obviously.

It's just some writer going, "Hey how can we make Indiana and Han meet?" And it makes sense, in a rather depressing way.Comment:  I'm with the commenters. It does sound like fun--if you ignore the thought of Han Solo getting killed.

Of course, if the Indians merely reacted like savages and attacked what they didn't understand, that would be stereotypical. The reverse--that they'd worship the aliens as "sky gods"--also would be stereotypical. A human range of reactions would be best.

For more on Indiana Jones, see Indiana Jones's Criminally Bad Archaeology and Indiana Jones and the Stereotypes of Doom.

Thrush opposes Chinese trade agreement

Native star opposes ‘greed and lying and selling out the land’

Downtown protest focuses on trade deal with China

By Valerie FortneyOn Wednesday, the Gemini-award winning actress is back on more solid ground, trading in her gold pumps and ball gown for jeans and Converse sneakers. The princess of two weeks earlier is back to her more familiar role of self-described warrior.

She has joined forces with Brian Seaman, a Calgary-based human rights and civil liberties lawyer, along with Idle No More activist Chantal Chagnon, for what is billed as a rally and round dance, in support of the Hupacasath, a small group of First Nation people who live near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. It’s an angry but peaceful protest against the federal government.

“We are not against economic development,” Thrush explains. “We are against greed and lying and selling out the land.”

Thrush and about a dozen fellow protesters are at Olympic Plaza to bring awareness to the federal government’s looming 31-year trade agreement with China, known as a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, or FIPPA.Comment:  For more on Michelle Thrush, see Native Actresses in Cannes Competition and Racist Comments in Canadian Newspapers.

NFL commissioner defends "Redskins" name

NFL Commissioner Tells Congress 'Redskins' Is a Positive NameAlthough Snyder has not responded to the Congress members, sticking to his "We will NEVER drop Redskins name" guns, NFL Commissioner Goodell has. In a letter dated June 5 and sent to the co-chairs of the Congressional Native American Caucus, Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma) and Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota), both of whom are among the 10 Congress members who sent the letter to Snyder and Goodell and cosponsors of the Non-Disparagement of Native American Persons or Peoples in Trademark Registration Act of 2013 (H.R. 1278), Goodell spelled out the NFL's position.

"The Washington Redskins name has thus from its origin represented a positive meaning distinct from any disparagement that could be viewed in some other context," writes Goodell. "For the team's millions of fans and customers, who represent one of America's most ethnically and geographically diverse fan bases, the name is a unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride and respect."Translation: "Other than its long history as an offensive ethnic slur, 'Redskins' has a positive meaning for millions of fans who don't know or care about dictionary definitions."

Note: I may have paraphrased Goodell's position a bit. A simpler translation would be: "Our profits are more important than your feelings."

This trite and obvious response--that "Redskins" doesn't mean what you think it means--is easily refuted:

Congress Members Respond to NFL Commissioner's Support for 'Redskins' NameTwo members of Congress, Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa) and Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota) have issued responses to the June 5 letter sent by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell regarding the league's position on the Washington, D.C. franchise's use of the name "Redskins." Goodell wrote in his letter that the term, considered offensive--racist--by many Native Americans, has a "positive meaning."

Congressman Faleomavaega responded to the letter with the following statement:

“Mr. Goodell has completely missed the point regarding the Washington franchise’s name. In his recent letter, he acknowledges the NFL’s ‘responsibility to exemplify […] values of diversity and inclusion.’ Yet in the same letter he fails to assume any responsibility for the racism that the Washington franchise’s name continues to promote. You cannot have it both ways. Whether good intentioned or not, the fact of the matter is that the term ‘Redskin’ is a racial slur that disparages Native Americans. It is time for the NFL to stop making excuses for itself and fully embrace its so-called commitment to diversity.”

Democratic Co-Chair of the Congressional Native American Caucus Congresswoman McCollum issued the following response:

“Unfortunately, NFL Commissioner Goodell’s letter is another attempt to justify a racial slur on behalf of Dan Snyder and other NFL owners who appear to be only concerned with earning ever larger profits, even if it means exploiting a racist stereotype of Native Americans. For the head of a multi-billion dollar sports league to embrace the twisted logic that ‘Redskin’ actually ‘stands for strength, courage, pride, and respect’ is a statement of absurdity.

“Would Roger Goodell and Dan Snyder actually travel to a Native American community and greet a group tribal members by saying, ‘Hey, what’s up redskin?’ I think not. (‘Hey, what’s up redskin’ is a quote from materials provided to my office by the NFL, along with the claim that ‘Redskins’ is a ‘term of endearment’ among Native Americans.)

“Indian children, families and elders are Americans, and just like all racial, ethnic, or religious groups, they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, not as a demeaning caricature or mascot. That shouldn’t be too much to ask of the NFL.”Gooddell added that it's okay to use the N-word too if you and your friends feel it's positive. Indeed, Goodell's "thinking" would justify a team named the Washington Niggers. It may be offensive in other contexts, but not as the name of an NFL team!

Who in the hell says the NFL gets to ignore "some other context" and focus only on its bubble of money, violence, and happy talk? Not me. The word is a slur by definition, which means it's a slur in every context. Goodell and owner Dan Snyder don't get to ignore some contexts just because these contexts paint the team in a negative light.

Calling a spin doctor

Clearly Snyder is getting worried, since he's bringing in the big guns:

Frank Luntz hired by Washington football team to convince people name isn’t horribly racist

Republican pollster hired by football team with disgusting name

By Alex PareeneLuntz isn’t just going to get a feel for what people think of the name. Luntz’s specialty is crafting language to sell conservative policies or discredit liberal ones. You hire Luntz not to merely poll, but to figure out how best to sell people on something. It seems reasonable to assume that team owner Daniel Snyder, who has vowed to never change the name, is working now on how best to convince people that his team’s name is not a repellent racial epithet. Luntz’s specialty is renaming things to sound more appealing, but in this case he’ll be crafting the best possible language to use when explaining why something shouldn’t be renamed. (Luntz was reprimanded by American pollsters’ official professional association for his work on the 1994 GOP “Contract With America,” because he was suspiciously vague about how many people he actually polled after claiming that polls showed that Americans loved the contract.)

Luntz is actually fantastically good at his job—so good that he’s convinced quite a few seemingly intelligent liberals that Luntzian language-massaging is the secret behind all conservative electoral success—which is why he is basically Fox News and the House Republicans’ message-crafter-in-residence. He renamed the estate tax “the death tax.” He told the GOP to refer to Democratic healthcare reform as “a Washington takeover” and financial reform as a “big bank bailout bill.”And:That Snyder is hiring Frank Luntz suggests a certain amount of concern that nationwide blasé acceptance of his team’s name may be coming to an end. He certainly didn’t seem to take criticisms particularly seriously before—his team’s P.R. desk has usually just pointed to a couple of polls and dismissed critics as unimportant—but now he is writing letters to Congress and working out a P.R. strategy. That’s good. It means he’s losing. But it doesn’t mean he’ll lose. The team has successfully fought public pressure for decades, and the NFL has other high-priority P.R. nightmares distracting it from taking the controversy seriously. And soon we’ll begin hearing some much more convincing arguments in favor of the name, courtesy of Luntz and whatever other high-priced professional spinners Snyder hires.The Redskins Try to Focus-Group Racism

By Jonathan MahlerQ. If you were the owner of a professional football team with a racist name from a bygone era, what would you do?

A. Acknowledge the name is offensive and rename the team.

B. Hire pollster Frank “It’s-Not-What-You-Say-It’s-What-They-Hear” Luntz to help you navigate your moral quandary?

If you're Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins, the answer is apparently B.News flash: Luntz announces that "Redskins" comes from "reds' kin," meaning "blood brothers," meaning "mitakuye oyasin (we are all related)." Just kidding, I hope.

For more on the Washington Redskins, see White House Gets Redskins Question and Online Redskins Poll Demonstrates Bias.

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.

Skyhawk: Depp is a charlatan

Sonny Skyhawk on Johnny Depp, Disney, Indian Stereotypes and White Film Indians

By Gale Courey ToensingSonny Skyhawk (Sicangu Lakota) is a veteran Hollywood actor, author of Indian Country Today Media Network’s “Ask N NDN," and founder of American Indians in Film and Television. He talked to us in a free-wheeling conversation about Hollywood’s Indian stereotypes, white actors playing Indians, and the controversy surrounding Johnny Depp in the role of Tonto in Disney’s new film of The Lone Ranger.

I have an Arab nephew who’s a struggling young actor in Toronto and he’s always being offered terrorist roles, which he turns down because he doesn’t want to support the stereotype. Have you experienced anything like that as an Indian actor?

I think you have to have a certain amount of integrity as a person and as an actor and sometimes those two things in some people’s’ minds clash. In my mind they never clash. I’ve always been true to who I am as an individual way before taking on a role. I’ve always followed my own philosophy that I’m an Indian first and an actor second. My people have always come first before any role I’ve ever played. There are many roles in my 35-year history that I’ve turned down [including Blazing Saddles --Ed.] because they were demeaning, degrading or spoke badly about our people. And my frustration throughout my 35 year career has been that for every role I’ve turned down there were ten Indians waiting in line chomping at the bit to take the role and that included, for example, a role that depicted a decapitation of someone in a sweat lodge! When you think about the mind of Hollywood -- Hollywood has no mind. Its only interest has been and always will be all about money.

What is your take in general on non Indians playing Indians in the movies?

The actor’s mantra is you should be able to play any role and get yourself into it whether it’s an alien or human or whatever. But looking at it from an Indian perspective, Hollywood has a deep rooted history from the time the kinetoscope was invented by Thomas Edison to use our images, tell our stories, and reconfigure our history and it created the Indian villain in the whole scenario of filmmaking. So the Indian has really been the victim of Hollywood’s creation--we had no choice about that. And back in the early days there weren’t many trained Indian actors so it was much easier for Hollywood to spray paint Rock Hudson--like the tanning salons do now--to make him look darker. So many stars that were under contract to studios in those days actually made a living portraying Native peoples. Iron Eyes Cody built a career based on playing Indians and he was not an Indian. I can quote you 20-30 famous actors who played Indian roles at that time and probably only a handful of Indians. Hollywood created the image of the Indian and allowed anybody to play him.

What do you think about the controversy over Johnny Depp playing Tonto in Disney’s new Lone Ranger flick?

So, fast forward to today and Johnny Depp--as I said, there’s nothing new about Hollywood painting up a white person to play an Indian. Johnny Depp is for sale as an actor and the essence of what he’s doing in this movie is trying to sell himself as an Indian and make it believable. Is it wrong for him to do that? Well, it’s wrong on different facets. What my organization, American Indians in Film and Television, has tried to do in 35 years of existence is provide jobs and open doors for Native people in this industry. So when a Johnny Depp or anyone else who’s not Native takes a job as an Indian and gets painted like an Indian, we believe he’s depriving a real Indian of a job. The second thing is when it comes to the director or the producers saying, “We’re going to cut this guy’s head off in the sweat lodge,” the non Indian will say, “Yeah, I don’t see anything wrong with that, go for it!” While an Indian would say, “Wait a minute, guys, that’s not really cool or according to our beliefs and practices.”Comment:  For more on actors in redface, see Little Criticism of Depp's Tonto?! and Caribbean Cannibal in I Love Lucy.

Below:  "SPOT THE INDIAN! Clockwise from top left: Sonny Skyhawk, Sicangu Lakota; Rock Hudson in 'Winchester '73', Johnny Depp in 'The Lone Ranger', and Italian-American actor Iron Eyes Cody."

"Free dirt" offered from burial ground

Tribe Outraged at City's 'Free Dirt' Offer

By June WilliamsThe tribe claims the defendants offered the "free dirt" for landscaping projects, though state law requires stopping construction if grave goods or remains are found. But the city has a "financial incentive" to complete the project, according to the complaint.

The tribe claims that city officials knew the road project would traverse the site of an ancient village that had existed "for hundreds if not thousands of years."

The Swinomish left the village, called Tequcid, to move to their reservation in 1855, "leaving behind generations of their ancestors who were buried there," according to the complaint.

"The location and nature of Tequcid is well known and well documented," the complaint states. "Archaeologists or anthropologists documented the village and burial ground in the 1920s, 1950s, and 1980s. In 1953, the site was formally registered as a state archaeological site. In 1988, an updated state archaeological site form was prepared. Firsthand or press accounts of the presence of Indian burials at the site were made in the 1850s, 1910s, 1920s, 1940s, 1960s, and 1980s. In 1983, the Whidbey News Times published pictures of Indian burials being removed from the site after construction work along SE Pioneer Way had disturbed them."Comment:  Free dirt from Indian burial ground! Bones and relics included at no extra cost! This offer is too good to pass up, so hurry while it lasts!

I call this stereotypical because of the implication that Indian burial grounds are different from Euro-American burial grounds. That they're nothing but dirt that we can give away freely.

If you don't like the reality of thousands of Indian burial sites disrupting "progress," too bad. Don't conquer an inhabited land and expect it to be empty.

For more on burial grounds, see Indians Won't Build on Catholic Graveyard and Blame Burial Grounds for Economy?