DIY Headdress from Bright Young Things

(via Ecouterre)

I read a fair amount of fashion blogs, but only recently did I discover the fabulous story and photos over at The Uniform Project. The designer of the now-famous little black dress featured on the site is Eliza Starbuck, who apparently is launching a new line called "Bright Young Things."

To commemorate the launch, she offered up this project on the blog Ecouterre, "guaranteed to turn heads". Yes friends, you can now make your very own hipster headdress.

Random Appropriation of the Day! (Daufuski Korean Oysters)

Chrissy, one of my Twitter followers, came across this can of Korean Oysters while shopping at her local grocery store (I believe in Alabama?). From what I can gather with a quick google search, Dafuskie (with an "e") Island in South Carolina used to be a big oyster producing area. But this website gives us this additional piece of Dafuskie trivia:

Red Bull Gives You Stereotypes

Red Bull, the energy drink of the masses, presents us with a winner of an appropriation. This commercial reads like a check list of Native stereotypes. Apparently this ad aired heavily overseas (it can be found in many different languages on youtube), and first aired in the US back in 2009. However, it seems that Red Bull decided stereotypical imagery works, because I've gotten multiple tips in the last few weeks noting that they've started airing it again.

Here's the transcript of the commercial:

If Movie Titles Were Honest: Dances with Wolves Edition

  

White Man: The Superior Indian 

(via cracked.com)

My friend Amy, who is the best internet browser in the history of the world, sent over this movie poster after my Dances with Wolves post last week. I love it. The whole slide show is pretty creative and entertaining.

Can anyone think of any other "honest" movie titles for movies about Indians?

Last of the Mohicans (I finally saw that one too!): Lots of Blood and Gore but Who Cares I'm Looking at Eric Schweig?

The New World: Waving Grass and Rushing Water But No Plot or Dialogue?

Leave more ideas in the comments!

Cracked.com "If Movie Titles Were Honest Photoshop Contest": http://www.cracked.com/photoshop_130_if-movie-titles-were-honest_p30#30

(Thanks Amy!)

"Legend has it...": More Natives in Advertising

Last Friday I headed over to the Harvard Med School (HMS) to listen to the final presentations of the students involved in HMS's Native American High School Summer Program. I was so blown away and impressed by the students and what they managed to accomplish in three weeks, their presentations were incredible, powerful, and moving.

But back to the issue at hand, the image above. I was waiting for my flatbread pizza in the schmancy new HMS cafeteria and noticed this sign next to the ordering station. Text reads:

Bonus Round: All the Awesome Tips in My Inbox

(screen shot from the new N.E.R.D. and Nelly Furtado video)

Welcome to a new Friday feature, where I round-up all the awesome tips I get in my inbox, but don't have a chance to write full posts about.

Consider it a work-in-progress (I still need a name for it--ideas? let me know!). If anything in here strikes your fancy, and you'd like me to write more about it, post in the comments. Tips with highest number of "votes" will get a full write up!

Ready? Here we go...

Batman and Superman as Indian Chiefs?

(source)

Holy Headdress Batman! (omg I'm so creative I know).

Reader Brianna sent over this image of Batman, in a headdress, punching what appears to be an Indian (POW!). She didn't know the context, but a little googling this morning led me to this blog, with more images of Batman, plus other superheros, all dressed up in racial drag: (all images courtesy of Everyday is Like Wednesday)

"The Researchers Aren't Taking Sides", But the AP Might Be

(image via Salon)

Welcome to guest blogger Kaeleigh H., who is a student at Indiana University in the Archaeology and Social Context Program. She sent this post over as a tip, but I thought it was so awesome I'd just go ahead and publish it. Want to see your writing on Native Appropriations? Just send me an email!

AK note: This summer, residents of the wealthy suburban  community of Mystic, Connecticut are playing host to researchers armed with metal detectors and shovels, as they scour the manicured lawns and tidy flowerbeds looking artifacts and remnants of the Pequot War, a bloody battle that took place in the mid 1600's. The AP decided to cover the story, and Kaeleigh gives us her take on the language choices made by the reporter throughout: 

"Connecticut land dug up for items from tribe-settler war"

Archaeological surveys and excavations are taking place in Mystic, Connecticut on the site of a battle of the Pequot War. Members of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe and the Eastern Pequot tribe are taking part in the project, which is the joint venture of Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center at Foxwoods and the University of Connecticut.

It sounds like a good collaborative, community-based project, but the following statement from the article about the battle and the archaeological work being done on the site is where it gets problematic:

The Best Native Films (by or about Indigenous Peoples)

After my Dances with Wolves post, I held an informal poll over on the Native Appropriations Facebook page (are you a fan? you should be!) of the best Native films. I think the resulting list is a nice mix of documentary, comedy, and drama, and brings in some international perspectives as well. Let me know what you think. Here, in no particular order, are the films recommended by Facebook readers, with links, director, and year!

Native-themed Banksy Street Art in San Francisco

(Click to make it grande, source here)

I'm a huge fan of the street art movement, I love art that incorporates social commentary and appears in unexpected forms and places. UK artist Banksy is arguably the leader of the movement, with his pieces appearing all over the world, in galleries and sold-out shows, but also on everything from nondescript alleys to the wall between Gaza/the west bank and Jerusalem.

I love the image above, from the Mission district in San Francisco, playing with the whole immigration debate. I like when artist's juxtapose historic and modern, I think it calls into question some of the preconceived notions the public holds about Native peoples.

Random Appropriation of the Day! (Eagle Medicine Woman Ball-Jointed Doll)

Reader Dawn spotted this beauty through a Facebook ad, and just like our other fabulous Facebook find (the "Spirit Guides" tomahawk), it comes from the company "Collectibles Today." Ready for the description?

I'm a true Indian now: I finally saw Dances with Wolves

Last night marked a historic day in the continuing education of Adrienne K. I finally saw Dances with Wolves. How, you may be asking yourself, did I survive 24 years of life and 6 months of blogging about Native images in pop culture without seeing this piece of American history? Your guess is as good as mine. Frankly, I just never got around to it.

The Music Festival Hipster Headdress Goes British

(image via Boston.com)

Well, it's official. The hipster headdress has gone British. Last week was the Glastonbury music festival in the UK, a huge music spectacular not unlike Coachella, or The Bamboozle, or Sasquatch! or Lightning in a Bottle here in the US. Boston.com posted an image of festival goers sporting the (no-longer) edgy hipster headdress, maddening, but pretty unsurprising, actually. It was only a matter of time.

However, not to be out done by their former subjects across the pond, these British hipsters took playing Indian to a whole new level. Observe the "tents" at this year's festival: