From September 2016 to April 2017 I attended Langara Reconciliation Carving Cohort. This was my online journey- a collection of research, thoughts, feelings, work and anything that would aid me and others to help the next 7 generations.
Showing posts with label cultural appropriation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cultural appropriation. Show all posts
I shared this on my Adventurez in Mexico Blog first. Then I was like hey, wait a minute, I better bring it over and share it here too!
So it's October and I remember seeing videos of Dia de Los Muertos and wanting to go to Oaxaca so bad and there were lots of things that almost stopped us but we made it in 2012 and I have all these wonderful video of the event. If you look back through the blog posts you will see most detailed info relating to our time there. A little background here, my daughter is half Mexican and half "Canadian" but as I pointed out I have a mixed heritage of Songhee, Metis, Swedish, Portuguese, Bohemian. So to that add Mexican for Angel.
Because I came home and she was born in Canada, and we did not return to Mexico until she was six I felt VERY strongly that we go back and learn about her culture, language and geography. We spent 3 winters in Mexico.
Now fast forward to now. We haven't been back in 4 years. It's really upsetting me because I feel she is forgetting many things about the Mexican culture. At the same time we are both in the education system. I just started this course and she's in high school. So in my course we are currently looking at Cultural Appreciation and Cultural Appropriation https://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/2016/09/cultural-appropriation.html.
A term I wasn't familiar with yet I understood it for the most part, trying to put it into words is another story and the video below does a great job of explaining it. I like videos, I learn well from visuals.
Interesting how our perspectives change as we learn more.
I was never familiar with these terms Cultural Appreciation and Cultural Appropriation I have for many years since some of my first visits to Mexico (when I was terribly naive and ignorant of customs/beliefs/language) tried very hard never to take advantage or to be disrespectful.
Lately there are more and more celebrations, events, movies that emulate Dia de los Muertos - which if you are not aware translates to "Day of the Dead" in Spanish.
I felt it is important to address it in this post. I want to point out I am not an expert on this and I am sharing this information for you to consideration.
Please note, some of these videos are long, some repeat a bit as they were edited, remade,
shortened etc from the original postings while in Oaxaca and then later
on.
This video is very enlightening, it is long but very helpful in understanding the concepts presented.
Now looking back at this, is it Cultural Appreciation or does it have elements of Cultural Appropriation. I never made any money from these..although Youtube has...by putting ads on it.
We actually gave the dresses away after and we've never painted our faces since.
Anyways I am aware and doing my best to learn, share and change if necessary.
We are supposed to attend the "Stanley Park Ghost Train- Day of the Dead" http://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/ghost-train.aspx I am very curious to see how it is done. I have always loved their performances in the past and I am really looking forward to it but I have hesitations to as I do hope it is educational and culturally appropriate and deeply appreciative and respectful of this very very special celebration.
Earlier, I was thinking it would be so fun to dress up as Catrinas. But this year Angel doesn't want to dress up, whether it is because she's 14, maybe this teenager/ high school thing or maybe deep down she knows maybe it's not quite right...I am not sure.
After watching the video...about Cultural Appreciation and Appropriation has me questioning whether it's right to actually dress as a Catrina if one is outside of Mexico. Definitely something to give thought to and have conversations about.
The Appropriation of Aboriginal Cultural Heritage: Examining the Uses and Pitfalls of the Canadian Intellectual Property Regime
Vanessa Udy explores the ways in which aboriginal peoples in
Canada and the United States have used intellectual property laws to
promote their cultural heritage and to protect it from negative
stereotypes and cultural appropriation.
This was an
internal presentation made for Robic, LLP, on April 16, 2015, and
recorded for IPinCH. Vanessa Udy is a Lawyer at ROBIC and an IPinCH
Associate.
"Whether or not one accepts that cultural appropriation is a form of
neocolonialism, its negative impacts on the health, wellbeing and
capacity for economic self-sustenance of Aboriginal peoples cannot be
ignored.
Cultural appropriation is linked to mental health issues.
The inappropriate use of sacred traditional knowledge has destroyed its
sacredness and twisted its meaning, weakening it in the eyes of all.[27]
Aboriginal youth suffer from low self-esteem due to a negative view of
their own culture, supported by a belief in negative stereotypes.[28]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_appropriation Cultural appropriation is the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of another culture.[1] Cultural appropriation is seen by some[2] as controversial, notably when elements of a minority culture are used by members of the cultural majority; this is seen as wrongfully oppressing the minority culture or stripping it of its group identity and intellectual property rights.[3][4][5][6] This view of cultural appropriation is sometimes termed "cultural misappropriation".[3][6] According to critics of the practice, cultural (mis)appropriation differs from acculturation or assimilation in that the "appropriation" or "misappropriation" refers to the adoption of these cultural elements in a colonial
manner: elements are copied from a minority culture by members of the
dominant culture, and these elements are used outside of their original
cultural context—sometimes even against the expressed, stated wishes of
representatives of the originating culture.
----------------------------------------------------
In 2003, Prince Harry was heavily criticised by some Australian Aborigines for using Indigenous Australian art
motifs in a painting for a school project. One Aboriginal group
labelled it "misappropriation of our culture", arguing that, to
Aborigines, the motifs have symbolic meanings "indicative of our
spiritualism", whereas when non-Aborigines use the motifs they are
simply "painting a pretty picture".[83]
In the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2012, former Victoria's Secret model Karlie Kloss donned a Native American-style feathered headdress with leather bra and panties and high-heeled moccasins.[84]
This was an example of cultural appropriation because the fashion show
is showcasing the company's lingerie and image as a global fashion
giant. The outfit was supposed to represent November, and thus
"Thanksgiving", in the "Calendar Girls" segment. The outfit met with
backlash and criticism as an appropriation of Native American culture
and tradition. Victoria's Secret pulled it from the broadcast and
apologized for its usage. Kloss also commented on the decision by
tweeting "I am deeply sorry if what I wore during the VS Show offended
anyone. I support VS's decision to remove the outfit from the
broadcast."[85]
Avril Lavigne has been cited as appropriating Japanese culture in her song "Hello Kitty", co-written with her husband and Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger.
The song and music video depict Asian women dressed up in matching
outfits and Lavigne eating Asian food while dressed in a pink tutu.[86]
Its depiction of Japanese culture was met with widespread criticism,
which has included suggestions of racism. Lavigne responded by stating
"I love Japanese culture and I spend half of my time in Japan. I flew to
Tokyo to shoot this video...specifically for my Japanese fans, WITH my
Japanese label, Japanese choreographers AND a Japanese director IN
Japan."[87] A lot of the feedback Lavigne received on Twitter was favorable, and those who blamed her for racism were non-Japanese.[88]
When Selena Gomez wore the Bindi
during a performance, there was debate on her reasoning behind wearing
the culture specific piece. Some viewed this as "casting her vote for
Team India" but it was also viewed as misuse of the symbol as Selena was
seen as not supporting or relating the Bindi to its origin of Hinduism,
but furthering her own self-expression.[89] In 2014, Pharrell Williams posed in a Native American war bonnet on the cover of Elle UK magazine, after much controversy and media surrounding the photo Williams apologized.[90]
Actress Amandla Stenberg
made a school-related video called "Don't Cash Crop on My Cornrows"
about the use of black hairstyles and black culture by non-black people,
questioning celebrities like Katy Perry and Iggy Azalea for using "black culture as a way of being edgy and gaining attention."[91] Stenberg later critiqued Kylie Jenner for embracing African-American aesthetic values without addressing the issues that affect the community.[92]
In Beyoncé and Coldplay's 2016 video "Hymn for the Weekend",
Beyoncé is seen wearing a sari, henna tattoos on her hands, and
traditional Indian jewelry. The video caused a widespread cultural
appropriation controversy from online speculators to faithful Beyoncé
fans. Although some argue that the video was intended to celebrate
Indian culture, many feel that the video could have featured a real Bollywood actress.
The Trail of Tears (referenced in video above) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1567.html
In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the
Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi
River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee
people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its
devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion
on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died.
This picture,The Trail of Tears,
was painted by Robert Lindneux in 1942. It commemorates the suffering
of the Cherokee people under forced removal. If any depictions of the
"Trail of Tears" were created at the time of the march, they have not
survived.
1. It Trivializes Violent Historical Oppression 2. It Lets People Show Love for the Culture, But Remain Prejudiced Against Its People 3. It Makes Things ‘Cool’ for White People – But ‘Too Ethnic’ for People of Color 4. It Lets Privileged People Profit from Oppressed People’s Labor 5. It Lets Some People Get Rewarded for Things the Creators Never Got Credit For 6. It Spreads Mass Lies About Marginalized Cultures 7. It Perpetuates Racist Stereotypes 8. White People Can Freely Do What People of Color Were Actively Punished for Doing 9. It Prioritizes the Feelings of Privileged People Over Justice for Marginalized People
Before European contact the Coast Salish peoples, including the Cowichan, wove blankets, leggings, and tumplines out of mountain goat wool, dog hair, and other fibres.[2] The wool was spun with a spindle and whorl, and the blankets were woven on a two-bar loom. There is little information on pre-contact production and use of these weavings, although examples remain in museum collections. No archaeological or ethnographic evidence of knitting or knitting needles exists.
Introduction to European knitting techniques
Sheep were introduced to Vancouver Island in the 1850s,[2] providing a more plentiful source of wool. Around the same time, the first European settlers arrived in the Cowichan Valley. Knitting by native women probably began in a number of ways shortly thereafter. The most organized instruction in knitting was provided by the Sisters of St. Ann, missionaries who came from Victoria to the Cowichan Valley in 1864 to start a school for the Indians.[2] They taught the Cowichan women to knit such items as socks and mitts. The mission has records of students' knitting and other domestic skills being displayed at local fairs and at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.[3]
After learning how to make socks and mitts, Cowichan women began to knit knee-length underwear and sweaters. Like the other garments, sweaters were and are today knit in the round with no seams, using multiple needles in the European style of the period. The earliest Cowichan sweaters were all of one colour, knitted with a turtle-neck. Some knitters used a raised stitch similar to that of a gansey, possibly inspired by the clothing of the many British fishermen who had settled in the area.[3]
Development of the Cowichan sweater
In time, Cowichan knitters began to embellish sweaters using the Fair Isle technique. The teaching of patterned sweater knitting is generally attributed to a settler from the Shetland Islands, Jerimina Colvin.[3] Mrs. Colvin settled in Cowichan Station in 1885, raised sheep, and hand-spun and dyed her own wool. She probably began to teach knitting by the 1890s, and added patterns as she learned them from other Scottish settlers.[3]
Another origin theory is that the Sisters of St. Ann, a Roman Catholic institution founded in Quebec to promote the education of rural children, brought knitting to the West Coast. In 1858, four Sisters of St. Ann traveled from Montreal to Victoria to open a schoolhouse for the local children of all different races.[4] Knitting became part of the instruction of Indigenous girls during the 1860s, both at St. Ann’s Academy in Victoria and St. Ann’s School for Indian Girls in Duncan.[5]
Unlike Fair Isle or Shetland garments, however, Cowichan sweaters are always hand knit of thick, handspun, one-ply natural-coloured yarn in two or three colours (generally cream, black and grey), producing a warm bulky outer garment that is heavier than the multi-coloured Scottish garments made from lightweight two-ply dyed yarn.
Author: Margaret Miekle. Subject: Mabel Modeste, 1985. Uploaded on behalf of author. Originally published in Cowichan Indian Knitting. University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology Museum Note 21.
