“Dressing up as Pocahontas (or Sexy
Pocahontas, let’s get real), is offensive because
it takes the whitewashed version of a whole
group of people that have been victimized
and abused in their own land [and presents it
as] a thing one can just try for a night,” Laia
Garcia, associate editor for Lena Dunham and
Jenni Konner’s online newsletter “Lenny”, told
The New York Times.
In this campaign’s example, they state
that this particular use of “native” attire is
not adopting fashion characteristics from
a broader Indigenous culture; but rather,
making misuse of a community’s traditional
dress for a night of fun, partying, and implicit
ridicule. Regardless of whether the wearer
means to insult, there is a lack of respect for
the culture they are mimicking because their
dress is uninformed, un-credited and a bogus
interpretation of an appearance that is taken
seriously by the cultural group.
While the feathered headdresses of tribes
and nations native to North America are
actually sacred symbols, this is often seen as
cheapened by costuming and pop culture. Dr.
Adrienne Keene is a citizen of the Cherokee
nation and voice to Native Appropriations, an
educational blog that spotlights critical discourse around representations of Indigenous
people in mainstream media. In her piece for
The New York Times, “The Benefits of Cultural ‘Sharing’ are Usually One-Sided”, Dr. Keene
explains that aspects of native culture, such
as the headdress, have been “‘borrowed’ so
many times and in so many ways that its orig-
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inal power and sacred meaning have been all
but lost to the non-native public.”
Dr. Keene goes on to describe the significance
of the headdress, a gift that leaders are
entrusted with by their communities. When a
meaningful item is incorporated into a costume
for the purpose of frivolous reveling, Dr. Keene
claims that the item’s significance is “erased
and disrespected”, and the concerned culture is
reminded that their customs are “unimportant in
contemporary society, and unworthy of respect.”
In her argument, Dr. Keene does not
disapprove of the incorporation of cultural
influence within the worlds of art and
fashion, but rather, insists on “partnership,
collaboration, and equal power and control
over how our communities are represented.”
InSpades Magazine caught up with
Vienna-based hair and makeup artist Nadine
Mayerhofer, who posted a makeup tutorial on
Youtube for achieving that “warrior-inspired”
look. Wearing tribal-themed makeup and a
full-feathered headdress, the video received a
slew of passionate comments from frustrated
critics and defensive supporters.
“I was not going for specific ethnic or
cultural makeup,” Mayerhofer told InSpades
Magazine, “I wanted to create the look of a
powerful, young female warrior using new
modern colours and techniques.”
Growing up around horses, Mayerhofer
used to play “wild west” imaginary games with
her friends, wherein the “warrior” represented
strength and independence—a quality she
tried to emulate through makeup art.