With Halloween right around the corner, the topic of Native appropriation floods my mind. Native appropriation is the adoption or use of elements of one culture by members of another culture. Some may not see the relevance of this subject during Halloween, yet many people will dress as “Indians” for this this holiday. This is offensive to Native American people for numerous reasons. To being, Native people are not “Indian.” Christopher Columbus called them Indians because he thought he was in India, not America. These Native peoples are the real Americans of history, but they are not recoginzed due to the fact that we pushed them out of their lands and stole a great deal of their culture. Dressing up as an “Indian” shows that we don’t think these people still exist. We need to realize that Indigenous Natives are here and will always be here, no matter how much we push them around. They are so strong for putting up with all the bullying in the past and present, and I think the least we can do is not dress as “Indians” this Halloween to promote solidarity.
While talking about Native appropriation, I’ll also shed light on other things we, as a culture, have taken from the Indigenous peoples. Moccasins, dream catchers, and much of our clothing styles have come from them. Although some of these things one would not think belonged to the Native peoples first, I think it’s important we recognize the fact that they are. Do your research and become educated on this subject because it’s something that will constantly be here in our culture. Natives have been here long before us creating and suriving; and therefore, because of them, we have many of the things we do today. This is the first step to becoming knowledgeable on this issue and being able to stand up to those who don’t believe any of this is true. Although I might not be able to touch many people, I hope to reach some and inform them of this issue so they can consider it further.
Native appropriation is a serious dilemma in our society that we don’t even realize is a real issue. We go on day to day living in our own worlds, ignoring those who have suffered for thousands of years due to our own ancestors pushing them out and stealing everything from them. All I ask is that this Halloween you don’t dress up as an “Indian,” and when your friends or family members want to dress up in this “costume,” give them a short lesson on Native appropriation. Yes, they may want nothing to do with your words but at least you can say you tried to inform them on such an important matter.