Out in Public Wearing an Indian Chief's Head Dress?

Page 1 of 4 [ 64 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next

ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

25 Feb 2015, 11:20 pm

You know, tall and long with the feathers? Like the one below.


Image


I just now wondered, if I wore that out in public where I live, which is pretty much Indian Country, if a Native American would feel offended and say something to me? I honestly don't know if someone would or not. I do not have a head dress, anyway.

Do any of you think you could wear one out in public where you are and no one would bat an eyelash?

The governor's daughter, who happens to be in a progressive band, wore one for the sake of fashion and she got pretty much raked over the coals for it but I am not a celebrity so I wonder, would people be offended if they saw me in one?

What I really wonder is, what if everyone wore a headdress one day so you look around and everybody has one on. Not much anyone could do about it, then, because even if they tried to confront someone, there would be so many, no way they could confront all who wore one. Right?



Last edited by ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo on 25 Feb 2015, 11:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.

thomas81
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 May 2012
Age: 42
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,147
Location: County Down, Northern Ireland

25 Feb 2015, 11:23 pm

it probably depends on the percieved context.

If a native American took it to mean you were trying to make fun of them, that could probably be a big problem. At best you might be regarded as looking rather silly. Probably best not to wear such a thing.


_________________
Being 'normal' is over rated.

My deviant art profile


ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

25 Feb 2015, 11:25 pm

thomas81 wrote:
it probably depends on the percieved context.

If a native American took it to mean you were trying to make fun of them, that could probably be a big problem. At best you might be regarded as looking rather silly. Probably best not to wear such a thing.

I wouldn't be doing it to make fun of anyone. I would just be doing it as an experiment of sorts. The only way it would seem rude is that I am not a chief or Native American, even, so in that way it could be taken as insulting. I would not be wearing it to "make fun of" though.



Misslizard
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jun 2012
Age: 59
Gender: Female
Posts: 20,454
Location: Aux Arcs

25 Feb 2015, 11:30 pm

Not a good idea.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_bonnet


_________________
I am the dust that dances in the light. - Rumi


ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

25 Feb 2015, 11:31 pm

Technically it is a war bonnet but it's not really worn as that these days. It's pretty much a ceremonial dressing. They are really beautiful, it just happens Indians were the ones who thought of them and first created them but that doesn't take away from the beauty or desirability of them.



Sweetleaf
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Jan 2011
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 34,439
Location: Somewhere in Colorado

25 Feb 2015, 11:45 pm

It could be a hit or miss, I don't really see the problem in wearing one if you wanted...as long as you aren't throwing it on the ground and treating it like crap, I mean it looks like a lot of work and artistry goes into making those so I imagine that calls for some respect. But yeah everyone might think its weird and look at you weird, or it could become something 'cool' that lots of people would start doing........like how its become a bit of a trend for people to wear benies/winter hats year round...though people where doing that before it was a trend as well.


_________________
We won't go back.


Misslizard
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jun 2012
Age: 59
Gender: Female
Posts: 20,454
Location: Aux Arcs

25 Feb 2015, 11:52 pm

You can't wear eagle feathers,only natives can have those.I don't suppose anyone would care if you wore turkey feathers.lol
Posted this earlier but it vanished?


_________________
I am the dust that dances in the light. - Rumi


ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

25 Feb 2015, 11:57 pm

Misslizard wrote:
You can't wear eagle feathers,only natives can have those.I don't suppose anyone would care if you wore turkey feathers.lol
Posted this earlier but it vanished?

I would want to wear one like the picture I posted. Those do not look like Eagle's feathers to me. I think anyone can wear an Eagle feather if they happen to be walking on their land where Eagles fly overhead and shed feathers and they happen to find one on the ground and since it's their land, finders keepers.



Misslizard
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jun 2012
Age: 59
Gender: Female
Posts: 20,454
Location: Aux Arcs

26 Feb 2015, 12:05 am

Nope.
http://www.fws.gov/eaglerepository/fact ... tSheet.pdf


_________________
I am the dust that dances in the light. - Rumi


ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

26 Feb 2015, 12:13 am

I can understand the ban of selling them because that would be like putting a bounty on every eagle's head but if there's an eagle feather on my land and I find it, what am I to do with it?
I know birds leave a feather now and then because I have a lot of birds that live in my yard and I find stray feathers under my trees all the time. None happen to be eagle feathers because we don't have any eagles but if we did have some that visited the yard, a stray feather of theirs would likely appear time to time under the tree as well so what would I be required to do? Just leave the feather there because it happens to be an eagle's and not a Blue Jay's not that I pick up all the Blue Jay feathers now, just every now and then. Could be a robin feather every now and then, too.



Misslizard
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Jun 2012
Age: 59
Gender: Female
Posts: 20,454
Location: Aux Arcs

26 Feb 2015, 12:42 am

Maybe because people could kill an eagle then sell the feathers claiming they found then on a dead bird.
If I found one Id just leave it lay,depending on the state you are in it could be a big fine.Some people here got popped for poaching deer,the biggest fine wasn't the deer,but they had claws from Hawks and Owls.They are all protected by law.


_________________
I am the dust that dances in the light. - Rumi


ominous
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Jul 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 962
Location: Victoria, Australia

26 Feb 2015, 12:57 am

Yes, we find this incredibly offensive. Don't do it. Figure out what your own Indigenous culture is and celebrate that by wearing clothing that is 'original' to your own people.

http://nativeappropriations.com/?s=headdress



ominous
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Jul 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 962
Location: Victoria, Australia

26 Feb 2015, 1:00 am

Also feel free to read through this blog.

http://mycultureisnotatrend.tumblr.com/



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

26 Feb 2015, 1:14 am

I would never kill a wild animal for anything unless it was something like a bear or mountain lion and it was trying to kill me. Besides, where I live, we cannot even shoot guns because it is illegal to fire them in the city limits although we can fire them inside our houses if someone or something is trying to kill or we think they will. So I would never kill a bird for it's claws or feathers but I do find feathers from time to time and sometimes a neighborhood cat, which none belong to me, mine stay in the house and never go outside, catches a bird in the back yard, particularly slow, cumbersome mourning doves, and there will be a mess of feathers on the grass in one section of the yard. That's the only time and the feathers never belong to an attractive bird that people would want to own the feathers of so it's not like anyone is killing birds to resell their feathers. Mourning doves do not have attractive plumage. It's mostly dull colors and the feathers aren't impressive, either and those are the only types of birds slow enough for the cats to catch around here that I have noticed.

Seems like someone with a lot of eagle feathers or any kind of feathers from a wild bird would be suspect, if they suddenly acquired them and were showing them off or trying to sell them.



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 18 Jun 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,265

26 Feb 2015, 1:18 am

ominous wrote:
Yes, we find this incredibly offensive. Don't do it. Figure out what your own Indigenous culture is and celebrate that by wearing clothing that is 'original' to your own people.

http://nativeappropriations.com/?s=headdress

Now that you mention it, my people do have some interesting clothing but nothing as neat looking as the war bonnet, or as easy to put on and remove. The War Bonnet is like a hat. It's not like a dress or flowers in the hair. I don't see why people cannot be free, whenever it is possible and they aren't going to try and hunt endangered animals or anything like that, to wear items from other cultures. Doesn't that help people to connect and learn more about other places? What is so bad about connecting with people from around the world. Otherwise, aren't we all cut off from each other, stuck in our own existence and mocking everyone else's because we long to be a part of theirs but feel forbidden and unwanted? That just causes resentment and frustration. People mock and are hostile to what they feel like they can never be a part of.

Rest assured this is all hypothetical since I don't even own a War Bonnet and am clueless as to how to get my hands on one. You don't see them outside of pow wows and festivals. People do not wear them out shopping, not even the ones who can wear them. So I am not grabbing my War Bonnet, putting it on, then going to Target any time soon.

Keep in mind there as a video made for a song call Rapture and it did have someone wearing a War Bonnet and the Village People, too, had a member with one on. That was before the new normal.



CoffinCrawler
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jun 2014
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 189
Location: montreal, canada

26 Feb 2015, 1:32 am

Cultural appropriation is an insulting trend. Considering we've taken pretty much everything from the indigenous people, including their land, to the point where only 5% of them remain within the world's population... the least we can do is leave them in peace with their own spiritual traditions.

Also, reading that wiki page someone posted above, it states that "the headdress should not be worn without the consent of the leader of the tribe(s)". Each feather on the bonnet needs to be earned. So please... don't.