Nothing against these girls that work at Nylon mag and write on its blog, but it really amazes me when I read crap like this—their weekend was kicked off by a a cowboys and Indians themed party. Jesus, people (and I mean this in a masses sort of way), don’t dress up like Indians! Would you dress up like a Black person? Like a Mexican? Speaking of dressing up, don’t dress up in any sort of Asian themed garb either—no geisha crap! And if you have kids, don’t dress them up like some other minority either. I think it just feels like more of an annoyance since it’s not even friggin’ Halloween. Let me tell you, though I cannot speak for all 500+ tribes in the world, but I can speak for my own tribes (specifically, Tlingit, Nisga’a, Winnebago and Ojibwe) you never get it right anyway! It’s ridiculous, and please, please don’t say you’re honoring us in any way because that’s bullshit.
29 responses so far ↓
1 oh please // Jun 23, 2008 at 1:33 pm
you’ve got to be fucking kidding me, commenter above. im not condoning racism or any -ism of the sort, but “cowboys and indians” is such a common theme, youve got a lot more work ahead of you if it’s the cause you choose to rage against. first port of call – the major league baseball office in cleveland. have fun.
2 christy dawn // Jun 23, 2008 at 1:35 pm
That party looked sooooo fun!! Wish I went! You haters need to calm down… An indian and cowboy themed party is all out of good fun!!
3 The Husband // Jun 23, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Look how hip it is to appropriate another culture in a flip and dismissive way!
4 Jorge // Jun 23, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I commend you for including this unrelated post.
Thank You
5 herman // Jun 23, 2008 at 7:01 pm
common theme? i see common racism. calm down and have fun?!?! you think the navajo, chiracahua apache and lakota sioux thought it was funny being gunned down in the name of manifest destiny. please, despite the fact that i’m a upstanding citizen and successful professional, i continue to face people’s stereotypes of native people. while at my job i’ve been accused of smoking pot, heckled at a high school by kids whose mascot was the warriors and constantly have to hear about the one indian person you know. you are right though, i should calm down and let ignorant people be stupid. sorry for ruining your fun.
6 herman // Jun 23, 2008 at 9:37 pm
hey oh please, why don’t you let me know when you throw your next nazi + jew partay…those are always a blast.
7 Renya // Jun 24, 2008 at 5:48 am
Hi all,
I teach Native American studies at UC Santa Cruz. I teach books, such as Playing Indian and Going Native. Playing Indian is an attempt by whites to appropriate an Indian identity in order to prove that they are truly indigenous to the land and DO have the right to the land not Native Americans. Playing Indian is a way for everyone to ignore what really happened thanks to colonization. Isn’t it time for us to face the history and stop trying to ignore it? Playing Indian is disrespectful to Native Americans so instead of reacting that it is no problem please educate yourself so you won’t pass these ignorant attitudes down to your children.
8 Oh my God!Have mercy on these people! // Jun 24, 2008 at 10:16 am
Yahoo! I guess we should be honoured for all the wanna be’es eh?I think thats the canadian expression.
Everyone wants to be an Indian while the Canadian Government is stripping us of our Identification .Yet we still have to face all this ignorant racial discrimination.
9 betsy // Jun 24, 2008 at 10:25 am
what a races remark for such people to pass down to your children. YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF.GET A LIFE AND FILL YOUR TIME WITH BETTER THINGS TO DO THEN DRESS YOURSELF UP WITH FEATHERS.
10 Claig // Jun 24, 2008 at 4:05 pm
i think they look sexy… wasn’t that the point?
11 Katlin // Jun 24, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Oh my gosh, YES!! These were exactly my thoughts when I was reading that post! Some people just do not understand what we teach people by hosting parties like this. At my university, there were two separate occasions where this type of themed party was held. The people that hosted the first party had to do community service for the Native American group on campus, not sure what happened to the second, but it was written about in the school paper. Thank you for your intelligent words!
12 alex the sea turtle // Jun 25, 2008 at 10:02 am
Thanks for posting this. People just don’t even think or realize that what they are doing for fun can be offensive. Social discourse is good.
13 pz // Jun 26, 2008 at 12:01 pm
is it bad to dress up for a 70’s theme party because some people, who might have lived in the 70’s, would be offended?
14 TheHusband // Jun 26, 2008 at 12:40 pm
PZ,
No. But it is bad to make asinine comparisons that don’t have anything to do with the subject at hand.
15 pz // Jun 27, 2008 at 10:24 am
It was asinine, you’re right.
I just don’t understand. Let’s try this one, it were an Indians and Indians party would it be ok? In other words, is it just the Indians vs. COwboys part that’s offensive because it references a violent time?
It’s a costume party – people dressing up like people they’re not. Sadly, violence and oppresion has been a factor in many, many cultures throughout time. So we can’t celebrate the originality and beauty of the oppressed? ever? Really, I’m not trying to be argumentative, I’m just an idiot, I guess.
16 arthur king // Jul 7, 2008 at 7:57 am
So I guess a whole lot of people don’t get that cowboys meant death to Indians and Indian culture — murder, rape, concentration camps at the end of forced marches.
And a present perpetual poverty.
If you’re at all interested, read “Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie. Shit, read anything by Sherman Alexie. Well worth it.
http://www.fallsapart.com/essays.html
17 TJ-the mixing pot // Jul 10, 2008 at 11:44 am
I can kind of understand where some of you are coming from, but I think there is no reason to attack some girls who had a party in the year 2008. I don’t know if you know this or not, but they’re not the first ones, or will they be the last. I have a theme party every summer and I agree with pz. It’s just about dressing like something you’re not. I highly doubt that the people who went to this party all got together and said, “hmm… how can we get together and offend people.” I think if more people would take a chill pill, they would help this country all come together instead of constantly fighting to keep it segregated by sitting around looking for reasons to accuse people of being racist.
18 TJ-the mixing pot // Jul 10, 2008 at 11:46 am
This year we had a pirate party….. does that make us racist??? Or are we just sick and sad because we sat around and planned on how to offend others. What about all the people involved in movie-making? Let’s just make a list of everyone we can accuse of being racist.
19 Megan // Jul 23, 2008 at 4:54 pm
my grandfather was Haida and yet, i really wish one of my friends would have a cowboys and indians themed party.
as someone who lives in british columbia and studies native culture, unless you’re going to raise a totem pole and make a chilkat blanket, you’re not going to represent “indians” properly. seriously, how much fun would drunkenly raising a totem pole be? not much. you may feel that they are being flippant, but they’re just having fun.
take it easy. calm down. go hang out with the numerous tribes that you allegedly represent and call upon your spirit animal for guidance.
20 B+S // Jul 23, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Bravo, Megan—not everyone can be so offensive in such a short space!
So because your “grandfather was Haida” and you “study Native culture” you’re going question my “authenticity”? That’s inventive and impressive. What kind of “proof” suffices for you? Do you want my enrollment numbers? Do you want to know my Indian names? My mom’s side or dad’s side, you can take your pick. Do you want to know which of my family members are chiefs or hold important positions within the tribe? The Chilkat weavers? The totem pole carvers? Would you like to know their names? Because incredibly accomplished Native people with those very skills are in my family, and I don’t want to imagine a bunch of non-Natives raising a totem pole while drunk. But why would that be the alternative? Why should we all go to some much trouble just so non-Indians can go around in fake headdresses? The fact that you think it’s all just in “fun” speaks volumes about where you’re coming from.
But would any of this information lessen the chance that you’d go around and spew such offensiveness as “go hang out with the numerous tribes that you allegedly represent and call upon your spirit animal for guidance” to other Native people? Because I would fully support that.
21 Anonymous // Aug 25, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Stop speaking Jive !
22 Anonymous // Sep 7, 2008 at 9:14 am
Get the chip off your shoulder
23 Jessica // Sep 23, 2008 at 7:37 am
It’s not offensive in any way shape or form. I just don’t particularly like what cowboys and Indians stand for. I myself am Native American and I know all about the brutality and cruelty that took place. Many don’t understand that.
My sorority is having a function around this theme and many of my friends looked right at me when they announced it because they thought I would be offended. And I’m not. Not really. Just more annoyed that people don’t get it. There’s nothing I can do about. Just grit my teeth and try not to let it get to me.
p.s Sherman Alexie is amazing!
24 betsy // Jan 3, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Hey… doesn’t any one care about how the caucasians look? I mean look at the cowboys. I don’t go around carrying a gun and wearing stupid hats/wranglers. I think the cowboys at these parties always look like bigger tools than the Indians? How come its only racism if its directed at any other race than white. I mean come on… Nobody, not even Indians dress like that on a daily basis. And everybody knows that Indians costumes are way cooler than cowboys.
So maybe you should stop trying to find ways to be offended and do something better with your life.
25 antonia // Jun 5, 2009 at 1:04 pm
i get how you could be offended by this. you feel that people need to understand what REALLY happened in history and need to be educated on what took place. and i think all that is fine and dandy, and i feel i have a good understanding of what manifest destiny was really about and i am very sad for it. however, i dont see anything wrong in throwing a ‘cowboy and indian’ party. i stumbled on this blog because i was looking for ideas for my son’s 1st bday which will be ‘cowboy and indian’ theme. on this occassion it is more about the fantasy that has been created around history and i am fine with that. for many years kids have been playing cowboys and indians, cops and robbers and it is just a way of dealing w/ reality.
i am mexican and i do not find it offensive when white people dress w/ sombreros on cinco de mayo. do they even know what is cinco de mayo? do they know the history? no, it’s just another excuse to get drunk. am i offended by that? no because i understand the evolution of the truth and what it has become.
Take Christmas as another example of something that happened in history…
26 mary // Jul 8, 2009 at 4:45 pm
It’s just a party for god sake… why do you people get so uptight.. I’m a Syrian, and I get called everything from sand nigger to towel head.. it doesn’t make me mad at all.. and if someone wanted to have an arab party.. hell, i’d pull out my towel and be there… get real.. it was just for fun… some people with bitch and moan about anything…
27 ProphetJoe // Jul 9, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I’m not entirely up to date on my American history, but were cowboys the driving force behind the violence against native indians? I would have thought the US Army would have been responsible, not the cowboys. Cowboys typically came into a settled area to wrangle the cattle for large landowners. They weren’t necessarily pioneers into the western territories themselves.
It seems to me that you really resent the “White Man” vs. “Red Man” geo-social scenario. The native american indians lost the battle to the (largely) white European settlers because the latter had better technology, a larger population, and a stronger desire to take the land…
While I don’t think there is anything evil in dressing up as another ethnicity for fun, I do take offense to the “stereotypical jabs” some people feel the need to use — big, full lips when portraying an african-american, a large nose when protraying a jew, etc. I also take offense to people who portray people with disabilities such as someone showing up to a costume party as a “retard” — really? Of course, even though I find those things distasteful, it’s their right to do it. I don’t have a problem with it for 2 reasons: 1) it’s really a reflection on their maturity and 2) I don’t have the right to “not be offended”…
28 curtis // Sep 12, 2009 at 3:18 pm
hey i got a question for the first person that posted the mad comment. If you think it is such ignorence that people dressed up like indians. WHY DO INDIANS DRESS UP LIKE COWBOYS ON A EVERYDAY BASES? i mean seriously they took your land and you turn around destroy your own land and dress like them? Very confused
29 anne // Dec 2, 2009 at 8:09 am
I’m Native American, and I don’t find it offensive at all. I’m so sick of this PC bullshit in this country. It makes people weak…”Oh, God! My feelings are hurt!” Boo hoo.
Get over it. It’s just a bunch of college kids having a grand time. And, as a previous poster stated, what about the people dressed as cowboys? Isn’t that stereotyping white people? I do believe it is!
Political correctness is ruining this country…this world, actually.
Leave a Comment