‘Demeaning’: Urban Outfitters Under Fire for Navajo-Inspired Fashion Line
- Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:31am by
Becket Adams
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Urban Outfitters has recently come under fire for its new Navajo-inspired fashion line.
Sasha Houston Brown, an academic advisor at Minneapolis Community and Technical College where she works with the American Indian Success Program and is a member of the Santee Sioux Nation, is leading the charge against the clothing retailer.
She sent a complaint to the company’s CEO, saying she took offense at “plastic dreamcatchers wrapped in pleather hung next to an indistinguishable mass of artificial feather jewelry and hyper sexualized clothing featuring an abundance of suede, fringe and inauthentic tribal patterns,” reports ABC News.
Brown told Urban Outfitters CEO Glen T. Senk that the collection was “cheap, vulgar and culturally offensive” and cited specific products including the Navajo Hipster Panty, Navajo Print Fabric Wrapped Flask, Peace Treaty Feather Necklace and Staring at Stars Skull Native Headdress T-shirt.
Panties and flasks?
“It was the experience of being there and immersed in that setting, surrounded by all of these items, that took this cultural offense and cultural appropriation to another level,” Brown told ABCNews.com.
“It was just beyond demeaning and inappropriate on a personal and collective level.”
After visiting the Urban Outfitters website, something this author is not proud of, it seems that Brown is accurate at least in regards to her claim that the fashion line is tacky and kitschy.
The half-tucked-in look isn't working out here
Not entirely sure what purpose this serves--or what kind of statement it makes
“As native peoples, we’ve been robbed of so much — our land, life ways, culture,” Brown said. “My issue isn’t with just specifically Urban Outfitters, but symptomatic of larger and more pervasive issues in our society, how we recognize and interact and treat First Nation people here.”
She definitely sounds like she works in academia.
“These and the dozens of other tacky products you are currently selling referencing Native America make a mockery of our identity and unique cultures,” Brown wrote to the company.
In a statement to ABCNews.com, Urban Outfitters public relations director Ed Looram wrote: “The Native American-inspired trend and specifically the term ‘Navajo’ have been cycling thru fashion, fine art and design for the last few years. We currently have no plans to modify or discontinue any of these products.”
Gird your loins with somebody else's culture
Brown went on to say that not only were the company’s items offensive, but they may also be illegal.
She claimed they violated the Federal Trade Commission Act and Federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990, which “prohibits misrepresentation in marketing of Indian arts and crafts produced within the United States” and says:
“It is illegal to offer or display for sale, or sell any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian or Indian Tribe or Indian arts and crafts organization, resident within the United States.”
At this moment, and according to ABC news, no one from Urban Outfitters has responded to Brown.
A Navajo-inspired whiskey flask seems ill-advised
“I think the company does have an opportunity right now to do what is ethnically and morally right by acknowledging their wrongs and pulling the line, but also apologizing and owing up to the fact that [they] did clearly engage in this level of corporate appropriation,” Brown said.
“I hope people start critically thinking and integrating into their social consciousness that we are here, we do still exist,” she said.
It might also be important to note that Brown sent Senk the letter on Columbus Day, which she called an “ironic holiday.”
Well, at least she’s maintaining the spirit of the “Hipster panty” and keeping it ironic.
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Comments (207)
kathleenlee
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:54amThese people are crazy…this stuff is beautiful and the progressives need to get a grip…This is still the land of the free, right…or has obuma declared himself king yet…yeah! he’s a king all right a king pain in the arse
Report Post »demint.disciple
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 10:06amNotice it’s ALWAYS about race with the left ? They are obsessed about race…
Report Post »Nasado
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 10:06amI agree, most of the products do look nice, but panties? Really? I think that is stretching it a little bit.
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 10:32amI agree, the stuff is beautiful. I guess the indians are just mad that somebody else thought of it instead of them and are making money. Nobody has a registered trademark on colors and designs unless they have a registered trademark-duh. Culturally vulgar and insensitive. Give me a break. Go complain to the indian casinos about vulgarity and insensitivity.
Report Post »fblair
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 10:47amAs to violating the law, no where do these ads claim, “made by Indians”.
Report Post »The_Almighty_Creestof
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 11:32amMaybe they would prefer them being designed with their modern heritage…slot machines, black jack tables and Keno?
Report Post »decendentof56
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 11:42amInfuriating, indeed…….
Of course the clothing line is meant to degrade American Indians.
It cannot, possibly, be intrerpreted as a tribute to Indians.
Remember the “Stanford Indians?” How demeaning is that?
“The totalitarian leader must collect around him a group which is prepared voluntarily to submit to that disclipine they are to impose by force upon the rest of the people.”……..
Report Post »Friedrich A. Hayek: from ‘The Road to Serfdom’ –1944
decendentof56
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 11:54amAnother thought….
The ‘good’ thing is that the communists have ‘come out of the closet.’ Do any of you who may have voted for Obama feel good now? If you still think he is good for the US, just wait till the ‘peaceful’ left committs acts of violence against American businesses and private individuals.
The collapse of the Soviet Union was basically a ruse. It was purposely dismantled in its present form because of us being able to out-arm them. The tactic changed to a full-out assault on American values. They would now focus solely on defeating us from within.
Report Post »guntotinsquaw
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 12:35pmWhy do you assume she is left or progressive…I am as right as you get and this is OFFENSIVE!!! How would you feel if a company where to market underwear with John 3:16 on the crotch or piniatas made from the pages of your bible. This is my history and “URBAN” has no clue what an insult this is, nor do they care.
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 2:59pmWhite guilt is a nasty progressively disabling delusion sold to a culture willing to believe anything by those who use others for their own purposes. As long as you are willing to grovel for forgiveness for something you are not guilty of, the charade will continue. It’s time to get past multigenerational guilt association. That‘s as racist as any thing I’ve heard from a white man. Yet, ??? nothing.
Report Post »chfields62
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 3:27pmJust another “woe is us” whiner…if you don’t like it, don’t buy it……I am so sick of every whiney ass out there being offended by one thing or another. Get over it…..If your offended, thats your problem…if I get offended by something I ignore it, I don’t go around whining and crying about it. GROW THE FU&* UP!!!!!
Report Post »Professional Infidel
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 4:09pmis that a SILVER flask under the beadwork? Had one like that without beads, got stolen. Had to quit drinking, all else would have been just like drinking it out of the bottle.
Report Post »cat_purrrrrson
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 4:25pmBeautiful? Nah. I saw a real Native American jeweller at work once–I think he was Navajo–and it seems to me that his handiwork was much more intricate and detailed than this stuff. It’s impossible to mass-produce the amazing things that the Navajo have traditionally made. Anyways, I think that the Navajo would be OK with it if Urban outfitters would market it as “Southwestern” instead of falsely claiming it to be “Navajo”. I don’t know about you, but false advertising really hacks me off.
Report Post »waggie
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:04pmI am so sick of these people and other cultures thinking they have a corner on every market because of their past and where they came from. Last I checked, this was a country of FREE ENTERPRISE, a CAPITALIST nation! Get over it, or move to China!
Report Post »veracity79
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:27pmIt doesn’t matter what anyone may think with regard to it being “demeaning” or a “misrepresentation”, they are a private business, that’s the great thing about America, remember? Love it or hate it, it’s their right to sell it. You can either buy it or walk away, it’s that simple.
If I decide that I would like to paint say…a picture frame in MY personal depiction of what I think is a “Navajo” print just because I really like the cultural patterns, am I also at risk of misrepresenting and demeaning the Native American culture? Do they also get to tell me I am not allowed to sell my own design? Does every culture get a patent on their ethnicity then? Would that mean only “Italian Americans” can make and sell pizza? We wouldn’t want any other business that is not of Italian decent “misrepresenting” the pizza would we? Seriously, when would it end? Just beyond ridiculous.
Guess this article takes “fashion police” to a whole new level.
Report Post »Rightsofman
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:28pmCan “I’m being offended/victimized” be classified as a post 1960s American disease? It certainly seems to have spread widely since that time period. If my neighbor has it can i catch it from him? Is it spread through the air like a virus or is it more like a bacteria? Are there shots you can get… O wait a minute people who have it don’t want to be cured they want to control.
Report Post »RabidPatriot
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:22pmMy grandmother is 100% Navajo and I do not find it offensive one bit. I do wonder why a man would want a flask that looks my my grandma’s shawl. Kinda feminine. I do find it amusing when someone that is 1/32 or less Native American wears large silver and turquoise jewelery and other obvious clothing like some kind of nutter.
Report Post »rezgirl
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 11:25pmI am Navajo. Do my ugly panties offend her too?
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 3:59amit could be about them not wanting their style “robbed” and commercialized…
Report Post »GETLIFE
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 5:08amAre there true Navahos speaking out against this, or is it just Sasha Houston (what right does she have to use the name Houston?!) Brown (What right does she have to use the name of a color?!)? Sasha( what right does she have to use a Russian name?!) Someone from Minneapolis is now spokesperson for the Navaho tribe? I don’t think so. My guess is that the Navaho tribe can take care of themselves. Maybe they will file suit against her for impersonation of a representative of the Navaho tribe.
And REALLY??? — a company named “Urban Outfitters” might be mistaken for a Navaho Tribe?
Report Post »FNTM
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 9:45pmShe works at a technical college folks. That is like high school plus. We should be asking who the idiot is that is writing this stuff. Could you find who this article is attributed to? What a farce!
Report Post »lionslayer44
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 12:19ami am rewriting this because the blaze didnt seem to like it the first time. navajo’s are theives who have stolen most of their so called traditions from the tribes they surround. ask the Hopi’s how they feel about them. they are constantly going to sacred Hopi land and stealing things (monkey face mtn. baby eagles and feathers) how about of the 80 or so areas on the res that get money over 70 of them are under investigation for stealing money from their fellow tribesmen. Kachina dolls are Hopi, not navajo. navajos are invaders and nomads they never had their own land but now they have the the largest res in the country. having employed over 100 navajo’s they are racist, they speak in circles and they are liars. my navajo business partner burned me for nearly 250k his police officer son and his wife were complicent in the crime. i have been friends with creeks, cherokees, apaches, paiutes, pimas, hopis and utes, never have i met a more dishonorable tribe. navajos were wanderers in 1882 they were given some land back in NM but they kept invading the Hopi’s in 1962 the U.S. govt. gave 1.8 mil acres to both tribes to share. i believe it was in 1982 when the Hopi‘s were given back the 3 mesa’s. however to this day the navajos still invade and pillage from Hopi land. BE PREPARED COLLECT FOOD, WATER (FILTERS), AMMO!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
Report Post »asybot12
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 7:32am@guntotinsquaw. In this case I agree with you. I am 100% convinced that that your analogy is correct, if the underwear has written on it a verse from the bible the right (rightfully) would scream!. The motives on t-shirts etc is fine. And as far as I know somebody will probably disagree with me on that as well. Lov eand thanks.
Report Post »Pigpen
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 8:47pmWhat is so “urban” about the Navaho anyway? I think the “res” is about as RURAL as you can get. Why doesn’t Urban Outfitters go for some truly URBAN subculture? Like the Skinheads? I would LOVE it if Urban Outfitters sold some highwater jeans, sh!1k!ckers, and red braces in a tribute to the Skinhead Movement. They could even play Russell Crowe’s greatest film “Romper Stomper” in their stores. Maybe some swastika covered novelty boxer shorts? No? What?
Report Post »Ampleforth
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:46amI was on the Navajo and Hopi reservations last summer. I was looking through some of the beautiful clothes and blankets and jewelry they were selling, and I told my wife, “I’m buying as much of this stuff as I can because the trendy chicks in New York will pay top dollar for it.”
I didn’t find any panties, though. Or flasks.
I‘m sure it bothers the Navajo because they’re not getting a cut. It kind of sucks when you get out marketed.
“Ethnically right”? I’m sorry, but when I read that my mind heard it in a Bavarian accent.
I’m sympathetic to the Navajo, but, dangit, instead of trying to stop this company from selling these designs, they should take some of their beautiful wares to New York and Los Angeles and compete with this cheap crap. With the right marketing, the Navajo could make a lot of money and even provide some jobs on “the rez.” They don’t have any trouble selling similar stuff to tourists at Monument Valley and Four Corners, so why not tap the trendy chick market on the coasts?
Compete!
By the way, if you haven’t, visit Indian reservations like the Navajo or the Lakota and see where complete government control gets a culture. I’ve been on a dozen or so reservations, and it’s never a pretty sight. I love the people, though, and feel at home with the Navajo and the Hopi. Although the Navajo welcoming committee I found in Kayenta one night wasn’t real welcoming.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:18amMy aunt at one time wanted to get in on Osage rights. She’s 1/8th Osage, which is the limit for getting in on some of their oil/natural gas rights. But you had to live on the reservation, and she wasn’t that “into” it.
Report Post »YepImaConservative
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:31amGood post!
Report Post »Bum thrower
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 10:33amdon‘t think female ’native americans’ (AKA Indians) wear/wore panties; drank lots of whisky tho, but out of earthen jug…
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:33amMy grandmother was “indian” AS SHE SAID.
Report Post »I find NOTHING offensive about it.
On the contrary, I find it flattering that their influence survives, & is visible on the shelves of national retailers! The designs are very fetching (even if a couple models wear them like frumpy kids).
My family refused to register to be a part of a “tribe”. Our opinion was always that we were AMERICANS, and we did not want to be part of a reservation. We sought to move forward.
As such, I personally see the whole “sovereign nation” thing as B.S.!!! If the tribes are sovereign nations, we need border fences & guards & passports for everyone coming & going across the borders. What a farce. We are either AMERICANS or, we are not.
Land was taken from my family, too. So, freakin’ what!?!? I am NOT going to live my life whining about what some group of DEAD PEOPLE did to some other group of DEAD PEOPLE just because I happen to be related to them! That is just nonsense and would be a waste of my life!
I’m all for cultural preservation. Build museums, hold festivals. But, special laws, special schools, casinos, tax-fee tobacco sales, tax-free hotels – any tax-free status for that matter, is all just a “guilt TAX”. Since I qualify as indian, shouldn’t I be exempt from those “guilt taxes” too? Oh, I understand… you must register with the tribal government by your 18th birthday. So, its not about ancestry. It is about paperwork (money/control.)
mtnclimberjim
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:40amVery well stated.
Report Post »DonnaA
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 10:14amI agree, very well spoken!
Report Post »snowflake220
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 10:19amGreat post and oh so true. I was at an Indian shop and all items were deemed “hand crafted”. Well I guess they forgot to remove the “Made In China” tag from the Dream Catcher before they put it out on the shelf.
Report Post »Carol Ingian
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 12:52pmHi Tom,
Report Post »I am part native too, and I understand your frustration of being a “qualified” Indian.
Sometimes its more than just registering by your 18th birthday. You have to prove the lineage, and even if you do that, your ancestors had to have lived in the “right” location when rolls were taken, in the mid-to-late 1800s. Its complicated, you can have different families directly descended from a great chief, but some will be “recognized” as Indians, while the others won’t be.
I“m not ”recognized” at present, but a few of my ancestors were chiefs.
I do love the Indian designs, and I think if a tribe wants the money for something, they should market something themselves.
TomFerrari
Posted on October 16, 2011 at 7:01am@carol, I don’t mind not being registered. We moved on long ago, & chose not to register.
Report Post »I’m simply pointing out that it is not about lineage/ancestry. If so, registration & random deadlines would not be the determination. But PAPERWORK is the determination, which suggests it is more about bureaucracy = money = power = control.
It has been a while since I visited any “reservations,” but I understand, things are NOT pretty. There are BIA offices nearby, & some people still live like our great-great grandparents did, in “houses” we would call “sheds” today. There are moccasins for sale in the local shops, & some children don’t have enough clothes. There are casinos, but the government taxes us & sends them “surplus” food, welfare, etc.
I see patterns & trends.
The pattern I see here is, groups of people who do not integrate into society do not ‘progress’ with society. I see it in isolated pockets of immigrants, both legal, & illegal. I see it on “reservations.“ I see it in ”ghettos” & “barrios.”
I’m sick of labels. Labels just DIVIDE US. We need to be UNITED. We need to end the whole “sovereign nation” malarkey & unite! Just like other forms of welfare, the unintended consequences are the oppression of entire groups of people and suppression of their abilities & dreams.
Treaties do it to indians. Multiculturalism & mass immigration, does it to immigrants, by not insisting they learn English or integrate.
“ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL.”
asybot12
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 7:36amwere you not an “italian” a few hours ago? just asking
Report Post »asybot12
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 7:45amYou know tom when you have something to say do it on the huffpost OK! THE WORD TROLL DOESN’T EVEN COME CLOSE!
Report Post »00gabooga
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:29amWhite man do anything for wampum. In heap big trouble now.
Report Post »hightide
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:26amThose soap makers better stop making Irish Spring soap. how insulting. And always showing those leprechauns, they are picking on little people. And all these restaurants with the fake Italian or Mexican decorations had better stop it. Good grief. Just because you are native american does not give you the right to tell me what i can make or wear. Personally, I don’t like that stuff, but if someone wants to market it and people want to buy it, SO WHAT.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:47amDon’t forget Taco Bell, Del Taco, Taco Casa, Taco John’s, Taco Bueno…
They already MURDERED “The Frito Bandito!” And he was just an innocent cartoon.
Then there was Speedy Gonzales. I seem to recall they placed him in the public domain to avoid lawsuits. Now, he is back teaching his steal-from-the-rich/give-to-the-poor socialism.
What other characters were MURDERED by the fascist P.C. police?
Report Post »puffanhuff
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 11:17amI am with you on all this and I can think right now Spider man sheets, Sponge bob underwear is out oh wow don‘t forget Betty Boop someone is always trying to change something if it isn’t moving jobs out of country it’s now the Indians friends she is not good thing they had turkey at the thanksgiving feast with the Indians just think if it was a donkey….we would be having a little/…..
Report Post »thebabyguy
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:25amDidn’t this style used to be call Southwestern? What am I missing, as a hate-mongering white man, that is?
Report Post »dmforman
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:43amHaving been to the Navajo Reservation many times to work with the schools there. These are very similar to the items that I found in the gift shops and on the flea markets that I stopped at during my travels. I don’t get it. We have to stop being a country of double standards.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:50amdmorfman – I consider myself “indian” (grandmother was)
Report Post »Here’s my take -
These are mass merchandised, and, have the potential to make a total of millions of dollars.
The tee-shirts you see locally, can only net a few thousand.
If the demand for that style is filled by UO, who will buy them at the “reservation”?
This is just whining and sabre-rattling.
What they want is a lawsuit that will be dropped for another “GUILT TAX” in the form of a “settlement” (x% of all proceeds will go to the Navajo tribe.)
MARK MY WORDS.
dmforman
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 9:31amI know that you are correct. Having worked in Navajo schools with illiterate teachers in both Navajo and English, I just think that the Native Americans have many more problems that they should be addressing, but than again, it’s easier to keep people down than to rise them up.
Report Post »asybot12
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 7:56amSorry Tomferrarro I just found out that my dutch ancestors being the nice traders they were a few centuries ago. I am a native. One of the captains of one of the “explorers” ships married a Hopewell Indian and I am now one one hundreds of one percent DUTCH (or Indian I am getting confused) but records show I have two one hundreds of one percent Italian so please help me out here. Do I own a part of Rome?
Report Post »ObserverOnTheHill
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:19amVan Jones agrees – “give them the wealth”. Doesn’t that mean they should get royalties on this stuff ?
Report Post »rangerp
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:25amyou have to remember, native american is one of the protected groups within the multicultural crowd.
Report Post »kralspaces
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:15am20/20 did a program on the Lakota Indians of South Dakota. It is worth watching as a starter, then do your own homework on the internet. Tons of additional information. If you don’t like to read, you can always view all the videos on YouTube. It’s all there at your finger tips. You just need to do the work before you say all the wrong things.
Report Post »Spike12345
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:14amAs a 1/2 Ukrainian American, I want American Easter eggs BANNED right now. They demean the beautifully painted Ukrainian Easter eggs called “psanky”
Why, once I went to a neighbor’s house during Easter and it was the experience of being there and immersed in that setting, surrounded by all of these American Easter items, that took this cultural offense and cultural appropriation to another level.
In fact, it was just beyond demeaning and inappropriate on a personal and collective level.
My God, the COMPLETE idiocy and whining that goes on at academic institutions. No wonder we end up with OWS.
Report Post »Tepeyac
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:47amCool stuff…wouldn’t buy any of it…Brown needs to get a life..get in that Tee Pee girl and smoke a little weed! Or maybe she already did?
Report Post »chips1
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:10pmYou sound like a KEMOSABY.
Report Post »NOTAMUSHROOM
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:45amGive me a break. I’m sooooooooo tired of the “I’m so offended by everything” curmudgeons I’m about to cease being polite. Sasha Houston Brown is obviously a frustrated, self-loathing Caucasian woman AKA Liberal/Democrat/Progressive who feels that a knee jerk reaction is warranted in order to demonstrate how deeply she feels for the little red people she’s been charged with condescending to in her government funded outreach-type program. Really, seriously people like her just need to stop fomenting this kind of ethnic race baiting BS and get some therapy.
Report Post »kralspaces
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:09amThis is sad. People need to do their research like Beck has suggested daily. Our government is very questionable, after you do a little homework on different topics. However, other forms of government are worst because they kill people. Oh wait, that is what our government did to the Indians too.
Report Post »mtnclimberjim
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:16amI’d be offended too, if all you could come up with to represent my culture was those ugly clothes.
Report Post »I feel a nation wide treaty burning party is in order. Stop the nation within a nation BS. Stop the flow of tax payer dollars to these reservations. Welcome to the USA. Keep your culture, just not at the tax payers expense. Get up off your a$$es and get back to being the proud upstanding people you used to be. Bunch of welfare whores.
TomFerrari
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:19amEXCELLENT POST !
My grandmother was “American Indian,” and I don’t find any of it the LEAST bit offensive.
Perhaps she would like to shut down Minnetonka moccasins too? (In production/operation since 1946)
Perhaps she would like to come dig through my quilts and burn the designs she doesn’t like? Maybe she should have final authority over ALL fashion designs to be sure it doesn’t “offend” anyone?
Sheesh! What I see is, someone looking for a big fat PAYCHECK in the form of a lawsuit !
Report Post »(Or, a “tax” in the form of a “settlement”)
gallinipper
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:45amKralspaces, So who did the indians murder when they came to the land now know as America ? You may want to do research.
Report Post »mtnclimberjim
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:48amCROYCE,
Report Post »Get back down to Wall Street where you can share your mental disorder with the like minded.
marjorie faye
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:42amThis is stupid. Native American cultures should fully assimilate into American culture just like everyone else and stop receiving the freebies they get from our government. They would be much better off. All they have are casinos, and as one commenter stated that is plenty tacky by itself.
Report Post »kralspaces
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:01amMost Indians didn’t really have a choice to assimilate into western culture. They were put into internment camps, called reservations, and stripped of their spirit. This was intentional by our government at that time. We, as a nation have forgotten them, but we always manage to help our nations with their problems. It time to bring our resources back to our own shores.
Report Post »CRoyce
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:18amThis has to be one of the most ignorant comments I have ever read on the Blaze. What makes “American” culture superior to Native American cultures? I read so often on “The Blaze” how Christians are fearful of Muslims taking over America and stripping you of your freedoms and religion. Yet, that is exactly what the American forefathers did to the Native People. Europeans came here, slaughtered the indigenous population, drove them off their lands, rounded them up and placed them on lands so barren they could not even feed their people, then imprisoned and/or killed them when they left their prison (aka Reservation) in search of food, and finally took their children forcibly from them and sent them to boarding schools where they were renamed with Anglo names and denied their language, history, and culture.
Do I agree with this woman’s opinion? Heck no! I think Native Americans would be far better off spiritually if they let go of the anger, accepted history, and moved forward. BUT!!!!! Do I think they should assimilate? NO! NO! NO!
Who are you to demand that they abandon thousands of years of their culture just to become like you!!?? How they choose to live their lives is none of YOUR business. You want to retain your freedom? Then respect the freedoms of others! You want to worship your god according to the dictates of your own conscience? Then allow others the same.
Report Post »kralspaces
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:25amOOPS! That should have been ‘other nations’ above. Bring the troops home, bring the jobs home, bring the money home. We need a government that cares about the people here and provides an environment to give the people an opportunity to succeed.
Report Post »cassandra
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:39amwhat about all the plastic indian stuff you can buy from china ,oh go ahead call them and tell them to stop making it , academia explains it all morons
Report Post »TxMadMac
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:21amI’m Cherokee and Scottish. I’ve only bought indian garb from the stores on the reservations and scotch in the liquor stores. Who give a tinker’s damn about the rest. You want the real stuff, you know where to get it. You want to settle for fake, you know where to get it !
Report Post »rangerp
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:38amTxMadMac
Wow, that souds like captialism.
Do stores that sell gothic stuff have to give France a kick back? If a restraunt sells lasagna, do they need to send money back to Italy? If I want to make my own sombrero, does Mexico get a piece of the action. Does the company that makes eskimo pies, sent money to the folks in northern Alaska?
Report Post »BJAlexandria
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:20amTwo words: GOOD GRIEF!!!
Report Post »ilovethiscountry
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:30ami agree, give me a break!
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:06amBack in the late 1980‘s and early 90’s, Native American “inspired” items were very popular. I purchased, and still have, many items (i.e., dreamcatchers, medicine shields, figurines of Native Americans, Native American music c.d.’s made by Native American artists, etc…) for my home. I did this because I came to fully respect the Native Americans and wanted these items in my home to remind me of them. As I remember, there were many stores that sold these items and there wasn’t an uproar than. And, as a former poster stated; vote with your money. If you don‘t like certain items DON’T BUY THEM!
Report Post »rangerp
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:32amso certain groups of people own design paterns?.
Giving glory to the native american was all part of the multicultural movement, where you praise anything heathen, and you knock anything white, European, Judeo Christian, and if it has testicles, you knock it even more.
Libs, progressives, dems want to glorify native american, but what happens if you look at the way they treated their women in their culture???? Oh, no, do not go there.
If their culture was so great, how come it did not prevail?
It would be like talking about the inhumane surgeries done on little girls in Africa with no pain killer, and for no good reason. In multicultural world, you can only praise the heathen, you can never speak actual truth.
If native americans were so squared away, how comes when Europeans first got here, they had not yet invented the wheel, written language, use of metals, formal government……?
Report Post »MOLLYPITCHER
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:52amThere are no words for how dumb this is.
Report Post »ProbIemSoIver
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:03amAnd of course another ridiculous law was enacted in 1990.
Report Post »That was about the time that all common-sense was out the door in this Country and the progressive/communists had begun their deeds, to slowly dismantle our great Country.
Being a “Progressive” should be an act of treason.
nelbert
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:50am“I think the company does have an opportunity right now to do what is ethnically and morally right by acknowledging their wrongs and pulling the line, but also apologizing and owing up to the fact that [they] did clearly engage in this level of corporate appropriation,” Brown said.
“Ethnically” right?
As one has come to expect from extremists, Ms. Brown does not chose to voice her opinion by simply voting with her dollars (like most of the populace). If she doesn’t like something, she wan’t it shut down by government fiat.
Report Post »Eblaze44
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:08pmWhat crap. the company should keep on employing the Chinese to make this crappy looking stuff. Like someone else said, if you want it Made by an American (native Indian or other native citizen) then check the label. If you just want the look and don’t care who made it – UO is your store. UO doesn’t owe anyone or any people an apology. They simply need to obey whatever law there is about misrepresentation – there is nothing “Navajo” in any of their clothing lines.
Report Post »I Bin Pharteen
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:48amAy,yi, yi!!!! When will we wake up and just start screaming (in unison) ‘SHUT THE F UP!!!!!’ in the faces of the growing number of hyper-sensitive dopes who get air time. BTW, the hipsters are very nice.
Report Post »chazman
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:56am… we need to take Sasha Brown out for a drag … wwaayy down the street and around the block …
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:47amThose Nava HO panties…good grief.
Report Post »Jezcruzen
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:46amI guess retailers should rush to get those rubber tomahawks and toy bow and arrows out of the toys section!
Report Post »Mapache
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:45amSo nobody should make…..African inspired products unless you are AFrican (sorry AFRICAN AMERICAN does not count) you can’t make Asian inspired products without being Asian yada yada yada.
I think Casinos have done more to diminish Native American culture than anything else.
Report Post »Stegall TX
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 7:03amI used to get into arguments with a coworker who is part Shoshone about how “disrespectful” it is to use words like “Braves” and “Redskins” for sports teams. She would go on and on about the subject. The next time I visited the Navajo Reservation (I have friends out there), I took pictures of all the sports logos on the rez and showed her that it didn’t seem to bother the actual Dineh, only those who claimed to speak for them.
On the other hand, if Urban Outfitters is using the word “Navajo” as part of the marketing, I think the Navajo Nation should get reimbursed for use of their name. If it isn’t trademarked, it should be. That may be why they were talking about changing the name of the Navajo Nation to the Dineh a few years ago.
Report Post »Eblaze44
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 10:14pmWhen you are stuck on a reservation – of course they could leave – but that would be kinda like you leaving America – and there is little or no way to make a living or take care of your people – a Casino (more often than not run by non American Indians) is a way to get income and perhaps even employ a few of the folks. besides, if it weren‘t for the Casino’s on reservations – there would only be Vegas and Atlantic City for folks to go legally play the slots. just everyone should remember – a fool and his money are soon parted. at least the casino‘s on Indian reservations don’t give us a Socialist Democrat Harry Reid like Vegas has.
Report Post »BowHuntingTexas
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:45amSell this stuff with the cool designs and make no reference where they’re from.
Oh, and bring back the Indian Head nickle.
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:45amWell, I’m 1/16th Osage, 1/32nd Blackfoot with some Cherokee thrown in, and I’m not insulted. If they want to make authentic stuff and sell it (for I’m sure a higher price), they are free to do so. they‘re just mad because someone is using capitalism and what sells to make a profit that they don’t get to get in on. I don’t think anyone in their right mind would believe it was authentically made by true Native Americans.
Report Post »drago
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 6:40amOh brother!……
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