Appreciation vs. Appropriation

Disclaimer. When I write these entries and when I create content, it is meant to reflect the tribes in which I was raised; Nakoda, A’aninin, and Apsaalooke. My intentions in my creating these blogs is to show my perspective and my own personal experiences. My intentions are to represent what I know about my people in the most positive and respectful way. In a good way. I also want to apologize to my elders for when I use the Nakoda language and if I mis-speak.

Hi All! Peh-nah-my-ya for visiting my blog! Alright, let’s get to it. I’m going to be honest and vulnerable here. What I have to say might even offend someone but believe me when I say that, that is not my intention. My intention here is to teach the difference in “Appreciation” vs. “Appropriation”. A common misunderstanding when it comes to people purchasing my beadwork is, “can Non-Indigenous people wear beadwork?”. Anyone can wear beadwork. That is why I standby “Beadwork For All”. I’ve talked about this in a previous blog so I do apologize if this sounds repetitive. Moving on.

We all know what “appreciation” is, lets talk “appropriation”. According to britannica.com, by definition pertaining to culture, appropriation is “when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way”. This happens immensely in Native American culture. The main reason that I’m talking to you about this today is because it has affected me my whole life and is now affecting my business. Now it’s story time.

Know this before you read the rest of the story. I’m an advocate for people reconnecting with their culture (Indigenous or otherwise). My goal is to bridge the gap between Natives and non-Natives. I believe beadwork is for all. I am both white and Native American. That being said, I’m firm believer in in appreciating art and not appropriating it. I believe in adding to my pot and not taking from someone else’s, therefore I will not being using names.

I’ll do my best to get to my point but it’ll be interesting along the way. I moved from a small reservation in Montana to a small town in Central Oregon. My family is biracial, mom Native, Dad white. My Dad’s family was rooted in the small town that we moved to. Let’s just say that my Dad being from this town didn’t protect the rest of us from it’s racism. We were treated as outsiders, different, wrong, and nearly tolerated. I lived in this town for twelve years. I won’t go into all of the details of the things that people said or did because of our Indigenous background. I moved at nineteen to a more progressive town with my then boyfriend and now husband. I continued to bead. I grew up, had children, got married, and created a life with my husband. I even turned my hobby/tradition of beading into a small business. I faced rejection from small boutiques but eventually got invited as a frequent guest artist at others. I’ve even sold my beadwork in a shop in the same little town that I grew up in.

Between being a guest artist at downtown boutiques and selling my beadwork online, I felt like I was finally gaining some momentum. I was feeling really good about my business until I came across a news article. The article was about a local vendor at a popular rodeo. This particular vendor was selling beaded items in the town that I grew up in. This vendor was being interviewed for “bringing culture” to this small town. I’m not going to lie, this was a trigger for me. I’ve been beading since I was twelve years old, collecting my materials over 20 years, working day and night. I learned how to bead by mom, who learned how to bead from her mom. The methods that I was taught can go back at least eight generations before me. My point, is that there is a cultural weight that my art carries, good thoughts and prayers go into every thread of every bead.

Okay this is where it gets controversial. This isn’t a judgment on the vendor but an observation. It was clear that she is not Indigenous. The kicker, a person who was NOT rooted in Native American culture was receiving credit for bringing “culture” to this town by the local news. It was like a slap to the face. I actually would’ve preferred a slap to this face. The thing is that this happens all of the time to minorities. There is a dude ranch in a county close to mine that is “Native American themed”. It’s ran by non-Natives. This was featured on the same local news as well. To me this is a majority group exploiting a minority groups culture for financial gain.

Here’s the perspective. Our culture and land was stolen from us. First it was the land, then children were removed from their homes and placed in residential schools. The next thing that happened, their beadwork and buckskin was removed and replaced with cotton dresses. Their long braids were cut. Their language was taken. If their language was spoken, they were force fed soap or worse. Their religion and identity was almost completely removed. I’m only two generations removed from residential school survivors. It was seldom that I got to here my grandmother speak Nakoda. She held on to what traditions that she could so that generations after her would know who we are, so that we would always be Nakoda. Generations of blood, sweat, and tears have been put into my beadwork. There is a reason that Native American art is federally recognized and protected.

Imagine being apart of a culture so rich in art and spirituality, then having all of that taken from you, then a hundred years later to have that the same people that stripped your ways from you, only to make it their own and claim it as original. It is heart wrenching. It is a bitter pill to swallow.

In my opinion, I have the right to feel this way. I do not believe that it was the vendors intention to be disrespectful or thieving . I do not believe that the local news was being intentionally cruel. I believe that the vendor is appropriating her work from Indigenous culture and that both she and the local news station need to do their research before claiming “culture”.

These are emotions, opinions, and thoughts. I’ve been struggling with them since the beginning of the Indian New Year. Once again, I hope I didn’t offend anyone. My hope with this entry was to bring a sense of understanding and to educate on the difference between appreciation vs. appropriation.

If you would like to show appreciation and support for Native American culture, you can do any of the following; ask questions, volunteer for a non-profit, donate to a non-profit, attend a powwow, share Indigenous content, research Native American history, and purchase Indigenous art from Indigenous Artist.

Peh-nah-my-ya.