Indian Headdress

To start off our blog on American Indian appropriations, we thought it would be most important to start with the “Indian Headdress”. Most often, this is worn in a tiara-like fashion by those who want to look Indian without doing very much. Common examples include the “Indian” in the Village People, Mascots for various sports teams, and random examples everywhere, including the picture you see here:

















The first thing we would like to point out is the fact that these people most likely know NOTHING about American Indians. If they did, they probably would realize that there are many types of headdresses, that there are specific reasons why certain American Indian figures are entitled to wear the headdress, and that even if they were important American Indian people, they would not wear a headdress like the one above.

Study the picture above. Does anything seem amiss besides the fact that it is Ronald McDonald underneath the headdress? Are you considering that is was headdresses actually look like? Forgive me, but you are hugely mistaken. The question we should be asking is “Is there anything that could be considered politically correct about the picture above?” We would argue that no, there is NOTHING politically incorrect about the picture above. For example, look at the feathers in that headdress. What kind of bird, in North America, has white feathers with red tips? Unless some Indian happened upon a McCaw Parrot that mistakenly flew all the way to North America, and decided it would be okay to make a headdress out of it, we extremely doubt that anything like the headdress Ronald McDonald is sporting would appear during ANY American Indian gathering.

















Now we’re going to cover the reasons WHY one would wear an “American Indian” headdress. First, we can’t really think of any reasons why anyone. The only reason we could postulate that someone would want to wear a headdress is to show that they are in charge, or important, in some way or another. But, wouldn’t that sort of be like non-Jewish people walking around with outfits from 30’s and 40’s with the Star of David stitched into their suits?

















No, because it would seem like you were mocking a group of people that had been specifically targeted, and then killed. Wow, that actually reminds me of something, maybe… oh yes, the American Indians! So why is it that people can walk around with silly colored feathers on their head, call themselves an Indian chief, and have everyone be okay with it?

We think it’s because Americans can feel sorrow for what another country has done to its citizens, but when faced with the reality of what Americans have done to those who were in this country first, they make it into a joke. It is easier to “laugh it off” in regards to our country’s misdeeds, and the case of the “Indian Headdress” is a prime example of how Americans can laugh off our country’s fatal errors.
And if you have any doubts of what a real Indian Chief with a real Indian Headdress looks like, see this picture: