Contemporary Issues Of Cultural Appropriation Facing Indigenous People

Contemporary Issues of Cultural Appropriation Facing Indigenous People
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Contemporary Issues of Cultural Appropriation Facing Indigenous People
Cultural practices define the way of life and behaviors exhibited by people. Cultural appropriation occurs when members of a particular culture adopt the cultural practices of another culture as their own, or as if they should not be questioned on their decision to take over. Some of these practices in question include rituals, aesthetic and beauty standards, icons and certain defining behaviors. Additionally, cultural appropriation is said to occur when members of one culture take the artifacts, voice, and knowledge belonging to another culture, usually a minority culture, as if the right of possession should not be contested. The question of consent, respect, and knowledge of use brings cross-cultural appreciation and understanding, instead of appropriation.
Cultural appreciation can be defined as the consented exchange of culture in the spirit of mutual respect and adds value and honor on the history of cultures and the arts associated with it. Conversely, cultural appropriation leads to devaluation, misrepresentation and inappropriate use of certain aspects from other cultures and adopting them as their own, with a complete disregard of the knowledge and consent of the other culture. Notably, the indigenous people have been victims of cultural appropriation which can be viewed as an extension of centuries of racism, continued oppression, and unending stereotypes to the indigenous people. Some of the aspects of culture appropriation facing the indigenous people include their traditions, mode of dressing, arts and artifacts and other cultural practices. Cultural appropriation has promoted the continued use of the culture of indigenous people without their knowledge, their concent, or acknowledging their past, which is not only damaging to them and their past but also the overall understanding between cultures.
There is a widespread cultural appropriation of indigenous people that has resulted in detrimental effects among the indigenous people. Cultural appropriation is largely connected to imperialism and capitalism, with people using certain aspects of cultures for profiteering reasons. For instance, the psychological consequences of American Indian Mascots in sports were revealed to be negative (Fryberg, Markus, Oyserman, & Stone, 2008). According to their study, Fryberg et al. (2008) contend that certain behaviors in sports, such as fans wearing Indigenous people’s dress such as the Headdress, have adverse stereotypic implications that affect the self-esteem, community worthiness, and individual sense of belonging for the Native Americans. Additionally, American Indian social representations on non-American Indians confirmed to be harmful to all people. According to Fryberg and Oyserman (2008), representations of American Indian mascots on European Americans revealed that the latter reported higher self-esteem compared to a nonnative mascot, indicating the harm of objectifying humans, and not simply limited to the community or members being objectified. The representation of Indigenous people promotes their objectification for profit reasons, leading to the continuation of misrepresentations, negative stereotypes, and damaging the individual and community sense of belonging.
In many occasions, cultural appropriation is offensive to the indigenous people due to the blatant disregard of the cultural significance and misrepresentations of certain aspects of culture. For instance, Ziff and Rao (1997) postulated several damages linked to cultural appropriation. First, cultural appropriation obstructs the ability of the victim community and its members to delineate themselves and to ascertain their own true identity. The tainted history of the Native Americans continues to be victimized with cultural appropriation and stereotypes propelled by other cultures. Wood (2017) gives an example of this interference that propels negative stereotypes against Native American women in the hyper-sexualization depicted in the Native American outfits and Halloween costumes. Further, the cultural meddling is observed in the Native American women and the misuse of the headdress depicted by Karlie Kloss on Victoria’s Secret catwalk in 2012 (Wood, 2017). Similarly, Tsosie (2002) indicates that further appropriation can be observed in the depiction of the Indian character, Pocahontas, by demeaning her character and engaging in prostitution for material gain. These depictions interfere with the efforts of Indians to define themselves against negative stereotypes and often confuses the understanding of non-Indians in their efforts to learn about the Indigenous people and their culture.
Another harm that cultural appropriation poses on the culture of the Indigenous people is that it can injure or change the cultural practices of the community. Ziff and Rao (1997) argue that damaging or introducing changes to the cultural practices of Indigenous people can destroy the cultural integrity of that community. The extreme can also occur leading to the total loss of certain elements of culture through cultural appropriation. For instance, according to Hapiuk (2000), there is a risk of certain elements of the practices and traditions of Native people, such as arts and craft traditions, doing extinct. Such a disappearance would mean that a valuable and important part of the American culture and national resource has irreplaceably been lost. Therefore, damage caused by the appropriation of cultural practices and traditions of the Indigenous people can result in the loss of a significant part of national treasure and traditions that define the country’s culture.
An important motivation for cultural appropriation is the commercial exploitation of the victimized group without getting any material benefits from the commercial use of their own culture. Ziff and Rao (1997) posit that members of another culture get material benefits achieved as a result of cultural appropriation at the expense of the victimized community. Hapiuk (2000) also contends with this argument adding that Native Americans have lost in excess of $160 million through the sale of fake products labeled as authentic Native American arts and crafts. Additionally, Wood (2017) observes that merchandise linked to the traditions and practices of Native Americans, including headdresses, have been found in stores such as H&M. This is an indication that cultural items belonging to the Indigenous people are being sold to benefit other people but the victimized group. Apart from failing to get material benefits from the sale of items linked to their culture, cultural appropriation through commercial exploitation also leads to the devaluation of arts and crafts belonging to Native Americans. Overall, members and community of Indigenous people miss out on material benefits from the sale of commodities that define their own culture.
Cultural appropriation negates the rights of ownership of traditions and practices from Native Americans, the rightful owners, and subsequently, allows the cultural practices and traditions of the Indigenous people to be objectified and owned by entrepreneurs from commercial use. According to Ziff and Rao (1997), American institutions have turned Indigenous cultures into private properties, allowing private business people to own and sell for profit motives. Hapiuk (2000) denotes that the Indigenous people should take control of their cultures and prevent appropriation in order to “maintain their own culture’s survival” (p. 1021). Some of the ways commercial exploitation has been exemplified include using Native arts and images in advertisements, team names in sports, adoption of traditional food and medicinal plants without consent or acknowledgment from the Native communities (Haig-Browm, 2010). Using the Native cultures for commercial gain should also bring significant benefits to the members of the community by, for instance, getting partial royalties or community projects endorsed by the companies and institutions that use any elements of the Native cultures.
Cultural appropriation is damaging to the Indigenous communities through the failed acknowledgment of their cultures, histories, and struggles. According to Wood (2017), cultural appropriation disregards the damaging past of discrimination and racism that has affected the Native people and the involvement of the non-Native people. The history of discrimination that faced the larger Native American society is ignored in cultural appropriation, spreading ignorance not only to non-Natives but also to the Native communities. According to Mihesuah (2009), some of the devastating parts included decapitating Cheyenne Indians’ heads, and forced assimilation of Native Americans by the military by forcing them in Carlisle Indian Industrial School where they received harsh punishment and military discipline and went through thorough studies. Therefore, the co...