Due note: Pocahontas is believed to be the first documented case of missing and murdered Indigenous Woman. Also, the tribal image for the cover is clip art and royalty free for this story. I deemed it was not hardly fitting to be using art I don't own for this story.
Okay so I am not tribal, which probably seems self-evident, and my only experience has been raised all my life, around several tribal members and tribes that have graciously taught me some of their ways:
Blackfeet- Piikuni
Blackfoot-Blood-Kainai
Kootenai
Salish
Cheyenne
Lakota
I have a continual irritation on Native art depictions not created by true Native Americans. The observation is that Native American women in art that is out there, that depicts Native Women is terrible. It became more apparent to me while writing this story, how much that Caucasians make up the majority of the tribal looking art. I have been privileged to be surrounded with Tribal art that hangs at our local colleges.
I usually can tell its non-tribal created by mixing of regalia, most of the time, war bonne ornamentation. I don't want a pretend white woman looking like a Cherokee woman, with a war regalia and war paint. It is not traditionally correct. It is not traditional at all in most cases.
One example is Cher of Sony and Cher. The song half breed had her on a paint horse, inappropriate scantily clothed white version of men's tribal clothes. She wore a tribal war bonnet, and it was offensive to Native Americans. They asked her to stop wearing it and of course she thought tribal etiquette didn't apply to her.
So of course, people assumed (whites) she was tribal and the often go to tribe is Cherokee. There are no Cherokee princesses, and I will roll my eyes at you. Princess is a European title not Cherokee. I'm Caucasian and continually learn individual tribal aspects that make the tribe unique. So, ignorance is not an excuse.
Now, do Native American women earn their right to wear such sacred warrior items?
Oh hell yeah!
The Blackfeet had a war Chief that was a woman and named Pi'tamaka. Their bonnets are far different than most bonnets. Have they been called to be warriors, in history? Absolutely! The Kootenai tribe has a famous woman brave. Her name was Kaúxuma Núpika, a Kootenai woman who was also a cultural intermediary and prophet. Those women earned those regalia and deserved them. Let's not take away from their accomplishments in history!
The Sad truth now, they are wearing paint to show how many of their sisters have gone missing or murdered. They are more involved in Sun Dances, if their tribe does the Sacred ritual, in hopes to end this travesty of justice.
Am I being counter racist? Probably to some white people...I don't want to see a white girl dressed in war paint and Plains War bonnet when she looks like she couldn't throw a softball. She is disrespecting the warrior society.
She didn't earn the right!
Just have Native models people, their are beautiful too. Rant done except push to make aware of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women! If you want to support MMIW then get a mask from known Etsy sellers. I just purchased one. It's black with the red hand across the mouth. The symbolism should be quite clear.
Support these women by buying native created work not what a certain population thinks what is currently available.
And maybe someday young Indigenous Women can write their own fanfiction if they choose to. Only they can truly represent a Native woman better than I will ever be able to. But until then just staying alive is hard enough.
Footnotes:
May 5th show support by wearing Red.
What is the MMIW movement?
MMIW stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. It's a movement that advocates for the end of violence against Native women. It also seeks to draw attention to the high rates of disappearances and murders of Native people, particularly women and girls.
https://www.wernative.org/articles/what-is-the-mmiw-movement
6 ways to be Active MMIW Movement
https://uicsl.org/six-ways-to-be-active-in-mmiw-movement/
Pi'tamaka:
was a member of the Piikáni (Piegan Blackfeet) tribe who defied typical expectations for females and become a well-respected warrior and hunter. Originally named Brown Weasel Woman, Pi'tamaka was born into the Piikáni (Piegan Blackfeet) tribe in the 19th century.
https://www.nps.gov/people/pi-tamaka-running-eagle.htm#:~:text=Pi'tamaka%20was%20a%20member,tribe%20in%20the%2019th%20century.
Kaúxuma Núpika
Nineteenth-Century Indigenous Women Warriors
https://montanawomenshistory.org/nineteenth-century-indigenous-women-warriors/
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BaΠe of Nigh† (Hellsing)
Fanfic(🍋)(🔖Wattys 2022 nomination)This is a version of a Nightbane in which the character Angeline Colter is a young Tribal woman from the Haida people. She is transferred to college at Oxford to become a lawyer, after a terrible incident in Seattle...
