What a drag! What a long time it took to collect all those feathers! But after a lifetime, wise and noble chiefs at long last became leaders of their people. They were old because of that big drawback of this time-linear existence we're all trapped within; so understandably, naturally their photos show what today would be considered elderly men wearing headdresses. By the way, some tribes did not have this feathery head regalia.
To an Indian brave, each feather was given to him by an elder or a chief in his tribe for an act of bravery, or for some noble act the young Indian man did for his tribe. A lot of these feathers came from braves risking their lives on the battlefield, though, and perhaps above everything else, a headdress is a war bonnet.
It's easy to see why Native Americans aren't very
happy about the current fashion craze, using the traditional tribal chief's
headdress as a Halloween costume gimmick, or buying these things to wear during high school, college, or professional football games.
And although headdresses sold these days were most likely pieced together in some Third-World sweatshop in 15 minutes to a half hour, an Indian tribal chief's headdress took a lifetime to come together. From battle after battle fought and endured; or from one noble act, good deed, or spiritual gesture to another, he was awarded a feather, sometimes two, if the deed was very righteous and worthy; and he'd add these feathers to his headdress - the most valuable material possession he owned.
So a headdress to an American Indian is not a "hat" for a Halloween costume, and neither is it something to be worn at a football game by some fat guy drinking beer in the stands with a baker's dozen of other screaming, obnoxious weirdos gulping down liquids made of hops and barley. Pass me those smokes, Joe! Wah! Hoo!
But culture-vulture antics pervade the American celebrity landscape, and a fashion trend is being set. Case in point: Kloe Kardashian recently started somewhat of an Indian war on the Internet by donning a headdress as she was photographed in front of a little teepee, sitting cross-legged, Indian style, for her sister Kim's baby's first birthday bash, something called a "Kidchella."
On June 21, Aunt Kloe posted Facebook and
Instagram photos as Chief Kloe, with long comment threads on Facebook Indian
groups shooting sharp pointy arrows in Aunt Kloe's direction. No, a throng of
Facebookers weren't buying the Chief Kloe histrionics drama-queen show. (See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/22/khloe-kardashian-native-american-headdress_n_5519514.html.)
On Instagram, Chief Kloe captioned the picture "Ray of clouds. Chirping of birds. Gurgling of water. Granting desire. One with water. #Kidchella my first Coachella!!!" (Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/06/23/native-culture-makes-great-kids-party-accessory-kardashianland-155436.)
"It's terrible," said Cliff Matius, cultural director of the Redhawk Native American Arts Council, "It's absolutely terrible that they have no conscience to discontinue to do such things. I just can't believe she would be that insensitive to think it was okay to wear that war bonnet at a kids' party ... Now you have a celebrity at a kids' party creating a whole new generation of insensitive thinking." (See: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-style/news/khloe-kardashian-slammed-native-american-council-headdress-2014236 and read more at: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-style/news/khloe-kardashian-slammed-native-american-council-headdress-2014236#ixzz36z9nexDb.)
The Indian Country Today Media Network.com article, which flew online June 23, reads, "Khloe's photo met with criticism from some Instagrammers who found it disrespectful. They were of course slammed by Kardashian fans who feel they should lighten up. It's fair to debate this, but here's something to consider: Khloe's picture has 369,000 likes (and counting); Kylie's (Kloe's younger half-sister, who posted a pic of Chief Kloe, too --writer's aside) has 623,000 likes and counting. Love 'em, hate 'em, or don't care, the fact remains that any little thing the Kardashians do reaches a massive audience. More people consume a Kardashian or Jenner Instagram picture than consume all of the Internet's Native news sources combined. Debate is fair, but hundreds of thousands of Kardashian devotees gleefully shouting down a few Native voices isn't much of a debate." (See ibid: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/06/23/native-culture-makes-great-kids-party-accessory-kardashianland-155436.)
ICTMN continues, "As celebrities these people have the choice -- and one wishes they'd feel some responsibility -- not to spread ignorance to followers who will defend them and seek to emulate them. We can't say how many Kardashian fans now think Native Americans meditate in the lotus position, but we'd bet it's more than a few." (See ibid: http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/06/23/native-culture-makes-great-kids-party-accessory-kardashianland-155436.)
Everyone knows you can't fight fashion. Soon, I
fear, a lot of women -- not American Indians, of course - might have a tribal
chief's headdress hanging in their closets, dangling between the little black
dresses and the designer jeans, tees, and hoodies.
Ignorance and a cavalier "I don't give a damn" attitude about what a headdress signifies and what its sanctity means to Native Americans is becoming reckless, obnoxious and dangerous. With such a small sector of the American populace being Native American -- with only 0.9% of the U.S. population legally registered as American Indian, Eskimo and Aleut, according to the 2010 U.S. Census (but it's growing -- it was 0.3% in 1940 and 0.2% in 1920), America's First Nations residents are a marginalized, relatively poor and underprivileged, widely misunderstood, neglected race. It can be argued that American Indians have been made an invisible segment of the United States populace. (See race census statistics here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States.)
What if someone who never served in the military bought a U.S. Marine Corps dress uniform, along with a slew of spitting-image duplicates of combat medals, and then wore the officer's uniform around with two or three stars on his shoulders, like a general? And say he went to Halloween bashes dressed up like this? How's about the local gin mill? Or to sporting events and maybe even things like gay-pride parades, rock concerts, car shows, and performances at the opera or the theater? Many veterans in his city and neighborhood, along with non-vets alike (of strict patriotic fervor), would be raving in condemnation of such a patriotic blasphemy "fashion statement." This is very understandable -wearing such a symbol of American war sacrifice should not be tolerated. - No way, no how! Even the federal government goes after frauds who claim they've earned combat medals.
Wearing a headdress, to many Native Americans, is about the same
thing, though. A headdress is a war bonnet worn by a brave Indian warrior who finally
became a leader of his people, a chief. The feathers are sacred since Indians
believe they not only gauge prowess and ability in battle, but they also protect these
Indian warriors during not only times of war, but during times of peace.
Long
ago, an Indian man's feathers and his headdress were his most valuable material possessions. And
historically, everyone knows American Indians fought many battles with white
settlers, lawless cowboys set on winning the West, and the military monster of the white man during not only Revolutionary War times, but even post-Civil War times, as is the case of the U.S. 7th
Calvary Regiment, which slaughtered hundreds of unarmed Sioux men, women and
children on Dec. 29, 1890. The Lakota Pine Ridge Reservation in South
Dakota, along with countless Indians of other tribes, are melancholy and morose during the festive holidays when the dominant culture is celebrating Christmas.
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