As a Native American I’d like to say that yes, it’s okay to admire our culture.
What’s not okay is how it’s represented. First of all, the face paint on the women’s faces is not in the movie. And it’s not in our culture. Men were given face paint to go to war or for honorary terms. Never for decoration. You can see that in the movie Pocahontas when kocoum’s chest and face are painted after the battle.
I’d also like to point out why this performance was such a soft spot. Our culture was pretty much eradicated with the early pilgrims and Catholics arriving to ‘civilize’ us. And now they want to ‘bring it back’ when it was their fault we lost it in the first place. We lost our language, our culture, our way of life. And I know it was ‘just for fun’ but this is highly offensive, Especially when most of our culture is lost within the mix of residential schools, alcohol, abuse and drugs.
The reason kocoum’s and other Native American males faces were painted was because they had just come back from war. It was a symbol of honor and they earned it. The face painting was making a mockery of our traditions. There are reasons why we did what we did.
As a Native American I’d like to say that yes, it’s okay to admire our culture.
What’s not okay is how it’s represented. First of all, the face paint on the women’s faces is not in the movie. And it’s not in our culture. Men were given face paint to go to war or for honorary terms. Never for decoration. You can see that in the movie Pocahontas when kocoum’s chest and face are painted after the battle.
I’d also like to point out why this performance was such a soft spot. Our culture was pretty much eradicated with the early pilgrims and Catholics arriving to ‘civilize’ us. And now they want to ‘bring it back’ when it was their fault we lost it in the first place. We lost our language, our culture, our way of life. And I know it was ‘just for fun’ but this is highly offensive, Especially when most of our culture is lost within the mix of residential schools, alcohol, abuse and drugs.
I completely agree with you!
The reason kocoum’s and other Native American males faces were painted was because they had just come back from war. It was a symbol of honor and they earned it. The face painting was making a mockery of our traditions. There are reasons why we did what we did.