The Onion Parodies Amazon "Civilization"

The satirical magazine The Onion, which bills itself as "America's Finest News Source," has just come out with a new article about the "lousiest civilization ever."  Here is a brief snippet:

Archaeologists Unearth Lousiest Civilization Ever

Archaeologists working in a remote section of the Amazon Rainforest announced Tuesday that they have discovered the ancient remnants of what they claimed may be the lousiest civilization in human history.

According to Dr. Ronald Farber, a professor from the University of Minnesota who is leading the excavation, the "half-assed" culture existed from about 450 B.C. until 220 B.C., when it abruptly disappeared—an event he said was "honestly no big loss" for our understanding of human culture.

"From what we've unearthed so far, it appears this pre-Columbian civilization was pretty much just copying what other, more superior groups nearby were doing—albeit to a much shittier degree," Farber said. "They sucked. You should see the useless mess of a calendar these dumbasses came up with."

The article goes on to reference all manner of "half-assed" attempts at copying other Pre-Colombian civilizations.  It references "inefficient" aqueduct systems, "piece of shit" pipes, "asinine" agricultural methods, and a massive sun temple whose alignment with the Summer solstice was off by two feet.  Apparently, they all "went blind" from staring into the solar eclipses they predicted.


Here is another line that rips on the archaeologists:

An ancient ceremonial headdress, believed to belong to the ruler of the civilization, is reportedly the only artifact from the site that has captured the interest of the scientific community. However, the find was only deemed worthwhile after one of the archaeologists donned the feather diadem while prancing around and shouting, "Duh! Look at me, I'm King Fuckstick, Leader of the Numbskulls!"

The article is clearly meant to be parody.  It satirizes the traditional stereotype that the Amazon was full of backwards savages and cannibals incapable of creating or sustaining any hint of civilization.  The article references all the great achievements of the Pre-Columbian Americans such as advanced knowledge of astronomy, massive public works, written languages, and the fine arts.

I suspect this parody was written in direct response to this recent article in The Washington Post about new discoveries of Amazon civilization:

Scientists find evidence discrediting theory Amazon was virtually unlivable
By Juan Forero

To the untrained eye, all evidence here in the heart of the Amazon signals virgin forest, untouched by man for time immemorial - from the ubiquitous fruit palms to the cry of howler monkeys, from the air thick with mosquitoes to the unruly tangle of jungle vines.

Archaeologists, many of them Americans, say the opposite is true: This patch of forest, and many others across the Amazon, was instead home to an advanced, even spectacular civilization that managed the forest and enriched infertile soil to feed thousands.

The findings are discrediting a once-bedrock theory of archaeology that long held that the Amazon, unlike much of the Americas, was a historical black hole, its environment too hostile and its earth too poor to have ever sustained big, sedentary societies. Only small and primitive hunter-gatherer tribes, the assumption went, could ever have eked out a living in an unforgiving environment.

But scientists now believe that instead of stone-age tribes, like the groups that occasionally emerge from the forest today, the Indians who inhabited the Amazon centuries ago numbered as many as 20 million, far more people than live here today...

It is the following paragraph in particular that led me to believe the authors of The Onion article had read this one:

"I think we're humanizing the history of the Amazon," said Neves, 44, a professor at the University of Sao Paulo. "We're not looking at the Amazon anymore as a black box. We're seeing that these people were just like anywhere else in the world. We're giving them a sense of history."

Hence, The Onion article absurdly "de-humanizes" the indigenous Amazon people with its foul mouthed archaeologists, all while substantially reinforcing the very real advances of their civilization!

This certainly is one of the more humorous examples of "drawing on Indians" that I have encountered recently.  Essentially, The Onion draws upon the advances of Native civilizations in order to point out the traditional prejudices of non-Native people against the so-called "primitive" Indians.  It demonstrates the hypocrisy of continuing to think of Indians as backwards people when for thousands of years Native civilizations were just as advanced or even more advanced than those in Europe!

I was also keenly aware of the fact that the article did not once use the words Native, Indian, or indigenous.  "Civilization" and "society" make much better satire anyway when paired with the archaeologist's scholarly choice of "half-assed".

What do you think?  Effective satire or just not funny?


For another take on The Washington Post article check out this write-up from the Newspaper Rock blog:

Amazon Indians weren't savages

Indians and Knights T-Shirt

Sometimes I don't have to look very far to find interesting examples of "drawing on Indians".  Case in point is the following t-shirt my brother was wearing last week:

(Click to enlarge)

The full text on the shirt reads:

"Nature is at work. Character and destiny are her handiwork.

She gives us love and hate, jealousy and reverence. All that is ours is

the power to choose which impulse we shall follow.

Strength

&

Honor

Tankfarm"

The analogy between Indians and Knights is a new one for me but not at all surprising.  In the popular American imagination, both are highly romanticized chivalrous warriors of some distant long ago past.  But apparently we have to choose between the two.

I'm going to channel the fashion designer to figure this one out.  I'm guessing the "Knight" represents "strength" since he is covered in heavy armor.  That means the "Indian" represents "Honor" since he is wearing only his skin.

So then we have to choose between the two.  Will we choose the protection of the Knight or fight honorably like the Indian?   But what, I don't get any other choices?  Can't I be a ninja or a pirate or a cowboy?

This shirt stands as another fine example demonstrating how people envision and understand Native peoples.  The classic image of the Plains warrior on horseback is the go to symbol for "honor".  It reinforces the false notion that somehow honor is inherent to the "Nature" of Native Americans.  It's noble savagery through and through.

Then again, if recent examples have proven anything, many fashion designers don't actually put too much thought into the meanings of images but rather just go for the "look."  I imagine the weekly meeting at the design studio went something like this:

"Haven't you heard, the tribal look is totally selling with our young hipster clientele so we better put some Indians on t-shirts stat!  I don't care if it doesn't make any sense!  If it's savage it sells!"

How do I know?

Check out their website: http://www.tankfarmclothing.com/

And their latest design:

 (Source: www.tankfarmclothing.com)

My brother's t-shirt is a great example for one other reason: I bought it for him!  It was the Christmas holiday maybe three or four years ago.  I knew my brother needed t-shirts so I bought a few he might like at the local T.J. Maxx.

At the time, I thought absolutely nothing of the image on the shirt.  Like the fashion designer behind it, I thought it looked "cool."  Just goes to show how much I've learned in the interim.  Remember, if you don't stop to look around every once in a while and ask critical questions, you might just find yourself wearing a t-shirt with an "Indian" on it!


For more on "Indians" and clothing check out my post:
Selling Blue Jeans with Indians

For more on "Indians" as a hip fashion trend check out my posts:
Hipster Indians
Glastonbury "Indians"

Some more "Indian" t-shirts from the newspaper rock blog:

Lucky Brand sells "White Lightning" t-shirt
Indian skulls in headdresses
T-shirt shows skull in headdress
"Ur-A-Nole" t-shirt

And for real Native fashion check out the wonderful:
Beyond Buckskin blog

Tim the Fur Trade Reenactment Indian

We all have our unique hobbies. Some people are bird watchers. Others collect stamps. Still others restore classic cars.

And some get dressed up and pretend they are living in the 1700s.

This past weekend I visited the annual Voyageur Encampment at Metro Beach Metropark in metropolitan Detroit, Michigan. I have attended these events before but this was the first one here in my home state of Michigan.

The Living History Encampment

For those of you who are not familiar with Fur Trade reenactors or even reenacting in general, I'll let Wikipedia do the talking:  “Historical reenactment is a type of roleplay in which participants attempt to recreate some aspects of a historical event or period.”  In this case, the Great Lakes Fur Trade of the 1700s.

There are as many reasons for participating in reenactments as there are reenactors. It is usually some combination of love of history, love of the reenactment community, and love of dressing up and getting away from it all. I met several fascinating individuals this weekend but there is one in particular who fits right in here at Drawing on Indians.

Tim is just your average midwestern blue collar worker pulling down his 40 hours and a steady paycheck as a pipefitter for General Motors. It's only on the occasional weekend during the summer that you realize Tim is somehow different.


Here's Tim:

(click to enlarge)

Tim immediately caught my attention because of the hair.  I jokingly asked him if he had cut it especially for the event or if this was a permanent style choice.  He told me this was a summer ritual where he would cut it into the Mohawk style when the reenactments started.

I then asked what type of individual he was portraying.  He told me he dressed to represent a Great Lakes Fur Trade era Indian.  He said he didn't know his history as well as others and was representing a more generic Great Lakes Indian and not a specific tribe.  I then of course had to ask politely if he was indeed Native himself.  The answer was both expected and unexpected.  (and I paraphrase)

"Yeah, well I'm French and Native, maybe like 1/32nd Indian but mostly French."

Tim explained how he first became interested in primitive living skills and Indian material culture back in the day which eventually led to his involvement in Fur Trade reenacting.  He actively participates in the group Great Lakes Primitives whose facebook page explains:

Primitive skills teachers and participants gather to share knowledge of our ancestors’ ancient art forms and survival technologies to preserve and pass on these traditions with new friends and renew old friendships.

The group sounds like many of the other survival schools I profiled in my post Cody Lundin and Surviving like an Indian.  These groups draw upon indigenous cultures including American Indians to teach primitive living skills.  Something new I spotted on the Great Lakes Primitives page which surprised me was the following line:

We respect all religious beliefs and practices. Due to the diversity of participants’ spiritual beliefs and the nature of this event, we ask that attendees be respectful of differences as we share our time together.

Between the line "our ancestors’ ancient art form" and the note on religious diversity, I'm wondering if there aren't active Indian members in this group.  Then again, the group could swing the other direction and simply idealize a primitive Indian lifestyle to which it makes false attachments.  All I know is that Tim did refer to some of its members as "those natural people" which made me chuckle.

Now, before anyone starts condemning Tim as a wannabe or shameless hack consider this.  One of the main goals of the Fur Trade reenactment community is to faithfully recreate the look, feel, sights, sounds, smells, and even tastes of the era.  Reenactors put hundreds of hours and hundreds of dollars into their tents, gear, and clothing so that you the visitor can walk into the encampment and literally walk back in time.

From my experience, the Indian presence in the Fur Trade reenactment community is quite small and even non-existent in some places.  How then does one faithfully reenact and represent this era of exploration, trade, and cultural interaction without one half of the equation?

When talking to reenactors or listening to presentations a common phrase was "The Native Americans wore this" or "The Indians traded those" or "The Natives believed in that."  The combined effect was to reinforce the fact that there were no Indians at the event to answer these questions for themselves!

A Group of Reenactors

In an ideal world, every historic reenactment would have reenactors represent their own ethnicity or culture  (a group of French-Canadians as voyageurs, English and Scotsmen as traders, Métis as Métis, and Indians as Indians).  But such restrictions limit the openness and inclusivity of these groups.  After all, it's a hobby not a movie set!

Which brings me back to Tim.

After talking with him briefly, he seemed to have a well rounded view of historic and modern Native Americans.  He readily acknowledged the centuries of injustice against Indian people and expressed genuine concern for the loss of Indian culture, language, and traditions.  He even mentioned several acquaintances who actively work with native communities to preserve their language and culture.  Furthermore, he didn't assume a first person identity as an Indian or started lecturing me on native culture as if he'd just walked off the rez, which is always a good thing.

Then again, my conversation with him was rather short and I will never know the truth behind his claim of Indian heritage.  Therefore the question remains...


Can you or should you ever faithfully recreate the look and material culture of American Indians by dressing as an Indian?


My thoughts:

As with most issues of native appropriation, it all depends on the context.  In this particular case, I'm just not sure.

Is Tim's motivation for dressing as an Indian primarily educational to teach others about primitive skills and Indian material culture or is he simply dressing up to "be" an Indian, a human prop on display in the living history encampment.

He certainly has the authentic clothes and gear to represent a Great Lakes Indian of the 1700s (expect for the bow which he acknowledged was not quite period authentic).  Sure is a refreshing change from the stereotypical Plains Indian with full warbonnet and face paint!

I honestly see both sides on this...

What do you think?

Is this a harmless hobby or questionable cultural appropriation?

or something completely different altogether?

<Let me know!>

Electronic Handheld Island Indians

Imagine you are sailing across the Caribbean.  Suddenly a terrible storm with 20 foot swells batters your small boat.  The vessel creaks and moans before it finally breaks apart, leaving you adrift in the wide open sea.

But wait... you see a small tropical island and you start paddling.  Your mind is going through all the scenarios.  Is there any food?  Is there any water?  And most importantly...

Are there any Natives?

Something inside you has you worried.  Could there be Indians living on that island?  Could they be savages, cannibals even?  Even in these remote parts there could be lost tribes who have never seen a white person before.  Maybe they'll think you're a god and you can impress them with your magical technology.  You laugh away all the silliness but somehow that doesn't put your mind at rest...

Have you ever stopped and wondered: Why would you ever think such things?  You didn't just dream up these stereotypes.  You probably learned them somewhere.  But where?




If there is one group of people who love to draw upon our native neighbors, its advertisers.  They take the most potent symbols in our culture and use them to sell their products, the Indian being no exception.

Whether it's a chief in a war bonnet selling Natural American Spirit tobacco (cause Indians have a long and sacred tradition with tobacco)...

an awkward Amazon Indian making us laugh for Bud Light (cause Indians are primitive people unable to adapt to modern ways)...



or a crying Indian shaming us into cleaning up our environment (cause Indians have a special, sacred bond with Mother Earth)...



...advertisers rely on our limited cultural presumptions about native people to sell their stuff.

The RadioShack commercial plays on the classic stereotype of the tropical island savage.  This stereotype says that people living on isolated tropical islands are primitive, unsophisticated natives ready to either cook and eat or worship the first white guy who washes ashore.

It has been worked and reworked in literature, film, and television for centuries.  Ever since the first Europeans set foot in the Caribbean and the South Pacific, we have heard tales of half-naked, blood-thirsty, idol-worshiping savages that have lit our imaginations on fire.  These tales of encounters between civilization and savagery are so powerful, they will probably never go away.

These same tales also serve to reinforce stereotypes about native people.  While it is easy to laugh away these stereotypes as silly ideas about far away people from some long lost past, the truth is they still affect the way we deal with real people today.  Ask yourself, how much do you know about the native peoples of the Caribbean or South Pacific?  How many of your responses can be traced to something you saw in a movie or on TV?

Lastly, these advertisements once again demonstrate America's cultural obsession with the exotic Other.  Whether they be natural/spiritual Indians or cannibalistic savages, our culture can't help but keep drawing on those Indians.

Oh yeah... lest we forget one of America's favorite movie characters:



For more on the Cannibals of the Caribbean check out this informative page on the Newspaper Rock blog: http://www.bluecorncomics.com/pirates.htm