Artist's Statement

America has been considered a cultural melting pot for many years. What makes America unique is that it is filled with people who have different backgrounds, traditions, cultures, and stories. This is what makes America great, but it comes with a few costs. All too often, people see items, symbols, or rituals from other cultures and decide to adopt them without acknowledgment for the original meaning of these things. This is known as cultural appropriation.

Cultural appropriation is defined as, “the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group.” When thinking about elements of the Native American culture that we believe America has adopted, a few common pieces came to mind, such as dream-catchers, teepees, ceremonial headdresses, etc. In order to make this issue of cultural appropriation relevant to this area, we took a trip to the Arizona State Museum to further our knowledge of this culture and to take photographs of misrepresented Native American items.

For our photo-blog we decided to make an effort to draw attention to this in focusing on the Native American Culture. In doing this, we realize that we took on a broad subject, and we were looking at a culture that we were no authorities on. In order to combat cultural appropriation on our part we met with a Native American student named Damara at the office of Native American Student Affairs. She of course, did not speak for all Native Americans, but as a visual artist, a student, and a Native American, she was able to help us understand different viewpoints of cultural appropriation, which we hope we can convey through this blog.

Damara helped us in understanding the viewpoints of a Native American on these issues. We asked her which pieces from her culture are misrepresented and she educated us on why Native Americans are so passionate about the misrepresentation of their culture. The ceremonial masks worn by Native American tribes are recreated all over the world, and are even being sold at gift shops. In some cases, replicas of these masks being sold are not created by Native Americans, but by scholars who have studied and researched these masks. While some Native Americans are not bothered by this, others are enraged that scholars are profiting from their culture. This nonchalant attitude about a spiritual artifact is insulting to the Native American culture, and Damara felt as though things such as masks should not be put up on display or sold just because they “look cool.” The Native American people have a personal attachment with many of the misrepresented artifacts such as the ceremonial masks, which causes them to become resentful.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Mystery or History?



Photographer: Spencer Porter

This metal kokopelli is hanging up on an outside wall at my house. Up until now, I had no idea what the significance of this piece was or where it originated. This is one of the most common characters from Native American cultures that is used as decorative pieces in homes all over the world. The kokopelli figure has several stories and myths related to its origin including a trickster god who represents music.
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Pinned Up



Photographer: David Glassanos

This fur is used as a decoration piece in my roomate's bedroom. It has very little significance and purpose to him other than to decorate the room. To many others, though, this fur might have much more meaning. It might be used in a spiritual ceremony or worn as clothing in the winter. There might be a story or some anecdote about where the fur came from and why it is significant to their culture.
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Please Touch


Photographer: Veronica Simon

"Please Touch" says a sign below this drum in the Arizona State Museum. A few people will handle it carefully to admire detail, craftsmanship, or tradition. Many more with jokingly play this drum, either pretending to be a rock star or pretending to be a "real" Native.

The Drum Display: Embodiment of tradition or entertainment.
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The chips fall where they may...


Photographer: Veronica Simon

When people think of Native American culture, it's amazing, though unfortunately not surprising, how many people think first of casinos.

The casino: Destroyer of culture or one small effort to regain what was taken?
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Dance For Me


Photographer: Spencer Porter

This photograph is a representation of a Hopi native dance. The spiritual nature of this dance form is taken for granted and not understood by much of the population. Some people view this ritual as a performance rather than a sacred act, and take it as a joke such as the famous "rain dance."
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Family Ties


Photographer: Spencer Porter

The sense of family and closeness is something that is important in the Native American culture. Their artworks symbolize this and provide a story for the viewer. In the American culture, however, the deeper meanings of these artworks are ignorantly overlooked.
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Just Another Pot



Photographer: David Glassanos

This Native American pottery is located in the pottery exhibit at the Arizona State Museum on campus. I chose this pot because I wanted to show that this pot might be used as a decoration piece in someone's house or backyard. Someone might choose to place this pot in their front entry way because the colors match the paint on the walls or a leather couch in their living room.

To the people who made this pot, it could have an entirely different meaning. The intricate details of the paintings might be telling a story. It might have some important significance like the history of their culture. To the general public though, it is just another pot.
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