Costumeshopper.com photo
Clover Anaquod was shopping for Halloween with her son this week when he gasped and pointed to a display.
Headdresses. Tomahawks. Peace pipes.
Anaquod, who is Assiniboine Sioux from the Fort Peck Reservation in northeastern Montana, tells the Missoulian that she was taken aback.
“Native American regalia is not a costume,” said Anaquod. “I took it personal.”
As for 10-year-old Matthew, “he was shocked. It hurt his feelings to see these.
Confederated Salish and Kootenai elder Tony Incashola says Indian costumes on Halloween make people view Native Americans “more as a display than humans.”
On the plus side, said Incashola, it seems as though fewer people these days tend to sashay out on Halloween in feathers and paint.
“They feel it’s time to move on, that those days are gone,” he said. “Gradually, more and more people are starting to understand the feeling.”
Gwen Florio
Tags: Assiniboine Sioux, buffalo post, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Fort Peck Indian Reservation, Halloween costumes, Native American news, racism
Or, better yet, don’t.
But you can read all about it in the Washington, D.C., City Paper, which lists its picks for the worst sexy Halloween costumes here.
The paper has some fun with the concept, but writer Amanda Hess is clearly gets the insult, too. She writes:
“To the Halloween industry, Native Americans are super sexy! (As long as we’re talking about large-breasted, thin white women dressing up as Native Americans, and not real Native Americans).” Targets of genocide as sexy. Right.
We won’t offend you by posting the photo of the blond woman in the very low-cut fringed costume, patting her hand against her mouth, but the City Paper has an entire photo array.
We here at Buffalo Post don’t mind a little exuberant bad taste every once in awhile – especially not with the weekend on its way and Halloween fast approaching. It’s just that this one’s over the line.
Gwen Florio
Tags: buffalo post, Halloween costumes, Native American news, racism