Native American Stereotypes

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Native Americans are falsely represented in music videos. The rock group “No Doubt” released a Native American inspired video in 2012 for their single “Looking Hot,” which was followed with controversy. Almost immediately negative YouTube comments followed, mostly from Native Americans criticizing Gwen Stefani. Indian Country, A Native American Media Organization, commented on the video stating, “This video is very insensitive and very discourteous. Stefani, you have disrespected and slighted the entire Native American people with your counterfeit portrayal of our heritage. The way you pranced and frolic around, dressed in so-called Native American attire, is a mockery of our way of life and culture. You have also debased all Native American…show more content…
It does continue to push the stereotypical idea of Native dress and culture in that it also is a depiction that you see in Hollywood or in Halloween or Thanksgiving.” A big reason many people were alarmed and hurt at this presentation of Gwen as a Native American was because she was overtly sexualized and Native American women have a long history of being a subject of abuse. A professor from Bemidji State University, professor Treuer and author of, Everything You Wanted To Know About Indians But Were Afraid To Ask, said in an interview with NPR, “But there's pretty notable exception with crimes of sexual violence directed at Native women, which are predominantly perpetrated by white men. So the sexual objectification of Native women even in a, you know, hokey representation like the No Doubt video, you know, strike a chord of discontent among a lot of Native people who really deal with the more serious dimensions of the issue on a regular basis.” Other artists have also been accused of using Native American garments purely as an aesthetic. Lana Del Rey also prompted questionable comments from fans for her video “Ride” released in 2012. One of the several unhappy commenter’s posted, “MY CULTURE IS NOT A COSTUME, IT IS NOT A TREND, IT IS NOT YOUR MASCOT!” and this comment was liked by 60…show more content…
Skrillex, a famous electronic musician, released a music video titled “Make it Bun Dem” where Native American culture is also shown. In the video, a Native American family is being evicted and seeks help from their ancient customs. What’s different in this video compared to Gwen Stefani’s “Looking Hot” video is that it is accurately depicting Native Americans. The two main characters in the Skrillex video are both of actual Native American descent, dressed in real life, every day, modern casual clothes, in contrast to Stefani’s video where she is a white woman dressed in Native American stereotyped attire. The electronic band The Knocks also released a video called; “Geronimo” which was inspired by Native American leader Geronimo of the Bedonkohe Apache. In the video they decided to hire Native American champion hook dancer Nakotah Larance and followed him around while he danced in his home with his brother, in a gas station, and in the desert more traditionally (but accurately dressed) in his tribe attire. Native American media websites supported both the Skrillex and The Knocks’ music videos because it accurately represented them and showcased actual traditions without feeding stereotypes, or presenting sensitive historical
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