Many in Indian Country have been fuming over New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s crack last month about the use of a “cowboy hat and shotgun” to collect cigarette taxes from Native American stores.

Although an apology was sought, none has been forthcoming

So when Bloomberg joined President Barack Obama during his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard a few days ago, hopes were high for what Indian Country Today writer Rob Capriccioso terms “a teachable moment.”

Obama has, after all, been attentive to the concerns of Indian Country. People thought, Capriccioso writes, that Obama might discuss the issue with Bloomberg:

The hopes ranged from small – recognition – to large – getting the president to secure an apology. No matter their size, they were quashed.

Instead, Obama – who has sometimes made a point of publicly supporting Indian issues – engaged Bloomberg in a conversation about the economy, and played a round of golf. Adding insult to injury, some New York papers have cited anonymous sources saying that Obama was feeling out Bloomberg for a job in his administration.

Bloomberg’s remark came in the midst of an ongoing effort by New York state to collect a $4.35-a-pack tax on cigarettes sold by Native-owned stores to non-Natives.

The tax was to be imposed starting yesterday; however, a federal judge has ordered a two-week delay – plenty of time, still, for Bloomberg to apologize.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Barack Obama, buffalo post, cigarette taxes, Cultural insensitivity, Gwen Florio, Michael Bloomberg, Tribal smoke shops, tribal sovereignty

What do Elvis and an Objibwe man have to do with a 13-year-old non-Native youth in Ontario?

Stew Magnuson ties it all together in his most recent entry on his A View from a Washichu blog. When Magnuson was a boy, he learned of The King’s death from a man he knew only as “Sam the Indian.” But that wasn’t all he learned.

Magnuson, whose book “The Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder” is about the most painful sorts of cross-cultural experiences, got an early insight to the fact that dealings between Natives and non-Natives aren’t always rosy – for either side. And two men he’d looked up to turned out to have feet of clay.

As Magnuson said, “Your heroes die hard when you’re 13.”

Tags: A View From a Washichu, buffalo post, Cultural insensitivity, Death of Raymond Yellow Thunder, Elvis, Native American news, Objibwe, Ojibwa, Stew Magnuson, The King

Somehow hats and Razorbacks and a firing led to this headline:

Sprints Is Beginning to Think Fayetteville Is Native American for ‘Insane Asylum’

‘Nuff said.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Cultural insensitivity, Gwen Florio, Native American news

A debate over a longstanding parade tradition in Needham, Mass., has flared anew.

Each Fourth of July, the town’s parade features Fred Muzi, retired owner of Muzi Ford, dressed in a feather headdress with his skin painted red, riding bareback on a horse, according to Katrina Ballard in a Boston Globe story. (The Needham Times takes a look at the issue, too.)

“We do know this is a tradition many people in Needham enjoy and find harmless, and it does seem like Mr. Muzi has the best intention,” said Emily Rothman, who with her husband, Greg Banks, spoke to Ballard for the story. “However, when people paint their skin to look like individuals of another race for entertainment purposes, it’s off base.”

The two wrote letters to the local paper and called Linda Morceau, chief of the Chappiquiddic tribe based in Cape Cod.

As Ballard reports:

Muzi, 79, said he has been dressing up to ride in the parade every year since 1957. He said he admires Native American culture, and he bought his Indian-made costume at Garden of the Gods National Park in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“I try to be authentic as possible,” Muzi said in an interview. “If the crowd didn’t like me, I certainly wouldn’t be there.”

Muzi said he has heard complaints from townspeople in the form of letters to the local paper three times before, but he said each letter was followed by dozens defending him. The Needham Exchange Club asks him back to the parade every year, he added.

“There are no good reasons for someone that is not Native American to dress up as though they are Native American,” said Morceau, a substance abuse and family councilor at Peaceful Gathering Place in Wareham. “The only group of people that are still open season for being made fun of that way are Native Americans. We need to step up and say this is offensive.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Chappiquiddic Tribe, Cultural insensitivity, Fourth of July, Gwen Florio, Native American identity, Native American news, Needham, Needham Exchange Club

Just catching up with this extremely interesting story by Kevin Abourezk of the Lincoln Journal-Star.

It’s about Mark Awakuni-Swetland, who teaches the Omaha language in Nebraska. Abourezk lays out the dilemma thusly:

Those who oppose his efforts to preserve the Omaha language say he has falsely claimed to be an Omaha tribal member to win lucrative federal grants and gain tenure as a University of Nebraska-Lincoln assistant professor of anthropology and ethnic studies.

“He’s not an Omaha,” said Jeff Gilpin, an Omaha tribal council member. “We proved that. He doesn’t belong to any clans of the Omaha people there.”

But those who know Awakuni-Swetland say he has never claimed to be anything more than who he is – a non-Native teacher trying to help the Omaha people.

“He’s never said that he was a member of the Omaha Tribe,” said Emmaline Walker Sanchez, an Omaha tribal member who has worked with Awakuni-Swetland to preserve the Omaha language for 10 years. “But he was adopted by some enrolled tribal members.”

Barb Stabler-Smith said her parents, now deceased adopted him and also inducted him into the Black Shoulder Buffalo Clan.

But other tribal member have gone before the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, seeking his removal as a professor.

Abourezk says each side claims the tribe’s support.

Awakuni-Swetland says he obtained tribal permission to teach the Omaha language more than a decade ago.

Only about 25 elders, out of 6,000 tribal members, speak the language fluently, and some tribal members say those are the peole who should be teaching the language.

It’s a tough issue, one that brings to mind a recent story (see previous post, here) about a young non-Native man teaching Lakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, seemingly with no controversy.

We’ll be following Abourezk’s covering of this case and will keep you posted.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Cultural insensitivity, Cultural Survival, Gwen Florio, Native American languages, Native American news, Omaha language, Omaha Tribe, University of Nebraska, University of Nebraska Board of Regents

Native American students on the University of California-San Diego campus say they were mocked when they objected to the Indian costumes worn by some non-Native students during a recent “Sun God Festival” attended by some 20,000 people.

“It’s stereotypes. It’s always stereotypes,” UCSD student Enrique Reynoso tells San Diego’s 10News, here. Watch the video, here.

The UCSD Native American Student Alliance has written to university administrators, saying, “This act is disrespectful and degrading to the traditions and cultures of Natives.”

San Diego 10 news reports:

UCSD is taking steps to improve the campus climate after a ghetto-themed party mocked Black History Month. The off-campus party was followed by other racially insensitive acts on campus that sparked controversy….

The Native American Student Alliance said Native Americans represent less than one percent of the student body and there are very few classes taught on Native American issues.

A statement from the UCSD Chancellor’s Office terms the incident “insensitive and hurtful, and goes against all of our work to achieve a more inclusive campus climate.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: Black History Month, buffalo post, Cultural insensitivity, ghetto-themed party, Gwen Florio, Native American news, Sun God Festival, UCSD Native American Student Alliance, University of California-San Diego

Here’s the entire story from the Associated Press:

POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) — The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in eastern Idaho have asked Idaho State University to no longer allow non-tribal members to perform a Native American sunrise ceremony on the school’s campus.

The Fort Hall Business Council made the request following a sunrise ceremony held on the campus on April 22, Earth Day, during which non-tribal members performed the ceremony using objects the tribes consider sacred.

University officials say the sunrise ceremony was handled by students who had trouble finding tribal members to perform the ceremony.

University spokeswoman Libby Howe says a university official is speaking with the tribes about the ceremony.

Tags: buffalo post, Cultural insensitivity, Earth Day, Gwen Florio, Idaho State University, Native American news, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes

“Respectful or Disgraceful?” That’s the title of the symposium today from 1-4 p.m. Eastern time at the Public Library in Bangor, Maine.

Four tribes lives within Maine, and several school teams have nicknames like Redskins, Braves, Warriors and Indians. Some of those schools have changed their mascots; others are sticking with them, Eric Russell of the Bangor Daily News reports here. (The News gave the story its own logo, shown at right.) With the issue continuing to have so much prominence around the country, it seems smart of folks in Maine to sit down and talk about it:

Today’s events will feature three separate panels: one representing Maine’s Native American tribes; another with representatives from schools still using potentially offensive names and symbols and those that have abandoned those names; the third made up of statewide media representatives.

[College professor Ed] Rice, who is well known for his advocacy of Louis Sockalexis, a Mainer and the first Native American to play Major League Baseball, stressed that the discussion is not meant to be a witch hunt.

“I think residents are learning that some of these nicknames, while meant to honor, are embarrassing to the state,” Rice said recently. “If you can’t yell out your nickname, don’t you know you have a problem?”

While the American Indian Cultural Support organization lists 31 schools in Maine with a racially insensitive mascot, Rice found that 18 of those have done away with their nicknames and four others have kept them but no longer use them on their uniforms.

Russell has written a really good, comprehensive story on the issue, not just as it plays out in Maine, but nationally. Check it out.

Gwen Florio

Tags: American Indian Cultural Support, Bangor Public Library, buffalo post, Cultural insensitivity, Ed Rice, Gwen Florio, Louis Sockalexis, Maine, Native American mascots, Native American news

Probably because no one will ever describe us as having anything resembling fashion sense, it pains us to wander into the world of style — but that’s mostly because the news, such as it is, always seems to involve something like this item from the Daily Mail about singer Katy Perry.

We’ll let the Mail tell it:

Katy Perry’s known for her kitsch dress sense and figure-hugging outfits.

But on Day 2 of the Coachella Music Festival in California yesterday, the 25-year-old ditched her usual look for a Native American Indian-style sundress and silver gladiator sandals.

Embracing the theme of her dress, Perry played up to the cameras as she put her hand over her mouth to imitate the Indian war cry.

Oh, Katy. Do not embrace that theme.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Coachella Music Festival, Cultural insensitivity, Gwen Florio, Katy Perry, Native American news