The American Indian Movement’s Michael Fairbanks has this follow-up, in Indian Country Today, to his protest of a an episode of MTV’s reality show, “The Dudesons in America.”

The episode is called “Cowboys and Findians,” as Fairbanks says, its “redface” theme is as offensive to Native people as blackface is to African-Americans.

The “Cowboys and Findians” episode perpetuates very offensive stereotypes regarding Native American spirituality, ceremonies, culture and customs. On the MTV Web site, the episode describes these four young Finnish characters “Pursuing their goals of becoming honorary members of the tribe.”

Which tribe? The Tongva people of the Los Angeles region? Considering the damage done by non-Native people “pursuing their goals” of cultural and spiritual misappropriation, this is alarming. The commercialization of cultural and Native spirituality has been going strong now for a few decades, but it seems to have hit its pinnacle recently with people paying as much as $9,000 to participate in a sweat lodge ceremony.

The MTV statement above leaves the impression that it is okay to do so – that not only is it acceptable, but it is fun and entertaining to do so.

Fairbanks, who is head of AIM in Santa Barbara, Calif., likens the episode to broadcast personality Don Imus’ infamous description of female black athletes as “nappy-headed ho’s.”

And, he says, ” It is long overdue for that practice to stop.”

Seems like somebody was paying attention. MTV pulled the episode from its website after complaints from the Santa Barbara AIM chapter, according to Huffington Post.

Click here to view a photos of a protest of “Cowboys and Findians.”

Gwen Florio

Tags: AIM, American Indian Movement, buffalo post, Cowboys and Findians, Dudesons in America, Gwen Florio, MTV, Native American news