WHAT DO CORN MEAL, CANDY, MULTI-COLORED CORN STOCKS AND BUTTER HAVE TO DO WITH NATIVE AMERICANS? IF THE COMPANIES ARE NOT NATIVE OWNED, THEN WHY THE CULTURALLY APPROPRIATED NATIVE CHARACTER?
Nike's new Air Native N7 is the new sneaker brand name designed especially for Native Americans. This is the first time Nike has designed a shoe for a specific race or ethnicity. With a "culturally specific look" and a wider, higher design, it is meant to cater to the specific foot needs of Native Americans. The design sounds pretty cool: there are feathers inside and stars on the sole to represent the night sky. These are referred to as "heritage callouts," and are accompanied by "sunrise to sunset to sunrise patterns on the tongue and heel of the shoe."
WOW, just when we thought sneakers couldn't get any worse. Thank you Nike for culturally appropriating sacred symbols. Also thanks for assuming that those symbols mean the same thing for all tribes. Also thanks for having these "Native Sneakers" accessible in cost to your target consumer. You call it "Heritage Callouts" I call it stealing, assimilation and appropriation!!
In September, NARF Staff Attorney Mark Tilden represented the National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) and provided testimony for the Wisconsin Legislature on a LRB 0150/3, which would enact a state Indian Child Welfare Act into law.
To begin, Tilden testified that the bill is designed to remedy the continuing problem of Native American children being disproportionately over-represented in the substitute care system. Tilden discussed the history of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), stating that Congress intended to give the ICWA a broad scope because of the massive problem it meant to remedy.
