Appropriation Vs. Appreciation: Costuming Can Help Or Harm Cultural Understanding

BY ALTHEA E. PERLEY
Miami University journalism student

Are you appreciating or appropriating?

Twelve Miami University students tackled that question as they gathered on campus on Halloween -- a day where the now-hot issue is in full play.

The students -- all women -- were brought together by Diversity Abroad, an organization working to diversify the field of international education; and student organizations Black Beyond Borders (BBB) and the Native American Student Association (NASA).

The organizations were represented by Lydia Yellow Hawk, founder and president of the NASA chapter on Miami's Hamilton campus, and a member of the Rosebud Sioux tribe in South Dakota. Amira Beasley, the Campus Fellow for Diversity Abroad and founder and president of the Miami BBB chapter, also led the group.

The forum revolved around a question Beasley asked the group.

“How can you take an entire culture and boil it down to one costume? There is no one way to be white, no one way to be black, no one way to be Latino,” she said.

Halloween history

Halloween, now a largely commercialized holiday in the United States, traces its origins back more than 2,000 years. Halloween used to be a way for poor citizens to receive “soul cakes” at the beginning of the harsh winter season. In return for free food, they would promise to pray for their benefactors' dead relatives. They would dress up to avoid being recognized by ghosts believed to come back during the winter and hurt those leaving their homes to go “souling."

Today this holiday is a $6 billion industry. And what started as a way to celebrate communities and help the poor has turned into a day where many people stereotype cultures and peoples.

Defining 'appropriation'

Cultural appropriation is a term used to describe the taking over one cultural group's creative or artistic forms, themes or practices, by another cultural group. It carries themes of exploitation and dominance, usually tied to Western culture.

The difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation can be gray.

Cultural appreciation, group members agreed, happens when you take the time to learn about another culture with respect and courtesy. It requires appreciating customs, practices and themes, as well as interacting with people who identify with that culture.

For Yellow Hawk, people who adopt Native American or “Indian” costumes -- on Halloween or anytime -- are often uninformed about the differences among native people. Native peoples are spread across the United States, making up more than 500 different recognized sovereign nations. Each of them dress a different way, for different reasons, and none of their clothing looks anything like a "sexy Indian" costume.

"There are respectful and appropriate ways to wear an outfit or regalia from another culture, like whenever I go to a powwow and dancers and singers represent their tribe by the singing style or songs, and their regalia designs and materials that’s on their outfits. But it’s different when an individual wears a sexualized Indian outfit or a headdress," Yellow Hawk said.

Marginalization a worry

Students in the room were quick to acknowledge that they could remember wearing an Native American costume or a geisha costume as a little kid, and not realizing that it was offensive. There, they decided, is the gray area.

Yellow Hawk also noted that when people "play Indian" on Halloween they forget that native people comprise living and breathing communities.

"We seem to appropriate culture from marginalized groups, but we show more respect for their culture than we do for people from that culture," Beasley agreed.

The same is true when people change their skin tone as part of a costume. As a group, forum participants opposed that practice and concluded there were other ways to dress up like favorite celebrities or historical figures.

By contrast, they agreed it is OK to dress up for occasions like a traditional Indian wedding. In that instance you have an opportunity to learn and embrace a culture because "you aware of the cultural significance of your costume," Beasley said.

The questions to ask, she said: "Would you feel comfortable wearing that costume around people who identify with the culture that your costume is taken from? And does that costume reduce an entire culture into a costume that plays on a stereotype?"

Mascot can offend

Many of the students who participated grew up in Cleveland, whose baseball team is called the Cleveland Indians. Some said they never realized growing up that the name and mascot was offensive.

“Being American is hard sometimes because they make you want to root for your team and glorify things, but sometimes it prevents you from taking a step back and thinking about how it’s not OK,” one student said.

Yellow Hawk said she started NASA to create conversation around such issues and because "there was no place for native students to voice their opinions about current issues revolving around Indian country.”

The need for such conversation was clear on Halloween, she said, noting that she'd seen an image of students mocking the "water protectors," the native peoples fighting to stop the Dakota Pipeline -- a current event impacting her family.

The 12 students did not have one idea to stop the stereotypes in costuming. They also said it is difficult to discuss the issue with others and understand its dominance in U.S. society -- whether at Halloween, or in music, film, fashion, mascots or other forms.

"Part of cultural appreciation is being respectful and taking the time to explain that it has significance to you and a specific culture," Beasley said.

Yellow Hawk said she hopes to continue these types of forums and connect more students with diverse organizations on campus.

Photo: A Halloween event triggers discussion about cultural representations. --- Photo by Lydia Yellow Hawk and Native American Student Association