Amhran nam Bandia: Momentum grows in MTV boycott

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Momentum grows in MTV boycott

Since my last post, additional chapters of AIM, and a number of other Native American actors and organizations, have added their voices to the protest against MTV's racist self-injury show, The Dudesons: Cowboys and Findians.

Today Clyde Bellecourt, speaking for the Grand Governing Council of the American Indian Movement, has condemned MTV for continuing to air the show despite protests.

Letter to AIM Santa Barbara, reprinted at request of recipients:

AMERICAN INDIAN MOVEMENT GRAND GOVERNING COUNCIL

July 14, 2010

Michael Fairbanks, Director
American Indian Movement-Santa Barbara
P.O. Box 204
Santa Barbara, CA 93102

Dear Michael and Santa Barbara AIM,

The American Indian Movement National Office located in Minneapolis, Minnesota is in full support of the Santa Barbara Chapter of AIM in their efforts to stop the airing of The Dudesons in America-Cowboys and Findians, and demanding an apology from MTV.

The American Indian Movement through the development of the National Coalition on Racism and Sports and Media http://www.aimovement.org/ncrsm/index.html has a long-time record of intolerance for racist imagery in regards to Native people here in America.

We condemn MTV for refusing to recognize the harmful effects of such broadcasting.

Respectfully,

Clyde H. Bellecourt
National Director
American Indian Movement
Grand Governing Council
Anishinabe Ojibwe Nation

[signature on record]
_______________________________________

National Offices:
P.O. BOX 13521, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 55414
TELEPHONE 612-721-3914/FAX 612-721-7826
E-MAIL: aimggc@worldnet.att.net
Web Address: www.aimovement.org

Billy-Talako Williamson of the Cheyenne & Arapaho Department of Education weighs in at length on working with the kids who are the target audience for this programming, and how these racist stereotypes, casually passed off as light humor, set back the efforts of anti-racist educators:

We work on a daily basis with Cheyenne & Arapaho Students along with numerous other students that are members of other tribes. The negative images and stereotypes of Native Americans that have been created over the years are a constant detriment to the progress and self esteem of our students. Most recognize that a new language has emerged in the world, one that has grown to reach all nations with equal effect and understanding,… it is the language of Mass Communications. The average parent spends about 38 minutes a week in quality conversation with their kids, while the average kid spends 3 to 4 hours a day watching television. The American Medical Association recently reported that 60% of the information children receive comes from television. Mass media has become the second language of our children.

This MTV show manages to tear down much of the work we have accomplished.

(Read full letter here)

Other groups who have joined the protest include:

Read about the boycott, and please sign the petition

ETA July 17, 2010: Bit by bit the mainstream media has been picking up the story, with coverage in the New York Post and numerous entertainment news outlets. The Santa Barbara Independent has published an excellent editorial by Michael Fairbanks:

Red Face Minstrel Show Unamusing
“Cowboys and Findians” Not Merely Dumb, It’s Abusive

The other side of the coin is that there is a media blackout on Native issues. In this past year, there have been states of emergencies called from tribal leaders, and practically no media covered these stories. People were freezing to death in the plains area, starving to death in the southwestern region, and now, Native nations are struggling with the effects of the oil spill of the Gulf. Yet, ironically, MTV airs The Dudesons, stating the episode was created to honor Native people. This argument is frequently used with regard to the use of mascots in school and sports (think Carpinteria High School). Imposing one’s definition of “honoring” on someone else, and the “honoring” as a guise to hit upon every stereotype ever used to characterize Native people, is simply not good. Our cultures, our spirituality, and our ceremonies laughed at on an international level, with the everlasting shelf life of the Internet.

(Read full editorial)

There are also preliminary reports, via a letter from an MTV-Canada executive, that MTV-Canada is pulling the show. There have also been positive responses from some of the advertisers about pulling their advertising from the show if it continues to air in the US. More on this as it develops.

Members of AIM LA, AIM SB and supporters
demonstrate at the MTV Movie Awards, June 6, 2010
Photo by Tim Keenan

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Gaelic Polytheism, Cultural Preservation, Indigenous Solidarity

Occasional musings from one of the original troublemakers behind the contemporary Gaelic Polytheist (GP) (Gaelic: Ioma-Dhiadhachd Ghàidhealach; Irish: Ildiachas Gaelach) and Celtic Reconstructionist traditions. Allegedly the person to blame for that unwieldy, awkward, misinterpreted and misrepresented, umbrella tradition name (CR), and most definitely to blame for the Nigheanan nan Cailleach agus Ora nam Bandia branches of the community.

Clann Eóghainn na h-Oitrich, NicAoidh, agus Eóganachta. Tha mi a fuireach ann Wabanahkik. Co-còrdadh: Gä•sweñta’.

While my family culture growing up was predominantly diasporan Gael (Irish/Scottish-American), and my low BQ gives me white skin privilege / passing privilege, I also have Indigenous heritage from both Turtle Island (Yę Iswąre tatene utkéware hęwu) and Sápmi, as well as cherished African-American ancestors who survived the Middle Passage and the Underground Railroad. I am one of the people who has researched Cherokee blood myths to find the hidden truth that so many of us share - Black ancestors who made the excruciating choice to assimilate and pass in order to stay alive after escaping slavery.

As an unenrolled relative, reconnecting with the community we're pretty certain my ancestors are from, I'm a long-term member of several Indigenous-led collectives, active in Indian Country in largely a backup/support role since the 1980s, and in more recent years in interfaith and political work as both a collective member, extended family member, and as a representative of both our GP groups and the descendant crew. I don't presume to steer the canoe, even when I'm another grunt helping paddle one that my cousins, aunties, and adopted siblings have built and are helming. But except for my fellow Gaels and other diverse relatives, I jumped out of the ship over a decade ago. I'd much rather dive deep with the prop-fouling otters, be a shieldmaiden in the metaphorical jet ski clan, and continue my work with the side of the family I live with now, than get back into that rotting colonists' ship... unless it's to sabotage and change the course. Which I've been known to do sometimes.

It's one of multiple ways that my life is lived in liminal zones.

And if it's not abundantly clear, I fully support and unreservedly defend Indigenous Sovereignty: the right of Tribal Nations to determine their citizenship criteria, as well as their right to set the definition of who is and is not Indigenous. Descendants - those of us with documented ancestry but whose ancestors chose to separate from the tribe and live as non-Natives - need to abide by the criteria for Indigeneity set by the Nations we descend from. Even if it's complicated and not what you want to hear. And this applies exponentially if the documentation is iffy. To violate that boundary by trying to claim full Native status - by self-Indigenization - is dishonorable to the ancestors, as well as a violation of hospitality. Real descendants seeking to reconnect need to do so with profound respect, and on the terms set by the living relatives and Elders in that specific culture and community. And if the answer is "No," or "Not that way," to accept that.

I serve on the governing councils of CAORANN and Gaol Naofa; however, all opinions expressed on this blog, and posted elsewhere under my own name on social media, are my own.