It’s not PC madness to say a headdress is sacred
PEOPLE who object to the casual frivolity of singers Leona Lewis and ellie goulding wearing American Indian/ native American ceremonial headdresses aren’t being ‘politically correct’: they’re objecting to the denigration of another culture. American Indian people are still subjected to prejudice which wouldn’t be tolerated by any other ethnic population. The eagle feather which, by tradition, adorns the ceremonial headdress, is deemed sacred. An individual earns the right to wear it by valiant deeds and by serving the best interests of the community. This regalia shouldn’t be worn flippantly, without the due respect it deserves, irrespective of ancestral lineage. even the terms American Indian/native American have been imposed on native people for the express purpose of wilfully assimilating them into the dominant society. These people are who they are, depending on which dialect they are speaking: the Lakota, Dakota, nakota, the Tsistsistas (Cheyenne), nde (Apache) or nimiipuu (nez Perce). With 500 federally recognised indigenous nations in the U.S., this is just a microcosm. In Canada, indigenous people are referred to by the collective term First nations, a definition they have determined for themselves, though they, too, consist of many independent and diverse nations. These people aren’t ‘tribes’, but independent sovereign nations, guaranteed by treaty with legal definitions. native people in the U.S. are in the unique position of having been made U.S. citizens, a status conferred at the end of World War I in recognition of the substantial contribution they made to the U.S. armed forces. native people bear this officially conferred status in addition to being members of their own sovereign nations for which specific criteria have to be met for each individual. This isn’t a case of being PC — it’s a matter of observing cultural boundaries and avoiding actions that cause or create offence or demonstrate disrespect for another culture by demeaning, insensitive and ill-considered actions.