Is it offensive to wear a native headdress?

IT MAY seem over-the-top to some, but the wearing of Native American headdress (Mail) can be a contentious issue. A few miles down the road from where I live, there’s an Americanstyle ranch with an impressive line dancing and country music barn. Devotees often dress in cowboy and Native American costume and there’s much falling out over who is allowed to wear more feathers on their headdress than someone else, even though the majority of participants are British. This has its amusing side, but real Native Americans have a very proud and wise culture from which we can learn a lot. If a member of this community feels the wearing of certain headdresses is irreverent and that they shouldn’t be worn for fun, who are we to argue?

DIANE SILVA, Lytham, Lancs. BY LINEAGE and upbringing, I too belong to a marginalised minority, the English working class, whose traditional headdress is the cloth cap. Imagine my dismay when, only the other day, I saw some chap, obviously from the former colonies, wearing such a cap. It may have been just a bit of fun for him, but I share the indignation of singer Leona Lewis’s critics. My culture’s elders earned the right to wear the cap through years of hard graft for low pay and by keeping whippets and racing pigeons. People from other cultures should consider what offence they might cause before parading around like that. Where will it end? They’ll be wearing donkey jackets next.

KEN WARREN, Sidmouth, Devon.