“Leave your feathers at home and respect the dignity of aboriginal people. “
Feathered headdress & Native American war bonnets have now become a common sight at many a music festival. Be it Coachella, Lollapalooza or Bonnaroo, this trend has really caught on over the past year and a half around the same time tribal prints and fashion accessories became the new it thing to don.
While you cannot deny the appeal of wearing something as majestic and ethereal as the feathered headdress, by wearing it you are also bound to offend the culture & people it stems from. Critics have deemed it as a kind of Β ‘cultural appropriation.’
While you cannot deny the appeal of wearing something as majestic and ethereal as the feathered headdress, by wearing it you are also bound to offend the culture & people it stems from. Critics have deemed it as a kind of Β ‘cultural appropriation.’
The Canadian dance music festival – Bass Coast Project, recently announced on their Facebook that all forms of war bonnets and feathered headdresses will be banned from the festival, with security willing to take action if an attendee is seen wearing one regardless of the new policy. Their reasons are pretty justified, especially since the festival (hosted in British Columbia) does take place on indigenous land. To respect the dignity and culture of it’s people is of utmost importance.
Big respect to Bass Coast, no doubt. The post that has been shared over 500 times with comments of appreciation and agreement filling up the comment section can warrant that. However some pose the question – “isn’t all culture inherently appropriated in some form of the other eventually?”