it's a Pocahontas costume offensive to indigenous people why are indigenous people offended by a
Pocahontas costume and why are some people not offended by it hi there I'm Mallory and I help
indigenous people and allies learn about indigenous culture and how to live with
resilience using native teachings in this video I'll be talking about why some indigenous people
or non-indigenous people find the Pocahontas costume offensive and why some people do not
to put this video together I had to do some research asking our online community what
people think how they feel about this topic and why they feel offended or not offended about a
Pocahontas costume during Halloween or any other costume party situation after listening to what
our online community had to say and some of my personal connections family members friends and
other trusted Elder advisors and allies I then analyzed compartmentalized and organized all of
the feedback I received from all of my sources to be able to give you guys a clear answer on if the
Pocahontas costume is offensive toward indigenous people or not so here we go with the results there
really are six categories or groups of responses three in the yes it's offensive category and three
in the know it's not offensive category so I've put together three reasons why people might be
offended by a Pocahontas costume for Halloween and three reasons why people are not offended
by the Pocahontas costume so the first three categories of responses from this question are
reasons why people indigenous or non-indigenous are offended by the Pocahontas costume the first
group of people who find the Pocahontas costume offensive was those who gave the the educated fact
Checker response you know who you are if you're dressing up as a Disney character Pocahontas
some people indigenous or non-indigenous are constantly reminded when they see a Pocahontas
costume that the Disney animated movie of Pocahontas is portrayed completely different
than the true story of Pocahontas I'm not going to get into the details on the true history of
the real indigenous girl named Pocahontas but apparently she was treated very poorly by John
Smith and to keep it PG she passed away at a young age and it was violent and horrible
anyone who wants to add information about the true history of Pocahontas in the comments you are
welcome to do so but I'm going to go through the other five responses of whether indigenous people
find the Pocahontas costume offensive and why some don't so moving on to the second type of response
in the yes category of I'm offended or why people are offended by indigenous Pocahontas costume so
the second group of people who find the Pocahontas costume offensive was those who give the cultural
appropriation response some indigenous people are offended by anyone portraying any indigenous
person who is not indigenous themselves cultural appropriation is when you are claiming something
to be of indigenous background when you know it's not this can be anything that has an
identity any form of identity attached to it so it can be something that you created such as a
product or a person or a place if you're a bit confused on what exactly cultural appropriation
is because the term is thrown around a lot watch this video right here to understand what exactly
cultural appropriation is and how to avoid it if you're aiming to be an indigenous Ally
so the second group of offended people are those who find the Pocahontas costume to
be appropriating indigenous culture which if you want to know my opinion I feel like the only time
that it's not cultural appropriation is when you're wearing a costume and you're knowingly
representing something else for Halloween now please don't bite my head off here people but
cultural appropriation is claiming something is culturally indigenous when it's not so if you're
wearing a costume for the sake of pretending to be a certain character or animal or something
else then maybe it's labeled as something else but I don't know about cultural appropriation
so specifically Halloween costumes you're not really claiming that identity in your real life
right it's just for the holiday or event that's taking place that day now that is all I'm going to
say about that about the Pocahontas costume being cultural appropriation on Halloween specifically
and folks who have of this reasoning for being offended by it that is okay that is up to you now
on to the third category for being offended whether you're indigenous or non-indigenous
okay so the third group of people who find the Pocahontas costume offensive was those who give
the gatekeeper response Gatekeepers also known as the cultural appropriation police unfortunately
get offended by anyone participating in cultural anything who is not 100 blood Quantum full status
born raised living and working on the res the response by a gatekeeper is generally more extreme
than any other kind in case you don't know exactly what a gatekeeper is Gatekeepers are people who
set rules or restrictions for participating in something and for more understanding on what
I'm talking about in the context of indigenous culture watch this video right here this group
of people are most likely to be offended by any person dressing up as Pocahontas even if they're
indigenous it's not okay to be Pocahontas for Halloween actually what I found is that they
find it even worse if you're indigenous you are offending your own people by trying to
represent Pocahontas what do you guys feel about this response do you agree or do you disagree
let me know in the comments if any of these responses are ones that fit into or align with
what you think I would love to read what you feel about this topic so please share in the comments
below so now you know the first three reasons or responses why people indigenous or non-indigenous
are offended by the Pocahontas costume and now the next three categories of responses from this
question are reasons why people indigenous or non are not offended by the Pocahontas costume
so the first group of people who do not find the Pocahontas costume offensive was those who
give the whatevs response oh people are generally indifferent to topics surrounding controversy or
confrontation difficult conversations in general sometimes these folks just aren't offended by
stuff or don't have any opinion on the matter whatsoever there's nothing wrong with this some
people just don't want to engage in anything that might be controversial or cultural appropriation
related or political and not like that these group of people wouldn't respond to any form
of pull because they've got better things to do and likely if you ask them about their thoughts
they would change the topic so I'm not going to spend any time expanding upon this response but
that's what the first type of responses would be for someone who is not offended by the Pocahontas
costume they're just not paying attention to it whatsoever so now on to response number two for
people who are not offended by the Pocahontas costume the second group of people who do not
find a Pocahontas costume offensive was those who are are knowledgeable of Pocahontas's true story
and they also know that most of the Disney Princess Characters are based off of fiction
meaning that the Disney creators made the story lines up this group of responders who do not find
the Pocahontas costume offensive are culturally aware of indigenous cultural appropriation but
know that the media including movie creators use pieces of historical events that spark creative
storytelling many Disney characters are based off fiction and entertainment for this response the
focus is on the overall creative production of childhood storytelling and the awareness
that movies like Pocahontas brings to indigenous culture in general is the Focus right that's the
positive side and the negative feelings that are tied to the true story is completely different
from the Disney version of Pocahontas phew so now that we're on to the sixth and final type
of response as to whether indigenous people or non-indigenous people find the Pocahontas costume
offensive okay so the third group of people who do not find the Pocahontas costume offensive was
those who absolutely love Pocahontas this could be any indigenous or non-indigenous any cultural
background gender non-specific all included here so this group of responses to the Pocahontas
Identity or brand can be felt by anyone indigenous or non-indigenous these people who love Pocahontas
can often identify with her or they look up to her as sort of a role model many people actually
admire the character of Pocahontas for being beautiful courageous and a resilient member
of her community she is portrayed as a brave individual who is fierce who overcomes obstacles
and is great graceful while facing challenges the traits that the character of Pocahontas possesses
in the Disney movie are really positive ones and for some people that is what stands out to them
and when they see a Pocahontas costume they feel how it represents a powerful female character just
like other superheroes or Warriors that are beloved across the world for their own brand
identities now I would love to know which of the six responses that I categorized above in this
video do you resonate with the most and some final thoughts for you if you're someone who is not
offended it doesn't mean that you're stupid or not an ally or not as proudly indigenous as someone
who is and if you're someone who is offended it doesn't mean that you're too sensitive either
my only advice would be that we each have control over our own triggers and that we have the power
to overcome them as well now what is your main takeaway from this video I would love to know
please share in the comments below thank you so much for watching don't forget to like subscribe
and leave me a comment down below and share this video with any of your friends who might
be interested in learning something thank you so much for watching and I'll see you next time