Indoor teepees: now offensive in Canada
Heather Abbey did a double-take when she first came across photos on Pinterest of miniature teepees decorating children’s bedrooms.
“To be honest, I was surprised the first time I saw them,” said Abbey, a Plains Cree entrepreneur. “Then I realized they’re all over Etsy, they’re huge in New York, they’re huge in Toronto.”
Teepees are officially trending in the world of interior design. They’re “where the stylish 7-year-old has play dates and story time,” the Wall Street Journal wrote, noting that celebrities such as Nicole Richie and Miley Cyrus had them. High-end décor chains such as Elte, Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware sell them for hundreds of dollars. HomeSense makes a miniature version for dogs. Walmart’s website has multiple offerings, including an indoor/outdoor one that’s “large enough for the entire tribe.”
But critics say turning teepees into furniture is just one more example of cultural appropriation, taking a famous symbol of aboriginal culture and stripping it of all context before selling it. A new Toronto business, the Parkdale Teepee Company, has been the target of social media ire this week. “Couldn’t be Parkdale forts/something less racist?” wrote one Twitter user with the name Erin Styles.
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Christians have had to deal with this for millenia - including the satirizing of "sacred symbols" for social commentary (I point you to the "Darwin" fish, and the Darwinian amphibian eating a "Christian" fish.) Portions of cultures have always been appropriated by other cultures in a less than respectful manner. Get over yourselves.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of the professionally aggrieved at work.
ReplyDeleteMDH
Sometimes a teepee is just a tent and not a cultural icon.
ReplyDeleteTelling me that Nicole Richie and Miley Cyrus had little TeePees to play with as they grew up is NOT a good way to sell me on them. Whoever though of using those two train wrecks as examples of usage by the famous wasn't thinking very well.
ReplyDeleteI thought imitation was the sincerest form of flattery (in this case re-interpreting a cultural artifact or way-of-life).
ReplyDeleteThe liberals love it when the schools force your children to "experience" different "lifestyles" but when a business makes a profit selling it they go berserk.
ReplyDelete