{"id":82,"date":"2024-05-28T16:43:31","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T20:43:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousdigitalliteracies\/chapter\/cultural-misappropriation\/"},"modified":"2024-07-29T15:39:51","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T19:39:51","slug":"cultural-misappropriation","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/indigenousdigitalliteracies\/chapter\/cultural-misappropriation\/","title":{"raw":"Cultural Misappropriation","rendered":"Cultural Misappropriation"},"content":{"raw":"

Defining the principles of misappropriation<\/h1>\r\nCultural misappropriation is \"the use of a people\u2019s traditional dress, music, cuisine, knowledge, and other aspects of their culture, without their approval, by members of a different culture.\" It is the act of taking elements from one culture and using them in another culture without proper acknowledgement, respect, or understanding.\r\n\r\nDigitized cultural misappropriation refers to the use of digital media to appropriate cultural elements. This can include the use of images, music, or other cultural artifacts without permission or proper attribution.\r\n
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Learner notes<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

Source and recommended reading: Cultural Appropriation of Indigenous Peoples in Canada<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nCultural misappropriation can also be defined as the unethical use of taking and using intellectual property, cultural knowledge, cultural expression, artifacts, traditional medicines, and more from another culture that is not your own. These actions are most likely harmful to the peoples or communities being exploited.\r\n
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\r\n\r\nSource and recommended reading: Think Before You Appropriate (sfu.ca) [PDF]<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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\r\n\r\n\"ToolkitHow, then, can we honour Indigenous cultures without misappropriation?\r\n\r\nBrainstorm examples of misappropriation.\r\n\r\nRecord your responses in your Toolkit<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Cultural misappropriation examples<\/h1>\r\nLet\u2019s look at some examples in detail.\r\n

Storytelling conference<\/h2>\r\n
\"Some years ago, Elders told stories at a conference; they had a storytelling conference. The people who brought this gathering together took those stories which were told\u2026and the editor, a non-Indigenous person, then put this collection together, for which a copyright was made to her. So Indigenous peoples are asking, \u2018If I give you this [story], you take it and say: this is my property, when it\u2019s my story. And my story belongs not to me but it is created by a collective effort of my community. The story doesn\u2019t come because I\u2019m an individual. It comes because I\u2019m in a particular culture, in a particular language, in a particular situation that has been collectively acquired and developed through the collectivity\u2019. So it\u2019s a collective effort, it\u2019s a collective issue.\"\r\n\r\n\u2014Dr. M. Battiste, as quoted in University Library Report of the Ithaka S&R Study on Improving Library Resources and Services for Indigenous Studies Scholars [PDF]<\/a><\/blockquote>\r\n
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Learner notes<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

Recommended reading: Indigenous Perspectives on Library and Archival Digital Preservation Practices [PDF] (crkn-rcdr.ca)<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Cowichan sweater<\/h2>\r\n\"AThe Cowichan Tribe claimed that their traditional sweater designs were being used without consent or engagement with the Nation by the Hudson\u2019s Bay Company for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. This example highlighted First Nations issues around intellectual property rights and cultural appropriation. This is just one of many examples of the current limits of legal, artistic, and economic protection for creators of cultural products in Canada.\r\n
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Source and recommended reading: The Cowichan Women's traditional sweaters, issues of intellectual property and cultural appropriation. - Studio H Canada International Artists Residencies (studiohcanadaresidency.ca)<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Inuksuk cairns<\/h2>\r\n\"2010Another example of misappropriation is the 2010 Olympic Committee's selection of the inuksuk as the logo for games. The logo is a stylized inunnguaq (an inuksuk with arms, legs, and a head), which is an important symbol to many Inuit.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n
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Source and recommended reading: Appropriation (?) of the Month: \u201cIlanaaq\u201d \u2013 Logo for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games | Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (sfu.ca)<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

The Maliseet First Nation<\/h2>\r\nThe Maliseet First Nation lost many of its oral stories to Laszlo Szabo in the 1970s when he obtained the copyright for making tape recordings of the stories.\r\n\r\nIt took the community over 40 years to be able to reclaim and publish its own stories.\r\n
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Sources and recommended readings: Indigenous Knowledges - Copyright - University Library | University of Saskatchewan (usask.ca)<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Dream catchers<\/h2>\r\n\"ACreating and selling dream catchers by non-Indigenous people is cultural misappropriation. Dream catchers are\u00a0viewed as a symbol of oneness among numerous Indigenous cultures.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n
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Sources and recommended readings: Dreamcatchers are not your \u201caesthetic\u201d \u2014 The Indigenous Foundation<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Orange shirts and where to buy them matters<\/h2>\r\n\"AOn the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, wearing an orange shirt serves as a symbol of commitment to reconciliation and remembrance. The day honours Residential School Survivors. Many Indigenous artists have been jaded by Orange Shirt Day as their intellectual property was misappropriated\u00a0and used without permission for commercial gain by others.\r\n
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Sources and recommended readings: Orange Shirt Day | The Canadian Encyclopedia<\/a>, Designers warn to avoid orange shirts exploiting Indigenous art ahead of Sept. 30 | CBC News<\/a>, and Where you buy your orange shirt matters \u2014 here's why | CBC News<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Halloween costumes<\/h2>\r\n\"AHalloween costumes can reinforce stereotypes and cultural misappropriation. Selling replicas of Indigenous traditional clothing as costumes can inaccurately depict who Indigenous Peoples are, not to mention that Indigenous Peoples have suffered a long history of colonization in Canada. Dressing up as \u201cIndians\u201d for Halloween is disrespectful of the cultural genocide and racism Indigenous Peoples face.\r\n
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Sources and recommended readings: Halloween stores starting to get the 'appropriation' message | CBC News<\/a>, Indigenous students speak out on Halloween: We are people, not costumes (ubyssey.ca)<\/a>, and My Culture Is Not Your Or Your Kids\u2019 Halloween Costume | Learning (cbc.ca)<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Totem poles<\/h2>\r\n\"TwoHere, Robin R. R. Gray reflects on how totem poles have been appropriated and misunderstood by non-Indigenous People:\r\n
Even though totem poles are defined by the First Nations peoples who create them as communicators of Indigenous knowledge, events, history, place, rights, laws and identity, non-Indigenous peoples have long superimposed their own ways of knowing, being and doing onto totem poles, thereby redefining totem poles on non-Indigenous terms. This redefinition has essentially robbed First Nations totem poles of their meaning by taking them, using their image, and talking about them out of their cultural contexts.\r\n\r\n\u2014Cited from Appropriation (?) of the Month: First Nation Totem Poles<\/a><\/blockquote>\r\n
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Learner notes<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

Source and recommended reading: Appropriation (?) of the Month: First Nation Totem Poles | Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (sfu.ca)<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Art<\/h2>\r\n\"PhotoIndigenous art is increasingly being copied, reproduced, or misappropriated by non-Indigenous people. The material, symbols, shapes, and type of artistic expression are land-based and represent specific Indigenous cultures. It is okay for non-Indigenous people to wear Indigenous designs; just make sure they\u2019re created by actual Indigenous designers.\r\n

Sports<\/h2>\r\n\"TheSports teams\u2019 names, logos, and mascots have misrepresented Indigenous cultures for far too long.\u00a0 The appropriation of sacred symbols and propagation of stereotypes have been par for the course in sports in the appropriation of Indigenous Peoples.\r\n\r\n \r\n
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Source and recommended reading: Global sport\u2019s problem with the appropriation of Indigenous culture | CNN<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Open access<\/h2>\r\nAnother example is the open access movement. Although open access has a lot of positive impacts on sharing open educational resources<\/a>, it is not always appropriate for Indigenous Traditional Knowledges. Protocols might mean only certain families should have access to the stories, songs, and dances, or they should be shared only at certain times of the year. It is also a way cultural misappropriation can happen without respecting Indigenous cultural customary laws.\r\n
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Source and recommended reading: Fact Sheet on Traditional Knowledge [PDF] | Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (sfu.ca\/ipinch)<\/a><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\nFor additional examples of cultural appropriation, see the article \"Cultural Appropriation of Indigenous Peoples in Canada\" in The Canadian Encyclopedia<\/em><\/a>.\r\n

Fundamentals of creation and curation<\/h2>\r\n