Students protest offensive Halloween costumes

Junior Shannon Ross was stunned when she arrived at Franklin Street on Halloween last year.

She saw people dressed in Native American costumes with their faces painted red, running around in circles and ululating.

As a member of the student organization Carolina Indian Circle, Ross said she was offended — which led her to participate in the organization’s campaign against culturally insensitive costumes this week.

“My culture is not my costume” is a campaign that the Carolina Indian Circle has organized for two years. Members of the organization held up signs in the Pit to raise awareness and incite discussion.

“It’s trying to raise awareness for cultural appropriation not just with Native Americans,” Ross said. “We’re not trying to make people feel bad. We just want to let people know that they could be offending someone and they probably shouldn’t do it.”

Senior Cheyna Elliott, who is part of the Carolina Indian Circle committee, said the campaign on Monday received good responses. The group put up posters with slogans such as “My culture is not a costume,” “We are not Pocahontas” and “Cultural appropriation is not OK.”

“We had quite a few people come up and ask questions,” Elliott said. “A lot of people just don’t know that it persists.”

Common Native American-themed costumes are the Disney character Pocahontas and the native warrior regalia, both of which Ross said she saw frequently on Halloween. Some of the regalia are only worn by Native Americans during cultural events like the powwow.

“What people don’t realize is the powwow dances are sacred and you don’t just run around doing it,” Ross said.

She said she accepts people dressing up in another culture’s costumes if they are not ignorant and they behave appropriately.

“I would just suggest that if you are going to dress up as anything of a different culture to not disrespect it,” Ross said. “If it’s a costume, let it be a costume and don’t act a part of it.”

But Carolina Indian Circle faculty adviser Marcus Collins said people — including Native Americans — shouldn’t dress up in traditional costumes for inappropriate events.

“If I wanted to wear my regalia and attend a cultural festivity like a powwow, or if I’m going to a classroom because I want to bring awareness, then that’s a different thing,” Collins said.

“But to take on somebody’s culture and make it part of a costume in an event where you’re not even creating awareness is just wrong.”

Collins said he finds dressing up as Disney’s Pocahontas disrespectful to Native American culture.

“It depends on what’s your philosophy in thinking that Pocahontas, the way Disney has romanticized it, if it’s appropriate or not,” Collins said. “For me, I don’t think it is.”

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