Tag native americans

The Positive Stories German Media NEVER reports on- Red Haircrow’s Article at #CBC on #NativeAmerican Interest

Red Haircrow 1 Comment

From my article at CBC​, Native Hobbyism is Modern Colonialism. It’s truth for anyone, but especially for a clearly bogus profile who posted a “too bad you can’t understand (racism) its just appreciation” comment to my page.

EXCERPT: “Some Germans are culturally sensitive
In the midst of this racism, there are positive stories that we don’t hear about either. There are Germans who have learned better ways to appreciate and respect Indigenous cultures. Some have stopped dressing up and practice culturally responsible empathy. They recognize the part that white people have played in the exploitation of Indigenous people and want to stop it in all forms. They use their white privilege to improve intercultural understanding and work with Indigenous peoples on Indigenous terms (for example, the Native American Association of Germany e.V.​).

Not all interest in Indigenous cultures and peoples is exploitative. Even though I am against cultural appropriation, especially in the form of hobbyism, I understand there is a wide spectrum of white Germans who become hobbyists. Some do so out of a desire to escape the capitalistic individualism of western societies and some to make a deeper, healthier connection to the environment.”

New at #DeutscheWelle “Why Germany can’t quit its racist #NativeAmerican problem”

Red Haircrow 1 Comment

And despite claiming to be open-minded and non-racist, it is no surprise to us that except for one film festival solely dedicated to “immigrant” and refugee issues, not one German film festival, distributor or TV/Media source or outlet accepted or showed interest in our film. Yet many others around the world have done so, and we are pleased to have won the awards and received the screenings we did.

Overall, Germany refuses to face it’s deep and normalized racism. Check the comments sections anywhere this article is posted, and you’ll see Germans (even those claiming to be open-minded and non-racist) vehemently defending racism and racist practice.

Here’s an excerpt, please read the full article at Deutsche Welle: “Across the country, Germans spent the past week celebrating Carnival, known for its parades, drinking, and colorful costumes ahead of the Lenten fast. There is a pervasive attitude that for these five days, Germans can shed their rigid cultural norms and adopt an “anything goes” policy.

Every year, pictures of some of the more racist trappings of Carnival, such as the use of blackface or “Chinese” costumes complete with conical hat, tend to face backlash both from mainstream culture and the country’s growing Asian and Afro-German communities.

However, the same cannot be said of the abundance of “Native American” costumes, a wildly popular choice in a country that has had a robust infatuation with Native stereotypes since the 1800s, made more popular by the works of beloved writer Karl May and his Winnetou character, the archetypal ‘noble savage, ‘and the 20th-century films depicting the character….”

21 Nov. #Documentary #Screening & Discussion in #Berlin with Xart Splitta & Guest – Karin Louise Hermes

Red Haircrow

  • Where –  Xart Splitta, Hasanheide 73, 10967 Berlin
  • Time – 7pm-10pm
  • Language– German & English (film & discussion)
  • Cost – Donations accepted
  • Facebook Event page

November is Native American Heritage Month, a national holiday in the USA. But there and here in Germany, the dehumanization and objectification of Indigenous peoples, and the minimization or erasure of historical acts and issues continues. Colonial behaviors and practices that are connected to the most serious, even life threatening problems humanity now faces.

Germany is well known for its cultural appropriation and ideation of American Indians. Misinformation, stereotypes and Eurocentric narratives are widespread. “Playing Indian” as a costume or a lifestyle has been normalized for generations, largely with the help or excuse of Karl May’s work.

Whether one agrees with such practices or not, most don’t recognize it for what it is: #Colonialism2019 and Systemic Racism. Why are Native and Indigenous issues too often left out of conversations on racism in Germany? Why do so many people, even anti-racism or social justice activists continue to tokenize/primitize Indigenous peoples and/or leave them out of conversations on how to survive and create a better world for all peoples?

What truly is intersectional activism and why is it critically important for Indigenous peoples, the history of their treatment and contemporary reality to take stage alongside any and every other action on anti-colonialism, anti-racism and climate crisis? What can you do? What should you do? How can we work together?

We’re going to talk about it on 21 November!

Meet our guest:

Karin Louise Hermes is a Filipina-German academic based in Berlin, Germany. Karin has participated in, organized and reported on many inter-sectional political issues at climate crisis conferences, during direct actions and demonstrations and other endeavors on Indigenous self-representation, ending racism and colonialism. She holds a MA in Pacific Island Studies from the University of Hawai’i, and is a PhD candidate in American Studies at Humboldt-Universität Berlin. One of her articles, “Why I protest“.

#Documentary Screening and Q&A -Why are Native/Indigenous issues too often left out of #racism discussions in #Germany?

Red Haircrow

Artwork by Natasha John

In cooperation with xart splitta, a screening and discussion at their location in Berlin. Facebook event page.

  • Where: Hasenheide 73, 10967 Berlin, Germany
  • When: 21 November 2019
  • Time: 7pm-10pm

November is Native American Heritage Month, a national holiday in the USA. But there and here in Germany, the dehumanization and objectification of Indigenous peoples, and the minimization or erasure of historical acts and issues continues. Colonial behaviors and practices that are connected to the most serious, even life threatening problems humanity now faces.

Germany is well known for its cultural appropriation and ideation of American Indians. Misinformation, stereotypes and Eurocentric narratives are widespread. “Playing Indian” as a costume or a lifestyle has been normalized for generations, largely with the help or excuse of Karl May’s work.

Whether one agrees with such practices or not, most don’t recognize it for what it is: #Colonialism2019 and Systemic Racism. Why are Native and Indigenous issues too often left out of conversations on racism in Germany? Why do so many people, even anti-racism or social justice activists continue to tokenize/primitize Indigenous peoples and/or leave them out of conversations on how to survive and create a better world for all peoples?

What truly is inter-sectional activism and why is it critically important for Indigenous peoples, the history of their treatment and contemporary reality to take stage alongside any and every other action on anti-colonialism, anti-racism and climate crisis? What can you do? What should you do? How can we work together?

We’re going to talk about it. Guests: TBA.

More about xart splitta: “xart splitta was founded in 2012 and is a non-profit association working in the field of intersectionality, antidiscrimination and (historical) political education. We work interdisciplinary and our formats and offers range from workshops and consultations, art & cultural productions to public discussions, conferences and symposia.”

October 14th at The #Indigenous Film & Arts Festival in #Denver, Colorado

Red Haircrow

An opportunity for interested audiences to see our documentary stateside, in Denver, CO, as part of the annual Indigenous Film & Arts Festival 2019.

We’re pleased to finally make it public, we’ll be screening in Denver, Colorado on October 14th at the Indigenous Film & Art Festival! It’s organized by the International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management, and the host organization is History Colorado Center. I very much appreciate having our documentary screened by a Native group in the USA, who recognizes that stories and situations like these for Native North Americans are important, too, even when they are happening abroad. The event itself takes place over several days, with many great films and discussions planned, which are largely open to the public and free of charge.  Please do visit their websites, and try to help support them in the important work.

Please check out their event pages at their site and on FACEBOOK to see the full line up of great films, speakers and presentations.

Tune in June 2nd to Our Interview on #WDR #Zeitzeichen’s Broadcast: “The Indian Citizenship Act”

Red Haircrow

 

In 1 week! On June 2nd, our interview by Claudia Friedrich will be part of the WDR Zeitzeichen broadcast on “The Indian Citizenship Act”. Make a note to listen in on topics of racism, white supremacist ideology and tokenism, all of which involves Germany’s problematic treatment of Native peoples and cultures today. All intersecting with and part of the rise of normalization of racism and nationalism BIPOC, German and foreign alike, are faced with daily…and which harms everyone. It continues systems of inequality, injustice and oppression.

Sentiments of, “Germany has suffered enough! (due to censure over the European Holocaust). How dare anyone criticize or take away our right to use Natives for self-gratification and teach these practices to our children!” ….Which harms other children. Go figure.

#Free Screening on 14 November in #Dresden w/ TU Dresden’s #Courage2018 Cultural Program

Red Haircrow

On 14 November, we screen at the Kino im Kasten, in cooperation with TU Dresden. It’s a #free event that begins at 8pm. https://www.kino-im-kasten.de/film.html?id=429

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE

A part of the program Courage: SEE! Know, See, Act:
“As part of the cultural programme (#courage2018), attention is drawn to numerous events of cultural and educational institutions in Dresden, which deal with the topics of civil courage, integration and racism, but also with exclusion, affiliation and discrimination. These invite to change the own point of view. Thus, the events allow to experience different facets of Courage, for example at concerts, film screenings or exhibitions. In addition, the cultural programme invites you to become active yourself, for example in the context of discussions, interactive performances and encounters.” TU Dresden School of Humanities and Social Sciences

#BookReview “Spirits of Blood, Spirits of Breath” by Barbara Alice Mann (Seneca) in NAIS Vol.5.1 2018, University of Minnesota

Red Haircrow

Check out many other authors & director Red Haircrow’s review of “Spirits of Blood, Spirits of Breath: The Twinned Cosmos of #Indigenous America” by Barbara Alice Mann (Seneca) in NAIS: Native American and Indigenous Studies’s latest journal, Vol.5.1 2018, at the University of Minnesota. Copies available here https://www.upress.umn.edu/journal-division/journals/nais

An excerpt: “Spirits of Blood, Spirits of Breath” is a collection of different and sometimes distinct indigenous perceptions, stories, legends and, while some people might call them myths, as in fiction, these are histories and explanations orally passed down that are believed true or are rooted in truth. As the aphorism states, “The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”  Yet this book is more than a systematic gathering of related information primarily on serpents and thunderbirds or sky and earth beings, none unique or forbidden because it is all available if you know where to look, and far more than a work detailing then condemning European proclivities, past or present.  It is correction by example, of misattribution, mislabeling, and at times a “blow-by-blow” timeline of western interference and biased disdain for actual native wisdom and realities, while conversely other Europeans appropriated and erased.”

We’re Screening on Oct.29th at Refugees Welcome #Film#Festival in #Berlin

Red Haircrow

In Berlin on 29 October, starting at 20:00 at the Babylon Cinema, my documentary film will screen at this film festival. Myself and members of the film team, and hopefully some participants also will be there to present and see it on the big screen again. Please visit their website, as well as the theater site for more details and information on the venue and other films being shown. http://www.refugeesfilmfest.com or in the Website of Babylon Cinema: https://babylonberlin.eu.

The topic of refugees, “migrants” and the backlash of hatred, intolerance and xenophobia that continues to be a big problem in Germany, might topically seem unrelated to Native Americans or German enthusiasm and appropriation of “native cultures”. However, it is very much connected to the issues of racism and modern colonialism that plague western society. Here is an entry letter to the festival, as we realized (and have experienced) that many Europeans, Germans especially, automatically reject any criticism or connection of stereotypes to continuing historical harm.

Greetings,

I am Red Haircrow, the director and producer of this attached film submission. At first glance, it may not seem to fit the description of your festival, but very much due to its material and participants, I feel it may be given consideration due to its honest discussion of stereotyping of people of color, foreigners and those who are “Othered” in German society.

Our film’s interviewees contrast Germany’s treatment of its “favorite” foreigners, Native American Indians vs. the daily racism, discrimination and aggression less flavored “others”, such as refugees and migrants often receive. It also specifically discusses how white foreigners are “expats”, but people of color are “migrants”. A different standard is applied. So, the topics of Eurocentrism, colonialist history and beliefs, nationalism and racism when one does not fit the favored stereotype is considered. Also the role of spectator or voyeur some Europeans have to migration stories and the personal and/or national tragedies that people searching for better and safer lives may bring with them.

Sincerely,
Mr. Red Haircrow