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Ethnicity and Cultural Appropriation
Lindsay M. Montgomery's essay offered a viewpoint on Indigenous Americans who are actively resisting cultural appropriation and pervasive stereotypes. The article
provides an overview of how the culture of the indigenous people has been undermined by fashion designers as well as costume artists on shows and movies. Adoption of the native designs without collaborating with the native people is quite unfair and inconsiderate of their culture.Additionally, the styles showcased by the film industry regarding the mode of dressing of the indigenous people is quite partisan
and only cover the traditional attires leaving out the contemporary styles. By incorporating Indigenous models into tribally inspired outfits, the initiative "Native Fashion in the City" hopes to change that. Furthermore, it is only one component of a larger effort by Indigenous artists to promote, reframe, and reclaim Native art. These artists challenge the tendency in American culture to romanticize Native Americans, which can be found in the writings of 17th-century writers, explorers, and government officials. Observers grouped tribally distinct techniques and objects, such as designs on Lakota Sioux moccasins or painted jars made by Tewa
potters, into a single generic category dubbed "Native art" in order to dispel myths about Indigenous peoples and their products. By merging them with personal experience and tribal customs, this new generation of Indigenous artists is challenging
the subject matter and aesthetic of Native art.
Despite these initiatives to increase public understanding of current Native people and customs, unethical presumptions about who is authorized to produce or replicate "Native art" and broad definitions of the term still pervade mainstream American culture. Native artists and community people have been more and more incensed by the recent widespread appropriation of Native artwork.
