Posted on 03/03/2009 4:40:07 PM PST by SJackson
I am glad it was spelled with a C and not a K.
In fact I agree with you.
It is the “squeaky wheel” minority here that’s getting all the hoopla.
I just think it’s time for everyone - all of us - to get over this ridiculous fascination with the whole “victim” status thing. It’s played out already.
Years from now, say a century or so, they will look back on our time and say there was hardly a spine amongst the whole damn bunch of us.
Sure is good to know that all other challenges in WI have been solved so the legislators have time to issue edicts like this.
Fighting Illini is still their name
I used to make beaded jewelry and wear it around. Then I started getting glared at or yelled at, and called a racist because the pattern I thought was “neat looking” happened to belong to this culture or that culture. I’d learned as a kid that for some reason I wasn’t allowed to wear certain styles, no matter how pretty I thought they were because somebody was always insulted by what I wore. Heck, I started wearing all one color (black) so hopefully no one would be offended, and people still yell at me for THAT.
White people aren’t allowed to be ethnic. Which is too bad, because I think there are some gorgeous things out there. I’m not trying to insult anyone, I’m not trying to lay claim to someone else’s culture, I just like pretty things.
Illinois is an Indian word. Chicago is an Indian word. When I lived in Seattle (a variation of Chief Sealth's name) and the locals would complain about the Indian logos I wore there too, I would always have to remind them that I was born in a state with an Indian name, not a state named after a slaveowner. That always separated the people who knew history from the people who have it explained to them.
While we live in Seattle, my daughter (about 12 at the time, picked out a Washington Redskins shirt, because the color scheme was pretty cool and the store didn't have one in her size. That got the locals excited, too. I helps to have a sense of humor.
BTW when you hear somebody talking about “Native Americans”, you know he’s a politically correct BS-er.
A quick glance at any of their campaign ads for casinos shows that they refer to themselves as Indians in the “Paid for by...” text at the end of the ad.
And that’s the rule not the exception. As one personally explained to me some time ago, if Russia had taken over the USA in WW3 and renamed it West Russia, would you happily start calling yourself a “Native West Russian”?
You were not copying anything, just making designs that pleased you.
Those that were offended because they thought they had a copyright or patent on the designs you made should have been more mature than they were and appreciated what you had made.
They could have sat down with you and explained that their ancestors made similar patterns.
They should have been honored that the spirits of their ancestors chose you to let them see the beauty of the creations channeled through you. (Ok I made the “spirit” stuff up, but maybe they could have seen it that way.)
I know a very wise old Indian that I am sure would have had no problem with what you did.
Years ago I needed some shoes and had some leather so I made some sandals.
I created the design to be functional and durable, and such that they would stay on my feet securely
Some time later I was on the coast of California and ran into an old leather-worker.
I showed her the sandals that I had designed and made and she told me that it was a classic design from the Greeks many centuries ago.
She also told me that every sandal style had been made and that no new ones could be created using the same materials available years ago.
....Then Tough $h|+. Grow a thicker skin. Americans are tired of your nonsense. Maybe in your next life your people will be victorious, instead of vanquished.
In fairness, frequently it's not Native Americans complaining, in fact they're often on the other side.
I can believe that.
It's the liberal rabblerousers that are the source of this unending and perennial conflict. I just get mad when my tolerance level of crybaby-ism has been reached. I strongly believe that if folks complained less and controlled their lives more, there would be less crime, less sadness, and more personal freedom in this great country.
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