Another year, another Coachella, another trend mired in cultural appropriation. It's the true circle of life. You can almost watch the fixed gears of hipster logic grind: Now that Native American headdresses are offensive, we need to snatch some cool novelty from another culture. And so it came to be that bindis were a …
Yesterday, we brought you one of the most ill-advised ads for a tanning salon ever (as though tanning could get any more gauche), a tacky, racist mess that featured a white lady in a "Sexy Indian" Halloween costume along with copy that read "The Indians brought more than just 'CORN' to the first Thanksgiving... they…
Remember when Paul Frank was widely criticized for hosting a "pow wow"-themed party in Los Angeles last September where it encouraged guests to put on "war paint," put feathers in their hair, and pose with tomahawks? Unusually, after a spate of examples of unapologetic appropriation by the likes of Forever 21, Victoria's…
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For Fashion's Night Out this year, designer Paul Frank Industries hosted an outstandingly offensive Native American-themed party, featuring cocktails with names like "Neon Teepee" and encouraging guests to pose in "war paint" with tomahawks. Urgh.
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Get ready to cringe: Paul Frank hosted a Native American culture-themed "Dream Catchin" party for last week's Fashion's Night Out that makes Urban Outfitters' Navajo Hipster panty fiasco look like a United Nations peace treaty.
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Last month, Urban Outfitters drew popular ire — and threats of legal action from the Navajo Nation — for advertising such products as the "Navajo Flask" and the "Navajo Hipster Panty." The tribe owns a variety of trademarks on the term "Navajo," including one covering clothing — meaning that legally speaking, calling a…
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Overnight, something very interesting happened to the Urban Outfitters website: all 21 of the company's products that had been called "Navajo" vanished. At least at first glance.
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Sasha Houston Brown's open letter to Urban Outfitters regarding its use of the word "Navajo" in its product names may or may not have inspired company C.E.O. Glen Senk to fauxpologize in the comments — the company still won't confirm or deny whether it was really Senk or someone impersonating him — but it's certainly…
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Urban Outfitters may have been the recipient of a cease-and-desist letter from the Navajo Nation, which, as the holder of several trademarks on the word "Navajo," is seeking to stop the company from using "Navajo" in its product names and descriptions, but the current vogue for "Navajo"-inspired (and Native American-inspired …
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Sasha Houston Brown of Minneapolis published a strongly worded open letter to Urban Outfitters yesterday at Racialicious. Brown, who directly addresses C.E.O. Glen Senk, takes the clothing chain to task for its appropriation of Native American arts and crafts, and its frequent use of the word "Navajo" in product names…
