Your Dog Has Feathers?

Rejoice! Now you and your expensive dog can get on top of this like, totally spiritual-Navajo-or-whatever-not-racist (it's honoring them!)-monolithic-nature-warrior (can I throw Avatar in there?) trend from roosters who were gassed to death for a few long feathers (that could be more affordably replicated with ribbon) and whose bodies are simply thrown away. It's just perfect for your urban-shaman look. Be at one with... something. What was it again? A rooster farm? No wait, it's nature, ah-doy!

After I blogged about Mr. Steven Tyler's feather hair-extension craze sweeping the nation like a striped-strand of bird-flu, United Poultry Concerns, a domesticated fowl advocacy organization headed-up by Karen Davis, Ph.D. published an article citing it, that resulted in this petition on Change.org: Steven Tyler: Stop Wearing Rooster Feather Hair Extensions and Publicize Your Decision

So sign it! And on a broader scale, the whole American Indian and Indigenous peoples fashion trend (which is being called "global" by many mags)  requires some sociological exploring, and some history lessons, too. I can not speak from personal experience since I am Russian/Hungarian as to the level of offensiveness,  but from an analytical perspective, it says a lot about cultural and historical amnesia, aesthetic irrationality, and genocidal aesthetic appropriation. Adrienne K., a Cherokee PhD Candidate from Boston who writes the blog "Native Approporations" has an amazing, must-read article called:

But Why Can't I Wear a Hipster Headdress?

"Playing Indian" has a long history in the United States, all the way back to those original tea partiers in Boston, and in no way is it better than minstral shows or dressing up in blackface. You are pretending to be a race that you are not, and are drawing upon stereotypes to do so... by dismissing and minimizing the continued subordination and oppression of Natives in the US by donning your headdress, you are contributing to the culture of power that continues the [genocidal] cycle today... I'll add that having a drunken girl wearing a headdress and a bikini dancing at an outdoor concert does not honor me.

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So here is a video to watch below. Comments and discussion are always welcome:

Here’s how you can help-

Lakotah Youth- http://www.dosomething.org/project/lakota-outreach-project

Lakotah Elders- http://www.lakota-aid.co.uk/elders.php

Lakotah Relief Aid- http://www.republicoflakotah.com/humanitarian-relief/