Oklahoma Governor’s Daughter Mocks Native Americans, Again
Well, it looks like the Governor of Oklahoma’s daughter, Christina Fallin, is at it again.
After being in the spotlight for a cultural appropriation faux pas last March, Fallin and her band, Pink Pony, have angered and offended Native Americans once again.
Fallin, who is the lead singer of the band, reportedly mocked Native Americans by wearing a Native-inspired shawl and mimicked a war dance as her boyfriend gestured with his middle finger at the protesters who were present due to the controversy.
A Native American journalist present said there was no question that Fallin’s intention was to be insulting.
“This was painfully and brutally reinforced when, during one of their numbers, Fallin lifted her shawl over her head and did a perverse mockery of a native war-dance, twirling in circles as the drummer–anonymously wearing a ‘white-face’ mask, mind you—tried desperately to keep the beat,” according to Louis Fowler (Chocktaw), an Oklahoma-based reporter who wrote about the performance. “To see her reenact a sacred ritual like that in front of drunk, hateful hipsters literally caused the protesters’ collective jaws to drop. In essence, to me, it felt like Fallin was throwing it down and ultimately declaring war on Natives, not only the culture, but the people as well.”
In case you missed the controversy last March, the governor’s daughter and her band issued a non-apology after posting a photo of herself wearing a Plains Indian headdress. Many called the photo offensive, particularly because the caption next to the photo on her band’s Facebook page read, ‘appropriate culturation,’ implying she likely understands the term “cultural appropriation.” The photo has been taken down from their Facebook and Instagram pages, but Daily Mail published a screenshot.
Photo credit: DailyMail
One line in Fallin’s ‘apology’ letter that has become notorious for both arrogantly and ignorantly missing the point reads:
“Please forgive us if we innocently adorn ourselves in your beautiful things.”
Um. I don’t think Indian Country is gonna buy that.
This week, her Mother and Oklahoma governor, Mary Fallin, released a statement regarding her daughter’s choice of wardrobe and performance saying, “My daughter acted in a way that I believe was inappropriate. While she will always be my daughter and I love her very much, I don’t approve of her behavior on that night or that of her band.”
Even the music festival organizers released a statement regarding her behavior saying, “The Normal Music Festival does not support the actions of Pink Pony at our festival on Saturday night…and we oppose their use and depiction of American Indian artifacts and symbols. We certainly understand that these actions do nothing but promote racism, cultural discrimination, and religious discrimination.”
And, to make matters worse for Fallin and cultural appropriators like her, even Edmond, Oklahoma-based publication, So6ix Magazine has announced on social media that they have distanced themselves from her. Hopefully this means dressing like an Indian is no longer in style.
In their own statement, Pink Pony said the cape was not a Native American shawl and wasn’t designed to look like one, according to KFOR. The wording on the back that reads, ‘SHEEP’ refers to those who blindly follow sensationalist yellow journalism rather than the truth,” and was not in reference to their opposition.
Here’s the band’s full statement regarding their performance:
You can watch KFOR’s full report below.
h/t Raw Story