Wasted, Cannupa Hanska Luger, 2017 - present
ceramic installation

Appropriation for native imagery reinforces stereotypes which exist in the ether, ideas that float from one mind to the next. The entertainment industry has helped to develop and reinforces these stereotypes for the Indigenous peoples of America. These projections from Hollywood, mascots and pop-culture precede Native people. These ideas become the icon and future generations pull from these facsimiles as truth. As we compartmentalize identity to the lowest common denominators, stereotypes and appropriation instill into popular culture the Native American as savage, other, less than or even non-existent. Society is trained in this form of racism projected onto Natives, specifically through stereotypes, which dismiss the many current and diverse populations by reducing our unique stories, languages and traditions into a collective fantasy known simply as ‘The Native American’. However, with over 500 Nations, the Indigenous population of the United States is incredibly diverse and varied in experience which is undermined by umbrella terms such as Native American and its reactive appropriation.