Cultural Appropriation - Anti-Racism in Summer Camps
Cultural appropriation doesn’t fit well into any of the three types of racism discussed in the previous article. In fact, there are interpersonal, institutional, and systemic variations of appropriation. The Oxford Dictionary defines cultural appropriation as: “The unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society.” In practice, appropriation is making a caricature, commercializing, or diluting a minority or foreign culture that is not your own.
Appropriation takes many forms. It looks like:
making a joking stereotype of important parts of others’ identities
erasing differences among similar groups
taking parts of a culture we like and profiting off it while reducing that culture’s ability to make their own money
making the parts we don’t like more palatable
“whitewashing” or deleting one’s ability to be their full selves
The emotional, defensive response often takes the form of “but we are trying to show appreciation for that culture”. Take some time to study the difference between appropriation and appreciation if you aren’t sure of the difference.
In order to identify and remove cultural appropriation within camps, ask yourself, “Whose identity am I mocking, pretending to be, or profiting from by using the words or doing the activities that I have chosen?”Identifying the things that need to change, and getting past the resistance to making change are the difficult parts of this work. Many appropriated elements are deeply embedded in camps’ identities and traditions. But now is the time to face the harm that we are doing and move forward.
This topic is probably the most personal for me. I’m not Black, so I will never know what it feels like to be the victim of anti-Black discrimination. But as part Kanaka Maoli (native Hawaiian), removing cultural appropriation is a hill that I am willing to die on.
Know your History
While cultural appropriation can affect people around the world (many cultures that are considered white may also be the victim of appropriation), the most common and harmful in the camp industry is of Indigenous, First Nations, or Native American peoples. The history of the summer camp industry is inextricably linked to Native American appropriation. It is time to leave that history in the past.
The first thing to do is learn the history of the people with historic ties to the land where your camp is located. Get to know them. If there is more than one group with a claim to your area, get to know them all.
I am using the word group here as collective for the various terms that Natives use to identify. The group in your area might be a tribe, a nation, a band, or a clan. Find out which term applies in your area, and use that.
My camp is on the historic land of the Duwamish tribe, which is part of the Coast Salish language family. In many places in North America the history of the land is less than straight forward. Learn it. Some questions that can guide your knowledge seeking are:
When and how were the native people removed and why?
Were there treaties involved?
What did they promise?
Are they still honored/valid?
Once you know the people of the land you occupy, honor them the way they want to be honored. This may take the form of making a land acknowledgement, using their wording if possible, with practiced pronunciation. This may happen at the beginning of each camp season, session, or day.
For example, where I am, the Duwamish people have a very clear description of their desired land acknowledgement. Not every group has the same relationship with land acknowledgements, which is why it is important to get to know the people.
Another similar acknowledgement could be to have a permanent display of the traditional name of the land and the people. A plaque on your donor wall, a cornerstone of an important building, or a commissioned artwork somewhere prominent.
Focus on connections with a group, organization or tribe rather than an individual. Just as I don’t speak for my whole race, one individual may not have the knowledge or authority to speak for their whole group. There are individuals who are more than happy to say whatever you want them to say.
Organizations are more likely to say the right thing, even if they aren’t getting paid, PAY THEM ANYWAY. But do get to know the individuals within the group as people as well.
Once we’ve gotten to know the history of the land our camp is on and its people, the next step is to pass that information along to our campers in a genuine way. If we ask the local tribe to teach us or our campers, pay them for it! Some may have complicated histories and feelings about “charging” for a service. PAY THEM ANYWAY.
Make a donation to their organization
Give them a gift
The gift should be money, not a t-shirt.
Although for a guest presenter, a t-shirt or water bottle makes a great thank you present at the time they are there, especially presented to them during their introduction to the group. If someone outside of your organization is taking their time and resources to educate you about their history and culture, they deserve to be compensated.
Songs, Stories, Names
A common way that cultural appropriation and other forms of racism occurs at camp is in the songs, chants, stories and names that we use. Gathering around the campfire is a great place to show and share what is important to us. The language we use matters; the stories we tell matter; the songs we sing matter.
Let’s take a look at our song books.
Research the background of camp song lyrics or chants.
Ask: What did that phrase used to mean? What might it mean now?
Remove songs with appropriated or racial lyrics.
Explain to camp staff why we are removing that song; don’t just tell them “we don’t sing that song.”
Encourage and empower them to think about the songs they choose to lead at campfire.
A great campfire program often ends with a story. Kids love hearing stories, and we love telling them. Stories, like songs, are a great way to teach lessons about what is important to us. They become problematic when we appropriate the story-telling traditions of the people who came before us.
Learn the story-telling tradition of the people with historic ties to our land.
Seek permission to tell their stories at our camp.
If we ask them to teach us, PAY THEM.
Use proper attribution. If you don’t know where a story came from, consider finding another one.
Don’t attribute a story to a tribe or region without knowing for sure that’s where it came from. It is better to admit that you don’t know the origins of a story than to misattribute.
This is definitely the time to stop using tribal names on cabins.
Research the history of names at camp that might be appropriated.
Who came up with the name?
Why?
Change names that need changing.
If we decide to keep a name, add an acknowledgement of who that name came from, when and why. Share the history.
A powwow is not a meeting, and our administrative hierarchy is not a totem pole. Just like we don’t call things r*tarded or gay, we need to stop with the appropriated lingo.
Examine our own and our organizations’ use of problematic language.
Remove it.
Take some time to go through all your written materials with a critical eye for inappropriate language.
Ask others to point out when we use phrases that are appropriation.
Activities and Themes
Ranging from one specific activity to a full summer theme, we need to take a look at the places that appropriation sneaks into our program time. Themes based on people’s cultures are not appropriate for use at camp.
There are some that have to go, right now:
Native American
Lu’au, Island or Aloha
Fiesta or Cinco de Mayo
Less common but no less harmful is anything related to Asian cultures, including:
Moon festival
Dragon Boats
Bon dances
Holi
The same argument can be made for European cultures as well, like Leprechauns or Octoberfest
The only exception is if you have a relationship with a local organization who is advising you on how to do it properly, and you PAY THEM.
However, I am not saying that we can’t respectfully learn and teach about other cultures through camp activities. It can be done but has to be done right.
First, make sure that learning about the actual culture is the goal of the activity. Learning about the history and the current traditions of the people needs to be kept as the primary objective, not just making a fun craft.
To respectfully integrate a cultural craft into your program, start with being as specific as possible with the origin of the thing being made. Many places have vast differences between tribes; do the necessary research to find out who the people are behind that object.
For example, there are currently 573 federally recognized indigenous tribes in the US (bia.gov, 7/7/2020), and at least 245 unrecognized (may be recognized at the state level, or petitioning for recognition). Not all of them make dreamcatchers.
Also remember that geographic boundaries are often different from cultural boundaries around the world, and a tribal mask from one tribe in Africa might not represent the entire country or might represent more than one country.
Secondly, when making a craft at camp, the thing we make is like the actual cultural object, not authentically one. Our paper towel tube with foil and rice is like a rain stick. It isn’t actually a rain stick.
Rainsticks are made by specific people and use specific materials. This is a toy. Unless someone from that background teaches it with the correct history and materials. And then PAY THEM.
These are some additional examples of crafts that shouldn’t be done without knowing the history, including who, when and why these things were made.
Dream catchers
Feather headbands
Various types of masks
Aboriginal dreamtime dot painting
Mandalas
At camp, we do not put on the thing we made like a costume and pretend to be that person (with the funny accent to go along). Train counselors in advance HOW to respond when that happens, because it's not if, it’s when. Kids like to play pretend, and that is a developmentally appropriate thing to do. This is the time to teach them about being respectful of others.
“Ancient Skills”
A common program I've seen (and taught) at a variety of camps is “Ancient skills”. This is a reflection of the historic ties that camp has with wilderness skills. Teaching these skills is important to summer camps of all types. However, we can take steps to make sure we aren’t using appropriation to teach them.
First, remove past-tense language use. Avoid talking about how Indigenous people “used to…”. Edible plant ID is often the worst culprit for this. Fire building, archery and shelter building can take this tone as well.
Many folks still practice these skills, maybe not every day, but often as cultural or ceremonial practices. Where Indigenous people no longer use these skills, it is often because they were outlawed or otherwise forcefully taken away.
Framing the skills as important for wilderness survival is great, but as “this is how some people used to catch food” is not.
It is time to leave our history of appropriation in the past. It is time for moving on, reconciling when possible, acknowledging when not, and working to make our camps more respectful of cultures around the world.
Find the money to pay people who take their time and resources to teach us about their history and culture; stop using other cultures to make money for ourselves.
The assessment that follows is a resource that can help you decide if an activity is an appropriation. It specifically addresses Native American, but you can substitute any culture or people.
Appropriation Assessment
From http://www.aileenma.com/project4/camps-educating-or-appropriating/
“Is how you’re using Native American culture the same you would do for another culture?
Are you teaching tribes that are not indigenous to your area? What is the reason behind that?
Are you using words that only sound Native American?
Are all of the Native American practices and images authentic?
Is the significance of these practices and images taught to the campers?
Is the knowledge of these images and practices accurate?
Do these images and practices perpetuate a stereotype?
Are campers learning about Native Americans or pretending to be Native Americans?”
Resources
Intro to Race Discussions/White Fragility
So You Want to Talk About Race - Ijeoma Oluo
Stamped from the Beginning - Ibram X. Kendi
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? - Beverly Daniel Tatum
Pedagogy of the Oppressed - Paulo Friere
White Fragility - Robin DiAngelo
How to be an Anti-Racist - Ibram X. Kendi
Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome - Joy DeGruy
Black Faces, White Spaces - Carolyn Finney
*Amazon affiliate links support the Equal Justice initiative
Articles
~LEILANI NUSSMAN
I am a mixed-race Kanaka maoli (Hawai’i) and white summer camp director. I use she/her pronouns. I live on the ancestral lands of the Duwamish people, past and present. I speak for myself and from my own lived experience. I still have work to do.
Click to see the Other Posts in this Series:
A Note From Travis
We are thrilled to be welcoming Leilani Nussman as a writer on the Go Camp Pro blog! Leilani is a Camp Pro from the US Northwest and she has spent her summer as part of our Camp Mavericks discussion on Racism, Privilege and Summer Camp. I was THRILLED when she asked if she could capture her thoughts on Anti Racism and summer camp in this space.
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