It really does. Like I don’t talk about one of the ones you mentioned because the Dine’ say you’re not supposed to talk about them, and they’re not my monsters, so I don’t talk about them. They don’t belong to me, Dine’ religious beliefs aren’t a threat to me like Christian or large scale religions with institutional power are, so I think it’s appropriate to respect their wishes on the matter and avoid whistling at night. Same with the Wendigo concept. It’s not at all what white people conceive it as and the cheap, crude distortions are pathetic and sad. The only white culture product I’ve seen that I think uses the Wendigo concept well is Ravenous, and there it’s used as a metaphor for the cowardice, greed, and brutality of white settler colonialism, with the white US army occupation troops literally devouring each other in an orgy of hatred, greed, and fear. And it’s not about indigenous people, but rather white people critiquing white culture and appropriating an Algonquian concept as a macguffin. It has two indigenous actors who take on stereotypical roles, with the indigenous man being the first to die and the indigenous woman mostly being there to provide exposition.
I’d really like to learn more about indigenous representation in film as a whole. It’s a huge mess of grotesque racism with occasional gems, but I really don’t know much and I struggle to find discussions from indigenous people that are directed at white audiences. Which is totally understandable, but I wish I had more access to discourse and knowledge.
So the subject of using that particular proscribed term is interesting for me personally, as I’m not a part of the Dine’ culture - I respect people wanting others to refrain from using their cultural terms in a frivolous manner but I’d also been told that the english colloquial name is fine…? Its the internet though so it could easily be an excuse to keep using it. All that being said I should probably refrain from using it for basic decency reasons >.>
Yeah, I’ve just heard that you’re not supposed to talk about them or name them because it can draw their attention and cause problems. I don’t believe in them, but out of respect I’ll follow what I’ve been told is the custom as best I can. I could certainly be wrong, I often am.
It really does. Like I don’t talk about one of the ones you mentioned because the Dine’ say you’re not supposed to talk about them, and they’re not my monsters, so I don’t talk about them. They don’t belong to me, Dine’ religious beliefs aren’t a threat to me like Christian or large scale religions with institutional power are, so I think it’s appropriate to respect their wishes on the matter and avoid whistling at night. Same with the Wendigo concept. It’s not at all what white people conceive it as and the cheap, crude distortions are pathetic and sad. The only white culture product I’ve seen that I think uses the Wendigo concept well is Ravenous, and there it’s used as a metaphor for the cowardice, greed, and brutality of white settler colonialism, with the white US army occupation troops literally devouring each other in an orgy of hatred, greed, and fear. And it’s not about indigenous people, but rather white people critiquing white culture and appropriating an Algonquian concept as a macguffin. It has two indigenous actors who take on stereotypical roles, with the indigenous man being the first to die and the indigenous woman mostly being there to provide exposition.
https://manorvellum.medium.com/decolonizing-dread-the-ravenous-nature-of-colonialism-91d327a362b3
https://atribecalledgeek.com/5-horror-movies-horrendous-indigenous-rep-2023/
I’d really like to learn more about indigenous representation in film as a whole. It’s a huge mess of grotesque racism with occasional gems, but I really don’t know much and I struggle to find discussions from indigenous people that are directed at white audiences. Which is totally understandable, but I wish I had more access to discourse and knowledge.
So the subject of using that particular proscribed term is interesting for me personally, as I’m not a part of the Dine’ culture - I respect people wanting others to refrain from using their cultural terms in a frivolous manner but I’d also been told that the english colloquial name is fine…? Its the internet though so it could easily be an excuse to keep using it. All that being said I should probably refrain from using it for basic decency reasons >.>
Yeah, I’ve just heard that you’re not supposed to talk about them or name them because it can draw their attention and cause problems. I don’t believe in them, but out of respect I’ll follow what I’ve been told is the custom as best I can. I could certainly be wrong, I often am.