in the set of the Life Goes On stage at The Fact Music Awards 2020, there were unfortunately two fake tipis placed together with Native patterns for decorative purposes (see image below).
tipis are culturally significant to Native American peoples and they are not the same as any random camping tent nor meant to be a commodity that are applied in whichever racist boho / hippie / mystical themes (though it sadly is regarded as such). cultural appropriation of Native imagery such as by displaying tipis and (likely inauthentic) dreamcatchers for aesthetic purposes, as well as using Native weaving patterns for merch (with a fucking logo in it??!), has happened several times now, especially within 2020, throughout media such as BTS In The Soop and the set for the Dynamite comeback countdown, as well as with TXT and in I-LAND.
Native ARMY and MOAs are expressing concern over this time and again, but unless more people help in trying to address this issue to BigHit, no action will be taken bc we know companies don’t give a shit until something might ruin its reputation with the general public. cultural appropriation seems like the greatest trend among the entertainment companies this year and it needs to stop. more people need to speak up and support Native people among the fandom instead of stay silent or defend BH. the company needs to apologize and be more educated and this goes for its artists too.
use this e-mail template to contact BigHit about the tipis at TFMA
^ make sure to change the template a bit with e.g. different spacing or editing words slightly so that it won’t be seen as spam and filtered out!
twitter thread explaining in what ways CA (cultural appropriation) has been used by BigHit and why it hurts Native people. also includes more email templates on cases of CA from earlier this year.
people try to tweet the #BHStopUsingNativeCulture tag in hopes of trending it in case emails still won’t work
carrd explaining and illustrating Native CA in k-pop
please share, email, use the hashtag etc to help out. too many people in fandoms don’t fucking bat an eye at cultural appropriation of Native cultures or see these issues as mere ‘drama‘. it’s not.
EDIT / update:
The original post I only mentioned the two tipis on the LGO stage, but there were also 2 on the screens in the background. Should have mentioned this before.
Changed the word ‘tribes’ to people as people(s) are more accepted terms. (Thank you @jinkissingastatue for correcting me!)
It appears some people cannot access the twitter thread above. Here are a few more threads in case more go on private or disappear:
Thread with examples of these issues in BigHit
Thread about the tipis at LGO specifically
Thread on dreamcatchers in a TXT photoshoot
Thread on tipi in Dynamite comeback countdown
Another thread
Regardless of what a template claims, do NOT message the ‘protect‘ email address, that one is intended for reporting defamation and stalking of idols. Email to [email protected] !
K-army have been informed of this (such as here) and do try to educate each other but I cannot read much Korean and verify how accurate the info in the images.
Other tags to tweet @ BigHitEnt : #BHStopUsingNativeCultures #NativeARMY7Months #BigHitStopUsingNativeCultures
It is highly encouraged to post onto Weverse about this too. Use the hashtags there too. There is not yet a Korean message circulating so help from people fluent in the language is very welcome.
