tl;dr Appreciation or appropriation?Ā But pls read the whole thing through before jumping to conclusions.Ā Any Indigenous/Native American/First Nations people who see this, Iādo super appreciate your opinions.
So Iāve had this idea in my head for a couple years: There exist a whole bunch of cross stitch patterns of pretty white ladies in fancy dresses (Mirabilia, &c.), but not much showing off people and clothing from other cultures, and thatās a shame + pow-wow dance regalia is fucking amazing, and pow-wow dancers in the style of Mirabiliaās with beads, metallic thread and fancy stitches would make awesome stitch patterns.
So this year at the summer solstice pow-wow, I took all the pictures, because if no-one else is doing the thing, maybe I should try. (Also because I got this idea in my head of a jingle dress dancer stitched up with actual tiny jingle cones on her dress, and I want it...even if I have to sub some other kind of beads because I donāt think such tiny jingles actually exist.)
And this may be a fair impossible task that goes nowhere, because Iāve only ever designed one full pattern before? Also a couple small things that only half count, because they mostly involved converting someone elseās pixel art to stitches. But I want to try and design the cool thing in my head, and of course I started with the most complicated one. XD Menās fancy dancers have SO MANY BUSTLES (but I love them).
And Iām kinda proud of my sketches because proportions are hard, but I am excited about the possibilities (thereās got to be a specialty stitch that would be perfect for all those long, thin streamers (Iām sorry, Iām sure thatās not the proper name)). So this is kind of a first, exploratory step in an idea Iāve had kicking around my head for a while.
BUT (like this post isnāt already long enough), this gets to my tl;dr question.Ā I am not Indigenous.Ā My ideal job is helping to document and preserve/revitalise Indigenous languages, because that shitās IMPORTANT, but I am also an outsider white woman.Ā The pictures I used for reference are ones I took myself during competition dances where taking pictures was allowed, as opposed to the ceremonial parts where picture-taking is not permitted.Ā And while I canāt draw something as complex as regalia without a reference (or even a decent-looking person, honestly), Iām not trying to draw/stitch a specific pow-wow dancer (if that was the case, Iād want to get that dancerās permission somehow).Ā Ā
This is mostly a personal project, but itās something where, if I can come up with a decent pattern, there is definitely a gap in available cross-stitch patterns for beautiful non-white people.Ā All the ones Iāve seen (which is only two or three, total) have been of the cringy Native-with-wolf-and-dreamcatcher variety.Ā Itād be nice if there was something there that WASNāT that.Ā I havenāt seen that, so I thought,Ā āwhy not try and create it myself?āĀ Ā
But like I said, Iām an outsider to Indigenous cultures.Ā Iāve attended a couple pow-wows (Ottawa hosts a big one at the summer solstice every year that I like to go to when I can), and I have a couple Indigenous acquaintances (but when has that ever stopped someone from being racist), but Iām still an outsider.Ā I just think regalia are amazing works of art, and theyāre so colourful that theyād make fun cross-stitches.Ā But I donāt know much about taboos surrounding regalia.Ā Is making art of people wearing regalia okay?Ā Does it become less okay if I were to sell said art (pipe dream)?Ā I know making costume pieces based on regalia is not on (chicken feather headdresses, anyone?), but Iām not sure where art of pow-wow dancers falls.Ā I mean this as a form of appreciation (part of why Iām using actual pow-wow photos as reference; I want it to be accurate to what regalia actually is), but IS IT?Ā Seriously, Iām in awe of how much time and skill goes in to making a set of regalia.Ā It is beautiful, and Iād like to make some cross stitching to reflect that, and maybe share that a bit with other people.
I feel like Iām expressing myself poorly which means this is way longer than it needs to be, but yeah.Ā Good idea, or actually racist?Ā PLS HALP.