the significance of hair and feathers in my culture: a thread

hello! this is a thread that will hopefully be insightful as to why 8’s hair wrapping and feathers are cultural appropriation, and will also teach you about some aspects of my culture!

in my tribe (plains cree,) feathers are not to be taken lightly by any means - you cannot adorn feathers or even own them without having earned them, whether it be through prayers or honorable acts.

they’re highly spiritual and a symbol of honor and pride - you can often see warriors, chiefs or elders owning feathers because they’ve earned them throughout their lifetime.

i’ve also seen in another thread and in the mass email that in some other tribes, they’re believed to be dropped from the birds who are the reincarnations of our late ancestors. these significances can vary from tribe to tribe but are nonetheless important to note and respect.

this also ties hand in hand with the significance of hair within indigenous culture, and hair wrapping - which can be seen in 8’s teaser as well.

hair in indigenous culture is sacred- hair represents your strength as a spirit on this earth and has big ties to the creator.

hair is braided with good thoughts and intentions to strengthen it. hair wraps can be used to protect it - and is also a choice of fashion, specifically for women and dancers.

please note that you won’t often see these wraps outside of indigenous culture - unless of course it’s boho, or hippy. but it’s important to know that both of those aesthetics are built off of the backs of native american and “savage” imagery.

many people will and have argued that this is not cultural appropriation - while there may not have been a malicious intent, imitating someone’s culture without knowing the significance of it or of your actions is appropriation.

i could go on forever and also dig into the appropriative properties of boho and hippy aesthetics so i’ll just leave it as is for now!

i hope you guys were able to learn and better understand the root of our hurt in this situation! please spread this if you can :-) don’t forget to amplify indigenous voices!

here’s a very nice carrd about CA in general, if you’d like to read up about it! https://sourfavewantstobeindig.carrd.co/# 

since i noticed many people pointing it out, i’ll add it here: yes, many other cultures use feathers as well! as i’m not apart of those cultures, i cannot speak on them or their significances. i wish only to educate you guys on the importance of it from an indigenous pov!