The items above are, at best, incredibly inappropriate and at worst, wildly offensive. I feel I should not have to even explain why what appears to be a Spirit Halloween costume of a "Native American" is offensive in the year of our lord 2022, but I will just to be thorough. This is not a costume of any specific tribe, it is not in any way an accurate, respectful, appreciation of an actual native person's traditional wear. If I had to guess, it's loosely based on various halloween costumes, or the Disney movie Pocahontas. This is not appreciating Ojibwe, or Lakota, or Cherokee culture; it is simply an ignorant caricature of what (non-native) people may picture when they hear "Native American".

In a case of insult-to-injury, the items are named "Pow Wow costume/beaded/feathered headband". A Powwow (correctly spelled as ONE word, not two), was formerly an incredibly sacred religious ceremony held by various Native tribes. Today, it serves as both a way of reconnecting with Native culture and a form of activism in keeping said Native cultures alive. You will note that Sylestia does not have a Baptism, or Bat/Bar Mitzvah Costume. Nor do we have a Nun, or Pope, or Imam, or Rabbi costume. We do not make avi items based on Yarmulkes, or Burqas, or Niqabs. Even ASIDE from the Native culture aspect, I'd like to think it could be understood that fun avatar items on a pet breeding game shouldn't be based on anyone's religion. It's disrespectful and unnecessary.

If my examination of old forum announcements and wardrobe dates is correct, these items were released with the Pilgrim outfits. I REALLY hope I don't need to explain why the outdated "Pilgrims and Indians" Thanksgiving story should be retired. The Addams Family Values film was mocking it in 1993 - if I google "First Thanksgiving", it is debunked by the third result.

At the VERY least, these items should no longer drop from retired avi chests - ideally, they should be removed from the site altogether (I'm sure a fair compensation could be provided to players who lose an avi item). I know two people of native heritage who have received these items from the retired chests and reacted with what I'd reckon is appropriate outrage and disgust.

I'm not here to litigate if these items are offensive. They are. I'm not going to engage with anyone responding along the lines of this argument - my sources are below. I am citing Native people's words - from multiple tribes - regarding cultural appropriation. I'm not asking for a full site discussion, but a response from the site staff regarding how they will remedy this situation.


A Giant, Although Not All-Encompassing, List of Sources:

https://www.wernative.org/articles/native-cultural-appropriation HERE is one explanation of why things like this are harmful
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1401522 HERE is an academic essay going further into the issue of cultural appropriation of Native American cultures
https://lakotalaw.org/news/2022-02-10/appropriation-isnt-appreciation HERE is an article from the Lakota nation about the topic
https://locallearningnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Cultural-Appropriation-Primer.pdf HERE is another article featuring native people explaining why this is harmful
https://grammarist.com/spelling/powwow/ HERE is source one on the correct spelling of Powwow
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/powwow HERE is the entry in the Merriam-Webster, giving the correct spelling and noting the offensive uses of the word
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1486&context=etd HERE is a master's thesis on the cultural significance of the modern powwow
https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/indigenous-prisoners-hold-first-powwow-since-2019 HERE is a news article featuring native people explaining the significance of a powwow
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/no-savior-on-the-horizon-native-peoples-fight-for-environmental-and-cultural-protection/ HERE is a book review of an examination of environmental justice by a native woman, which covers the harm of cultural appropriation
https://indiancountrytoday.com/the-press-pool/ikiya-collective-demands-diesel-pull-down-the-harmful-racist-be-stupid-campaign-appropriating-native-culture HERE is yet another article on the harm of cultural appropriation
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2017/05/18/the-emotional-exhaustion-of-debating-indigenous-views.html HERE is an article by an Attawapiskat man on the harm of repeating this basic conversation over and over again
https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2017/05/27/back-to-our-roots-colonialism-and-cultural-appropriation.html HERE is an article by an Anishnaabe woman with more information on the appropriation of Native culture
https://globalnews.ca/news/3463986/commentary-lets-start-with-what-cultural-appropriation-is-not/ HERE is yet another article about defining cultural appropriation by an Anishinaabe woman
https://www.cbc.ca/arts/the-cultural-appropriation-debate-isn-t-about-free-speech-it-s-about-context-1.4117142 HERE is an article by a Tuscarora woman refuting a common argument about cultural appropriation
https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/you-can-stop-appropriation-indigenous-cultures and HERE is a giant collection of further sources regarding the appropriation of Native Cultures

100% agree.

Interestingly enough, the site ChickenSmoothie had a similar issue, and handled it very well. Link to CS response (end of post).


I'm in favor of just deleting all copies and giving some compensation.

I know krin said he & fai don't find this set offensive, but that's really not a call they can make considering the demographics that are actually getting their cultures butchered very much disagree.

Agreed. But if the admins insist on keeping their offensive items for some reason, at least give us an equally butchered rainbow pope outfit.

As we have stated numerous times before in the same posts, we are not going to remove these items and these items are not depicted in an offensive way. Literally, the VAST majority of our Wardrobe includes depictions of someone's culture. Using the same logic that you are arguing on behalf of, you are asking us to remove 75% of all Avatar Items.

I am sorry, but we do not agree with that logic.

Since this exact same issue has already been shared and responded to in the past, I am locking this thread.