Trapped in the Dream Catcher: How We Understand Native American Identity in the United States
I know what you’re thinking: I’m a white person writing an article on Indigenous identity in America. This is irrevocably true, and a relevant critique. However, I believe the conversation is both important and stimulating, and I should share what knowledge I have on the topic.
Also, I don’t sport any tribal tattoos, or have a dreamcatcher hanging above my nightstand. So maybe you can trust me, maybe.
The fact is, that in the United States our common perceptions of Native American spiritual beliefs, traditions, lifestyle, and overall aesthetic, are not conceived through any direct understanding of Indigenous experience or native history, but through an ongoing narrative of (mis)appropriation that overgeneralizes native identity. In short, a simulation.
What I mean by this is that the imagery, symbols, and calling cards of Native identity that we are accustomed to actually do not reference Native American culture, only our own imagination of it. This can be understood through Jean Baudrillard’s concept of the simulation. Think of a “copy” without an original, a symbol that has attempted to mimic something, but actually ends up lost in its own world.
So, when you see festival-goers sporting Plains Indian headdresses at burning man, or plastic shamans selling dream catchers out of their vans on a street corner in Portland, chances are, they are not as “in-tune” with Native American identity as they might think.
(And about the headdress thing — let’s be honest, you look ridiculous. This isn’t even so much offensive as it is ignorant. Imagine you’re sitting down for date night at the local Chili’s and a guy casually walks in dressed as the Pope. I feel like this is a pretty good approximation of the situation.)
This phenomena, while providing some with a “back-to-nature” release from the woes of 21st century existence and expectation, may have real consequences for the security and legitimacy of Native American peoples living in the United States.
For starters, it is important to remember that there are over 500 Native American nations within the United States. Now all lobbed together under the single nomenclature of “Native American,” it wasn’t until Europeans took a permanent vacation to the promised land that they came to be understood as a single entity. Each nation has its own oral histories, traditions, and cultural norms.
One quick example is the “dreamcatcher” trope. Many people purchase dreamcatchers from hobby shops, or even get tattoos of them to express a “spiritual” or “mystic” style and sensibility. However, few actually acknowledge the origin of the dreamcatcher and its purpose within Ojibwe culture. While dreamcatchers — their function, meaning, and history — are deeply rooted in Ojibwe myth and understandings of the natural world, they have come to be understood as a “pan-Indian” symbol, referencing only a vague sense of religiosity and belief in the supernatural.
In one case study, Angela Glasker says that Ojibwe people express that they are “alright with the use of dreamcatchers by other cultures” but their popularization as commodities has led many people to use them incorrectly in ways that do insult Ojibwe culture.
Originally, dreamcatchers are sacred objects that are made of natural material, conform to particular size limitations, and are meant to be placed in certain locations. Dreamcatchers are usually made and given to children in an attempt to keep them healthy and allow them to grow and mature productively.
The dreamcatcher illustrates the significance that Ojibwe people place on the intersection between ordinary reality and the supernatural realm. As Indigenous life in America becomes white-washed, cultural symbols like the dreamcatcher are misunderstood and lose their real meaning.
The commodification of Indigeneity is especially visible within the New Age movement. Many people seek refuge from the anxieties of industrial capitalism within the montage of belief systems that New Ageism offers. For many of its practitioners, the so-called “pure” and “naturalistic” lifestyle of American Indians offers a safe haven far away from the hyper-competitive and demanding technological advancement of the contemporary world. The irony here is that these products are always created to be placed in the market and sold to consumers, solidifying their participation in the capitalist system which New Agers are attempting to escape.
This desire has permeated into mainstream society too, appearing in places we take for granted. Native American cultural aesthetic in marketing and advertising is used to capitalize on Native American culture in the United States. Some scholars call this “imperialist nostalgia:” the desire and fascination for what one has previously destroyed. Think of the “Washington Redskins” football team (this isn’t even appropriation, it’s just good ol’ fashion racism), or the military-grade “Tomahawk missiles.” These are attempts to invoke the strength and power of the “noble savage” figure, a racist emblem of Indigenous culture that further suffocates Native Americans struggling for identity recognition.
Take for example the following images, where the native woman becomes a symbol for health, richness, and natural purity. In the Argo Corn Starch label, she literally appears as a vegetable, as something to be consumed.
So, it is important to answer why all of this matters. The short answer is that we tend to romanticize Native American life as something of the pre-colonial, pre-industrial past, but we need to remind ourselves that Native American people still exist today and choose a variety of lifestyles, much like any other ethnic group you can think of. The production of Native American aesthetic from the viewpoint of the Western world creates a specific body of knowledge about American Indians, and therefore perpetuates their oppression and constructs certain truths about them which can cause a crisis of identity for some.
One current issue to consider is the Native American voting crisis happening in the US. Some Native Americans live in rural areas on reservations, and it is often that their addresses are deemed illegitimate by the state. This means they may have trouble registering to vote, as an official address and photo ID are required to register.
Some Native American people may feel that they are not “native enough” because they don’t conform to popular perceptions about native culture and ways of life, and therefore will not be taken seriously. The painting at the beginning of this article (by Indigenous artist Frank Buffalo Hyde of Onondaga and Nez Perce decent) illustrates this exactly.
In this master’s thesis (page 163–164) Hyde talks about how the painting is a critique of the commodification of native identity. Growing up, he reimagined Iron Man as a Native American due to his red suit, and the missiles surrounding him represent the anxiety of being surrounded by and avoiding material that is potentially destructive of Indigenous identity. The white woman with the feather in her hair represents “playing Indian” and how non-natives adopt Native American tradition. The blue lines in the bottom corner are a reference to coupons and price tags involved in the commodification of Native American culture.
In closing, here is another one of Hyde’s illustrations, titled “Lego my Ego.” This painting depicts Native Americans frozen in time and space as Lego figures, a popular toy commodity used by people of all ages.
