by Johnathan Tonge
WIIKWEMKOONG––It’s been called a fascination, an obsession, a fetish and an appropriation. For at least decades, likely longer, Europeans have been dressing up in regalia, dancing and living in a North American native style. Recently a documentary aired on CBC that shines a light on this controversial practice – it’s called Searching for Winnetou.
Tracy Recollet has first-hand experience with the phenomenon, having been invited to Germany on multiple occasions to share her culture. Ms. Recollet is from Wiikwemkoong and was featured in the documentary alongside her partner Wesley Cleland who lives in Niagara Falls, NY.
She says her first encounter was about 20 years ago in Pullman City, a western-style theme park in Eging am See in Bavaria. “At that time it wasn’t as big. It was just one man, Hunting Wolf.” Hunting Wolf is a German man who is also in the documentary and believes he has a special connection with the buffalo.
Ms. Recollet says she was never bothered by him. “He was dressed up and he looked native. I thought it was kinda cool.”
Not everyone in the documentary had positive things to say, however. Red Haircrow, an indigenous man from the United States who lives in Germany, called it among other things “a fetishism” and a “continuing of colonial practices.”
Author and playwright Drew Hayden Taylor from Curve Lake First Nation, the man at the centre of the documentary, says that most of the response he has received about the documentary has been positive. He acknowledges, however, that Mr. Haircrow was not the only person to take offence. “They say I let them [the Europeans] off easily. That I shouldn’t have soft-sold it.”
Mr. Taylor acknowledges that there may be something deeper at work but feels that the Germans featured in the documentary aren’t trying to offend. “They don’t believe they are native. Their understanding is very flawed, outdated and it’s filtered through [the lens of] early 20th century German writer Karl May.”
Ms. Recollet also shares that sentiment. She points out the limited opportunities in television around World War Two in Germany. “Back in the day, TV programs were Hitler propaganda or Winnetou. They felt a big connection with native people; respect for the land and animals.”
Both Mr. Taylor and Ms. Recollet feel, however, that when non-indigenous Canadians wear regalia it is offensive. Mr. Taylor says “here (in Canada) it’s out of disrespect; they’re wannabees or it’s fun or silly. They should know better.”
But Ms. Recollet says she has seen some examples where non-indigenous Canadians were welcomed into native culture. “I have a friend I grew up with who dresses, dances at powwows and makes regalia. Everyone who knows this person accepts them and they’re now family.” She says this person has made baby steps into the culture over their life and that they were gifted different pieces of clothing over the years. “Next thing you knew, they were fully dressed. Our people just naturally took them in.”
Ms. Recollet says that ultimately “being Indian isn’t just having brown skin and braids. It’s what’s inside our hearts.”
If you’d like to see the documentary and decide how you feel, you can find it at cbc.ca/cbcdocspov/m/episodes/searching-for-winnetou or simply type it in on Youtube.
