Tomorrow’s my 50th birthday, and my family got me a really beautiful gift: a blanket designed by Louie Gong (Coast Salish, Nooksack) from Eighth Generation, an American Indian artist collective that’s looking to counter the wave of “native-inspired” designs that appropriate tribal cultural heritage and capitalize it such that the profits never find their way back to the originators of the designs. This would never be kosher within the white western design world: takedown notices and IP infringement suits would abound immediately. But somehow it’s OK when it’s a “tribal motif”?
Or, not: Zia pueblo, for instance, has successfully sued to keep their sacred sun symbol off unlicensed private, for-profit merchandise (they’re fine with it being used as the state symbol). But there’s still a lot of infringement that flies under the radar as “boho” or “tribal” style.
I’m not talking about Pendleton blankets here. Those are contested territory, and I don’t have a say in that debate as a white person. All I know is I would rather give my money directly to the designers. It’s hard to create; it’s easy to copy. So, if you want some really gorgeous and unique holiday gifts that give back directly to the communities that created them, check out Eighth Generation.
And stay tuned: this is only the beginning for this blanket…. But as a New Mexico girl who understands perhaps better than most white people just how much I don’t understand about the lifeways of my American Indian friends and neighbors, I’m proud and happy to sleep under it tonight–as a blessing from my family and good wishes for my next decade of life.
The Rookery 