I woke up this morning at 4 am, unable to go back to sleep because of the awful image of a woman in a Native American costume being pulled by a rope behind a horse during the 4th of July parade in Muscatine, Iowa.
I learned of this yesterday from a blog post written by my friend Jessica Engelking, Representation Director at the Great Plains Action Society (GPAS), Racism on Parade in Muscatine, Iowa. Part of Jessica’s blog post follows.
There is also the issue of this act mocking the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis. Muscatine hosted a parade that featured a bound white woman pretending to be a Native woman in a cheap, sexually provocative Halloween costume being led beside a horse ridden by a white woman
Again, as the Representation Director of GPAS,it is my job to clearly state that great harm that was perpetuated by your parade. This wildly distasteful act that you allowed in your parade was dehumanizing and dangerous for Indigenous Peoples. Your parade represented Native women as 1) sexual and 2) powerless. A Native woman was displayed as a captive servant—a desirable candidate for possession for rape and violence. This was made even more evident by the “sexy” Halloween costume she was wearing, which mocks our traditional regalia and sexualizes us.
Regardless of whether this aspect of the parade was your intent, you allowed it to carry out. It should have been shut down immediately. We live in a world where real women, our not-so-distant ancestors, were bound and pulled beside horses like that. And they were raped and murdered. They watched their babies’ skulls be smashed. They witnessed and experienced unspeakable horrors. And, you allowed a part of that real history to be recreated for entertainment value. Shame on you. We expect an admission of accountability, an apology, and a forever ban for the racist organization who did this.
Miigwech,
Jessica Engelking
Anishinaabe
Representation Director
Great Plains Action SocietyTo Take Action Please call or email the City of Muscatine and the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce & Industry to register a complaint about what they allowed to happen in their parade. It is important to note that Brad Bark is both the Mayor of Muscatine and the President and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce–so let’s contact him!
Contact Brad Bark though the City at: (563) 506-3161
https://www.greatplainsaction.org/single-post/racism-on-parade-in-muscatine-iowa
bbark@muscatineiowa.gov
Contact Brad Bark through the Chamber of Commerce at:
(563) 263-8895
muscatine.com/contact
Groups and individuals are responding to the display and costume as both shocking and sickening to Indigenous Iowans. A woman is seen dressed in a Native American costume, with her hands bound by a rope, being pulled by a woman on a horse.
Sikowis Nobiss, Executive Director at the Great Plains Action Society, says there’s no excuse for playing what she calls “Pretendian”.
“So, this is absolutely an act of racism. I don’t know how anybody could see it any way else. Excuses don’t change what happened and what everybody saw,” Nobiss said.
Nobiss says the costume was not just offensive because of deep wounds caused by colonization, but modern-day problems that still affect Native Americans.
“We also have a very high rate of being sold and taken into the sex trafficking industry. And so this really reminded me of like how, you know, settlers view us still. Like less than human.”
Nobiss says if you want to celebrate Indigenous heritage, costumes are off the table, but there are still ways to celebrate.
“Go to a powwow, buy from our indigenous-owned stores, support these indigenous-owned businesses. Find your local tribe or organization and ask them if there are ways you can volunteer or help out with any issues or causes they’re working on, Nobiss said
‘An egregious act of racism’ Muscatine Independence Day costume offends Indigenous Iowans By Conner Hendricks, KCRG.com, July 5, 2023
Find your local tribe or organization and ask them if there are ways you can volunteer or help out with any issues or causes they’re working on.
Sikowis Nobiss
In a statement, the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce said:
“It was brought to the attention of the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GMCCI), that there was a parade entry consisting of a woman dressed in Native American attire with a rope around her hands walking alongside a horseback rider holding the rope.
GMCCI does not condone this behavior and this entry does not represent our community.
Quakers and Mutual Aid 