Winnipeg folk festival may deal with headdress issue next season

APTN National News
According to officials at the Winnipeg folk festival, its mandate is to create experiences through the celebration of music and people.

But this year, one festival go-er may have taken the celebration too far.

APTN’s Jaydon Flett explains.

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1 thought on “Winnipeg folk festival may deal with headdress issue next season

  1. here2look says:

    What I don’t understand is that most Aboriginal bands (referred to as tribes in the following internet article quotes from the U.S.) did not wear that type of head dress
    until much later in history and even then, they only did it FOR FASHION or
    because that’s what they thought tourists expected them to wear (to
    get money from the tourist for pictures etc.). Also, according to that line of
    thinking of banning those from not wearing them if they are not entitled, then
    female chiefs should never wear a warbonnet.

    From the internet: “When most people think of headdress, the first image that comes
    to mind is a full eagle-feather warbonnet like the Lakota Sioux headdress. But
    in fact, most tribes never used feather headdresses like these. Feathered
    warbonnets may be the best-known headdresses, but they were not the most
    commonly used– and they were certainly not the only ones.
    Warbonnets (or war bonnets) are the impressive feather headdresses commonly
    seen in Western movies and TV shows. Although warbonnets are the best-known
    type of headdress today, they were actually only worn by a dozen or so tribes
    in the Great Plains region, such as the Sioux, Crow, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, and
    Plains Cree. All type of war bonnets were made from the tail feathers of the
    eagle. Besides the feathers, warbonnets were often decorated with ermine skins
    and fancy beadwork.
    Warbonnets were ceremonial regalia worn only by chiefs and warriors. Only men
    wore warbonnets. (Women sometimes went to war in some Plains tribes, and
    there were even some female chiefs, but they never wore these masculine
    headdresses.)
    In the 1800’s, men from other tribes sometimes began to wear Plains-style
    warbonnets. Partially this was because of the American tourist industry, which
    expected Native Americans to look a certain way. In most cases, the feather
    warbonnet did not have the same significance among the new tribes that adopted
    it. For them, wearing a feathered headdress was a matter of fashion or a
    general symbol of authority.”

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