When I was younger I was completely in love with Disney films. My favourites, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, I played over and over on a loop. When The Lion King came out in theatres, I actually went to see it three times (and please don’t mention that I was fifteen when it came out, okay?) A few years later I had more of an eye to critique what I thought was just harmless cartoon fun, and I really didn’t like what I saw. Not only is Disney jam-packed with obvious sexism and gender steretypes, in contains the worst kind of “acceptable” mainstream racism readily available at your local Wal Mart.

While some may argue “that was a different time” (which I’m not buyin’) when referring to the racism in movies like Fantasia, Dumbo, and The Jungle Book, Disney still has to be on the hook for some of their most recent blunders (Mulan anyone?) So when I saw this piece on Jezebel about “Disney’s first black princess” I knew I needed to post:

In March of last year, the company announced that production had begun on the film, a fairy tale to be called The Frog Princess featuring Maddy, a black chambermaid working for a spoiled white Southern debutante. A voodoo priestess fairy godmother helps Maddy win the heart of a white prince, after he rescues her from the clutches of a voodoo magician. Clichéd? Stereotypical? Yeah, that’s what many people thought. So even though the film was slated for a 2009 release, Disney went back to the drawing board.

Really? This is the best they could come up with? Well, given what they’ve “come up with” in the past, we shouldn’t be all that surprised. Watch this recap of some of the worst crimes Disney has committed to date (Although it doesn’t include the film that I believe to be one of their top ten personal worst.)

Warning: this video contains some pretty disturbing stuff, even if it is “just a cartoon.”

I’m actually starting to wonder if Disney cartoons are simply obsolete? Do they really need to do a “black princess story” at all? Do girls still need their princesses rescued by princes? Do boys still need that, for that matter?

The reviews for Wall-E, Disney’s latest Pixar film, have been strong. Admittedly I haven’t seen it because I’ve been too busy getting choked up about the trailer (the robot falls in love!), but in the spirit of Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo, it seems to toss in the trash a lot of the problems listed above and move into a new kind of storytelling that a wider variety of kids can relate to. Disney seems to be better at creating monsters, toys, fish, ants, and robots we can relate to, rather than people. I was always curious as to why the Pixar division was able to, from day one, create stories that were inclusive, while the cartoon division just kept on being problematic (To give you an idea of what I mean, Toy Story and Pocahontas were released the same year. Toy Story marked the first involvment Pixar had with Disney, admittedly only in distribution.)

Do you think that Disney’s effort at a black princess is even worth it? More importantly, why is it so hard for them to get it right?

Disney is a billion-dollar business which makes a huge impact, globally, and especially with little girls. Therefore they have a huge responsibility: To make a black princess impressionable kids can look up to. … But how is it that Nickelodeon can figure out how to create an engaging minority-oriented TV show (Dora The Explorer) and Disney — a company founded in 1923, with a history of questionable characters … can’t draft a politically-correct film about black people?

The super gifted Haida designer Dorothy Grant has called out Canadian Miss Universe contestant Samantha Tajik for what she is calling an “offensive” choice of costume.

Representing this country nationally, Samantha Tajik donned a Cree-inspired, fringed leather bikini encrusted with rhinestones and a feathered war bonnet during the 2008 pageant in Vietnam.

“A war bonnet to Cree people or the Prairie Indian people, it’s a sacred thing,” Dorothy said. “It’s used in ceremonies, in peace treaties, used in official addresses. It’s not used as a costume to walk on a stage with a deer-skin bikini.”

Now I certainly don’t think that we as Native people can’t be sexy and strong at the same time, however it’s a tad bit inappropriate to be wearing something sacred that belongs to a culture that isn’t your own, without permission, and in a way that it was not intended for.

What do you think?

This is pretty inspiring. Last weekend was tribal elections in Oneida, Wisconsin, which is basically the governing body for the sovereign nation (although we still have to legally answer to the federal governments - sovereignty sure is an interesting reality).

My partner’s amazing, incredible, strong sister Melinda Danforth was re-elected as councilwoman, along with six other women, making more than 60% of elected officials for the Oneida tribe of Wisconsin female! She’s 33 and this would be her second term as councilwoman, meaning she got started in the biz of running things at the age of 30. Melinda is a true believer in the power of the youth voice and is representing this Haudenosaunee nation with pride. You go girl!

It’s actually a normal occurence for this place; previous years have seen women holding the chair’s seat and other righteous Indigenous women taking on significant leadership roles.

Now if only the governments running these North American countries could get it right…

My car all tagged up to support Melinda running for council!

I’m back in the US but not without a story to tell yet again from what it was like to cross the U.S. border as a Native-black-haired-darker skinned-young-woman-travelling-alone.

To give you some background, I have been stopped and questioned repeatedly in higher security levels when I bothered to tell the whole truth about why I was crossing. And let me tell you, they sure don’t like fighting for reproductive freedom or working for Native American rights.

In fact, last year when I actually said that I was going to do some work with the Native American Women’s Health Education Resource Center, I was told to move to the next security level where I was fingerprinted, photographed, and had to explain my ancestry and why I would want to do “work like that”.

So I’ve learned to say the lesser activist reasons as to why I’m going to be in the US.

This time around I’m driving, and what do I see when get down to the long lineups for border crossing but 3 border patrol officials who are standing around amongst the plethora of cars, looking all stern and serious. This is new to me, I thought if you were going to be “randomly searched” it would happen when you at least get to the official in the booth.

Not anymore.

(more inside…)

Update: This post originally stated that June 13th was the initial date of National Aboriginal Day and that it was later moved to June 21st. It has been updated to read that June 21st was the designated date from the beginning.

Governor General Roméo LeBlanc signed the proclamation formally on June 13, 1996 designating June 21st as National Aboriginal Day. This date was chosen for its cultural significance - it marks the summer solstice, which is the first day of summer and the longest hours of sunlight we see during the year.

Every day to me is National Aboriginal Day; I’m a proud Native woman when I wake up every morning and when I go to sleep every night. I sort of equate it to the whole celebrating love only on Valentine’s Day kinda thing, but it’s good to take a moment to reflect on the rich heritage of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples of this land.

Are you doing/thinking/reflecting on anything for this year’s National Aboriginal Day?

Click here for a full listing of events across Canada.

My sister and I, proudly representing the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations, Iroquois peoples)

This is racist food for thought from the Vancouver Courier:

“Mass immigration, mainly from the Third World, threatens to irrevocably alter the culture of western nations. In his article, Steyn compares shrinking western populations with exploding birthrates in Muslim countries. “Islam has youth and will,” he writes, “Europe has age and welfare.”

So, if changing demographics sweep Canada’s dominant Euro-centric culture into history’s dustpan, why should we care?

Here’s why. European culture spawned the now-universal tenets of democratic rule, personal freedom and Christian-based virtue—not to mention many of civilization’s greatest scientific and technological achievements. Immigrants flock to Canada not because it resembles the land from which they flee, but because of our liberating Euro-centric society.

Quebecers understand. Last year’s “reasonable accommodation hearings” officially acknowledged widespread anxiety in la belle province. Quebecers lined up to voice their concern about foreign influence on Quebec culture, thus demonstrating that the altering affects of immigration should be discussed openly—for the benefit of immigrants and residents alike.”

As the full article will tell you, the author is referring to immigration rates in Canada and actually talks about the lawsuit against the oh-so-right-wing Maclean’s from the Canadian Islamic Congress. In 2006 Maclean’s published an article by Mark Steyn entitled “Why the Future Belongs to Islam”, which they correctly allege discriminated against Muslims on religious and racial grounds contrary to Section 7 (1) of the B.C. Human Rights Code.

(For the record, that whole situation in Quebec I personally think unfairly represented what is also true in the rest of the provinces and territories)

Last time I checked, EVERYONE IS AN IMMIGRANT, and unless you are Aboriginal, the differences lie a few generations away from each other. And even then our First Peoples have varying stories of where we came from.

I’ve been remiss in not posting this sooner, but tomorrow night is the relaunch of Piece of my Heart: A Lesbian of Colour Anthology. Thanks to contributor Dianah Smith for the heads up on this great event!

This is an official Pride Toronto event.

Matters of the Heart: A celebration and relaunch of Piece of My Heart - A Lesbian of Colour Anthology

Thursday, 19 June 2008 (7 p.m.)
The Revival Bar
783 College Street West
Toronto ON

Piece of My Heart was edited by Makeda Silvera and published by Sister Vision Press in 1991. It was the first North American anthology of literature by lesbians of colour and was a finalist for the the American Library Association, Gay and Lesbian Book Award.(more inside…)

In the light of all this Hillary being a woman supporting, I’m wondering why we haven’t blogged about the blatant racism that Obama has faced.

So I found a good one from West Virginia, in case you had any doubts about racism being alive and real and that this has everything to do with having REAL feminism in office.

Today seems like a good day to post Buffy Sainte-Marie‘s heartbreaking song My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying. It’s a brutally honest and powerful comment not just on First Nations history but on how that history has been censored, covered up, and just plain ignored. This version was performed in the 60s on Pete Seeger’s show Rainbow Quest; Buffy Ste-Marie is playing at the Montreal Jazz fest this summer along with various other fests across the country. She is amazing.