FA+
Shop
372
Views
Views
10
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Photography / Portraits
Species Coyote
Size 720 x 960
File Size 41 kB
Report this content
More from raistlin616
This was my costume for Anime Boston and Connecticon 2013. I had ALWAYS wanted to have antlers and wanted to be a more unique character so I decided to be Coyote from Native American (First Nations, American Indian or which ever you prefer) lore. Coyote has always been a favorite character of mine and I greatly respect the Native cultures. Coyote is very much like a Jesus figure in some tribes, and like Loki in others. He often teaches through his own mistakes (I say he, but honestly Coyote doesn't REALLY have a set gender). I had the whole costume go through a minor smudging ceremony (a native tradition to purify things of bad spirits).
Most of all i wanted to enjoy bringing an unknown character to life (in my own personal vision) without offending anyone at the same time. I actually met a few Native people at the con, and I was very happy when they told me LOVED the costume and help honoured someone would think of bringing one of their mythological figures to life. I felt so completely honoured that they said that to me, and it filled me with joy.
I did make this entire costume minus the dance stick and buffalo bone breastplate. Everything is REAL. Yes, there are dead animals here, sorry if you do not like that, but please do not flame me, I wanted to use them in a traditional way. Thank you.
Most of all i wanted to enjoy bringing an unknown character to life (in my own personal vision) without offending anyone at the same time. I actually met a few Native people at the con, and I was very happy when they told me LOVED the costume and help honoured someone would think of bringing one of their mythological figures to life. I felt so completely honoured that they said that to me, and it filled me with joy.
I did make this entire costume minus the dance stick and buffalo bone breastplate. Everything is REAL. Yes, there are dead animals here, sorry if you do not like that, but please do not flame me, I wanted to use them in a traditional way. Thank you.
Category Photography / Portraits
Species Coyote
Size 720 x 960px
File Size 41 kB
That's an amazing costume and it looks like so much work was put into it! It's really great to see people helping our style of regalia to survive, I really think this whole Cultural Appropriation idea that's started up has potential to create a detrimental effect on character design. You must've been brave to wear this out in public, even at a con! I'm even much more native looking than I am and I'm shy about wearing my moccasins out some times. xD
To be honest, I was terrified to wear it out in public. I was scared I'd be shunned for it. I'm a white girl, a VERY white girl and so far as I know I have no connection to native cultures in terms of blood. I was raised in a city called Kamloops which has a strong native culture (the Shushawap and the Crow people). I went to a daycare that was run by native people and when it came time for school I had been invited to join the native people's school (I didn't actually find this out until a couple years ago), but my parents wanted me to go to French immersion, so I didn't get to learn the native language at all (It still hurts that my parents made that choice for me, although I was only 6 at the time).
I'm very happy that people really took to the costume! I don't claim it's an accurate representation of any one culture, but a mix of many because Coyote is of many. The character is also just my own person vision of Coyote.
I'm very happy that people really took to the costume! I don't claim it's an accurate representation of any one culture, but a mix of many because Coyote is of many. The character is also just my own person vision of Coyote.
Definitely strong plains influence. Parents only do the best they can, though, and the truth is, they're no more knowledgeable than normal people. What a lot of Social Justice warriors and native and white politicians don't understand is that limiting Native culture to blood quota will hurt it in the long term, when people that are truly interested in it and respectful of it will get turned away, and the culture will slowly die. I've met a good deal of native folks up here in North Dakota that think it's not good to limit culture with blood. Your bravery in wearing this costume out and about honored Coyote just as much as any storytelling and prayer and painting could, because Coyote knows what it means to be different and to be ostracized for it.
Comments