First off, I absolutely understand and respect where you are coming from, and you have every right to be upset and even outraged about this. However, this is a larger problem in general, and one that stems from a common source.

I mean, it's not just the Native American Tribes culture which is grist for the mill, it's all cultures everywhere. The 'naughty nun' outfit is so omnipresent these days that it has become its own subgenre of porn, it seems, which is just as offensive to anyone who has taken those vows. And you'd be surprised how many convents have nuns who 'left to parts unknown', women disappearing overnight. And don't get me started on how badly butchered Shinto has gotten, the shrine maid has become just as ingrained a fixture in porn culture as anything else has, and how it is treated is, frankly, disgusting.

The underlying problem common to all of these disparate issues is cultural ignorance, most guys don't understand what the War Bonnet represents or means, they just want to see some 'hawt action'. If they knew, if they understood what it represented, they might be less 'whoa, that's hot dude', and more 'dude... uncool, man'. That's the sort of change you are looking for, and that can only come through education, through teaching these guys what that represents, to show them why it should be respected.

You know what I'd love to see? A movement within the furry community whose goal is cultural awareness. All cultures, including Native American. A group who tries to spread the truth about these disparate cultures that are being appropriated to get someone's jollies off, and hopes to see a decrease in this sort of thing. But you have to be careful to make sure the focus is on education and enlightenment instead of just outrage or shaming, or it is just going to get completely dismissed as 'a bunch of SJW with their panties in a twist'. Present it as an opportunity to learn some cool things you never knew about, and it'll probably get more traction.

I doubt it would have much of an impact, most of the ones who just want to view the porn just want some porn to look at, and don't care about anything other than rubbing one off. Those guys, you aren't going to be able to reach. But if you get a significant number of artists in the community to realize how offensive this stuff is, you might see a decline in that sort of artwork being generated. Granted, some artists aren't going to care, either because they are willfully ignorant or they are just plain too desperate for cash to turn away those sorts of commissions despite how offending it might be (someone, after all, is drawing art for the scat/diaper fetish community...). But it would be a start, and it might make at least some difference, make some kind of impact. It would be doing something that would actually be constructive to our larger community as a whole.

Target the group at artists. Pass it off as 'how to draw porn and not be a culturally insensitive bigot about it'. You're never going to make headway against the people watching the porn, they just simply don't care, so focus on the ones you can reach, and who control what sort of porn is drawn.

Thank you for this comment!
And I fullheartedly agree!
I standby anyone who understands the struggle and will take the time to sit down to listen and help get rid of this problem.
I just thought instead of commenting my views and anger. I’ll instead draw it.
In my opinion it’s simply okay to be angry.
It’s okay to voice your stand in any way as long as it doesn’t harm a majority.

The thing this person did and many others I see, choose to ignore those who do speak calmly and try to educate but of course they won’t listen.
So instead of me talking directly to them. I just post it to myself in a form of a rant. But also try to inform others and them if they ever come across this that this is harmful, and never okay.
Fiction or not things like this always have an impact on real lives.
They chose not to understand that of course.
But I agree with you :)
Thank you for understanding as well.
Everyone handles things in their own way and this happens to be mine.

But my reasoning on why I’m so angry about this as well is that native women are getting to be so sexualized by both “mainstream” culture and in art form no matter the way it’s drawn.
It’s damaging as I’ve said.

Miigwetch💜

I will absolutely agree that it is okay to be angry, and I will also agree that it is healthy to draw 'vent art' to express that anger in a mostly productive manner. That's probably one of the most productive things you can do with anger and frustration. And if that is all you intend to do, it doesn't have to go any further. Sometimes, you need to vent, that's perfectly healthy.

But if you are wanting to actually make a change, you are going to have to put a leash and harness on that anger and frustration, to use that energy it creates to a fruitful purpose, one which does not have overtones of anger or frustration. You see, that's always the challenge... using your anger and frustration, acknowledging it as perfectly valid, harnessing the energy it produces, but making sure that the end result is something positive instead of negative.

I have an idea, but I really don't know how to go about doing it, and I don't know enough disparate peoples with a vested interest to establish it within the furry community. There may well be already established groups aimed at cultural awareness, lost in the crowd. Or there may be groups aimed at awareness of a specific culture that are independent and isolated, that could find support in each other. I will have to look into things in more depth.

But yanno what? A group of people within the furry community trying to educate the community as a whole on cultural awareness? That sounds like a worthy project. I'll see what I can do. If I can manage to make any headway, I'll let you know.

The thing is, it IS happening, but there is a lot more ignorance that bunches up. I've literally run panels at several cons now showing what the actual culture is like. I know you say "it's a problem at large" but it's actually off-putting for you to de-center the conversation from Native people here, especially since we deal with the fact the culture that tried to eliminate us from the face of the earth is doing it.

Okay, I get that. But do you think that the native american peoples are the only ones that got run over by America? I'm not trying to de-center the conversation, I'm trying to point out that you've got potential allies with other cultural minorities in a similar situation which can help each other out to benefit all.

I'm trying to point out how you can be more efficient and hopefully more effective by specifically targeting the artists producing the offensive artwork. And not targeting in a negative connotation, I don't mean harassing artists who draw such things, I'm talking about an education process. Call it a guide, or an aid. "An artist's guide to native american culture and symbolism". Don't just point out that these things are offensive, go into why it is offensive, why these things are sacred, and provide alternatives to artists which are not offensive since they aren't referencing specific native american traditions. Make it an e-book or .pdf that can be shared and distributed easily so that more artists can get their hands on it, so that more artists will be more respectful of native american traditions.

Tell you what. You make up something we can distribute, and I'll make sure it gets posted to the Furry Writer's Guild and passed around to a couple of artist groups. I know Oli would be more than happy to help distribute it, or at least generate awareness, and she's got tens of thousands of people who follow her artwork, with connections to other artists. We might not be able to reach the entire furry community, but we can damn sure hit a decent percentage of the artists. It won't stop it entirely of course, some artists are just jerks who don't care if what they are drawing is offensive, some artists are just too desperate to turn down commissions just because they are offensive, and it probably won't reach all of them. But it might help at least reduce the amount of offensive artwork being produced.

How much experience do you have with this to tell me, a literal educator on the subject, what I should be doing? Also, those books on culture and symbolism exist. A simple google search would turn them up. There are 573 tribes just in the US. Compiling a book like that from scratch would require A LOT of experts on all the different cultures. Your comments come off as very out of touch.

It doesn't have to be that in-depth. You aren't teaching a college level class here, you're just trying to keep the artists from turning your religion into a fetish. There's maybe a dozen items that are in use that are a problem. Target that. Point out that this is sacred, why this is sacred, and could you please not? That's all it needs to be. At the end, you can have links for references for deeper material so that if someone does want to learn more, you can give them the resources to do so. If they are interested, they can learn more. But even if they aren't interested in following the links, they can at least be aware that this stuff IS offensive, so can you kindly knock it off? That's what the goal is here.

You can boil it down to "These things? They're sacred, they are religious symbology. Here's what they mean. Please don't incorporate them into your porn." That's a simple message that is easy to spread. Is it oversimplified? Of course it is. Like you said, trying to cover everything would be a full course load. Fortunately, you don't need to try to cover everything, you just need to cover the stuff that is being misused, which is mostly the same half dozen or so things over and over again. And the links at the end are there for those who are genuinely interested in learning more. Will it stop things entirely? Of course not, let's be realistic. But it could at least make a dent in the amount of crap being put out, and make the artists less likely to draw it. Which is progress of a sort.

Start small. 'top six things that artists draw that are wrong/offensive about native american culture'. Work up from there. Obviously, give them a bibliography so they can learn more if they are interested, but at least make a message simple enough that it can penetrate the overall haze of ignorance that permeates society, so that people will at least be aware 'hey, this really isn't cool, maybe I should do something else'. Because I can pretty well guarantee that 95% of the artists in furrydom? Don't even know that much. There's such ignorance that they don't even know that they should be looking this stuff up before drawing it. Draw attention to the most egregious things, spread it far and wide, build a foundation upon which further education can continue. Because right now, trying to do any in-depth education for these people would be like trying to teach Calculus to people who flunked out of Algebra back in high school. So keep it simple, to the point, on the worst examples.

You didn't answer my question. What background do you have in this that you feel so qualified to tell me how I need to do things when I literally do this all the time and work with other Native educators?

Because this is as much a PR campaign as it is education, which is something I have years of experience with. If you don't want or feel that you need any help? I can respect that, and I'll see myself out. But at least do the courtesy of stating so openly instead of attempting to set up an ad hominem response. Bluntly, does it matter if I have, say, an MBA and PR experience, or if I'm just some random shmuck with zero experience, or someone with a double-Masters in education and American History? Judge the suggestion on its own merits, not on the merits of the source. If you feel that the suggestion is not helpful? Ignore it. It's that simple.

In any event, I wish you luck in your endeavors.

wow, whatever you saw must've been really bad

Really its so danger situation in USA for local nations?

sigh...O.K. so here I get blocked again...but the truth is more important and powerful than any silly 'sjw' bullfuckery.

There is no such thing as 'cultural appropriation'.

If there was then native americans would HAVE to keep living like they were. they'd HAVE to wear buffalo robes and home spun and never have any real written languages. (When did the first written native languages come about? After the blue eyed devils came here? REEE CULTURAL APPROPRIATION!!!)

if 'cultural appropriation' was outlawed I'd HAVE to eat nothing but potatos and drink Irish whiskey. I LIKE ALL kinds of foods...and all kinds of "cultures"...And I like rum too...*Smirk*

with out SHARING different cultures we'd NEVER get anywhere towards advancing humanity.

I went and saw the porn you reff'd. it was saying a NICE thing. it was pointing out that the natives were fucked by the pilgrims...so he was making a poignant observation...

the really offensive thing of the art was the artificially huge balls...meh...

so yeah...cultures HAVE been abused but the WHOLE IDEA of "cultural appropriation" is ABSURD.

The BEST thing you can do is create more positive art showing the awesomeness of native americans...but don't forget the wars and the slavery and the crimes against humanity they're guilty of too...(check history *Evil Grin*...) Remember the truth is more important and more powerful than any one 'culture'...