Native American Headdress Research Paper

Each year as spring transitions into summer, the warm weather signifies the start of music festivals all across the United States, and even the world. Over time, these festivals have developed their own forms of culture and expression, generally displayed with extravagant clothing and a tendency for some drug use. Within the stylistic displays, a trend has emerged that causes a stir every time a person decides to place this item onto their body, whether at a festival or a part of a fashion photo shoot. Native American headdresses have been pulled from their cultural context and replaced in American culture as fashion accessories, especially for those that claim to be of a bohemian-type of lifestyle. The issue lies in the fact that these headdresses have significant cultural meaning within Native American tribes, and the use of these garments in a casual environment directly demeans and disrespects that culture. Native American cultures vary from tribe to tribe, but there are several themes and aspects of each one that are similar, including the use of headdresses, war bonnets, and the like being worn almost exclusively by men. Unfortunately, many …show more content…
This is where the major problem lies. Native American headdresses are never worn in a casual or fashionable manner because they serve a distinct purpose within each tribal community. Headdresses are signs of honor, authority, and tradition, bestowed upon members of the tribe that have earned the right to wear them. For example, the chief of a particular tribe will wear a headdress to signify his status and leadership over the people. For a woman to don such a headdress for a concert or photoshoot in the name of fashion takes away from its defined meaning, since they have not earned the right to wear it, and taints the history behind the