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Cultural Appropriation In The Native American

1068 Words5 Pages

Cultural appropriation is the product of globalisation in the 21st century. Fashion designers from around the globe are continuously appropriating from one another. Cultural appropriation refers to the adoption of cultural elements from other cultures (Young, 2008). Appropriation has given the freedom to the dominant group to dress beautifully; however, it has devastating consequences for the minority group being appropriated, particularly the Native Americans. For decades, social activists were unsuccessful in stopping companies from selling Native inspired designs (Trevor, 2016). Appropriation in fashion has affected the spiritual significance and livelihood of these indigenous people. This paper aims to examine how cultural appropriation has negatively affected the Native
Americans, evaluate the effectiveness of present solutions and suggest better ways to alleviate the problem in future.

Cultural appropriation in the fashion industry is a problem because it is a threat to the livelihood of the Native Americans. For example, revenue was lost when companies such as Urban Outfitters falsely claimed that their products were made by the Navajo Natives (Fowler, 2013). These Natives have sued Urban Outfitters, demanding millions in revenue loss (Chicago Tribune, 2016). It is unfair to the Natives when companies stole the opportunity to sell Native inspired products such as the feather earrings, making a profit without paying the Native its rightful share (Nittle, 2016).

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