To The Editor:

To The Editor:

Last week and again this week I was reading through the Massena Observer and was surprised to see an ad from two Insurance interests in Ogdensburg and Hammond.

The ad read “Like Chief Sitting Bull, We Look After Our Tribe of Customers”.

Tribe is defined as a social division of people; a family; a group with something in common; a taxonomic division; and an ancient Roman social group.

In federal Indian law, tribe means something like a distinct group of Native people that share a common history, language, economy and location.

The problem I see with the ad is that it takes a historic Native figure and uses his image for the purpose of profit making. What does Sitting Bull have in common with the North country generally and North country Native people in particular is lost to me. So, it is historically and geographically inaccurate. Truth in advertising matters.

In the parlance of recent debates this ad is called cultural mis-appropriation. The same goes for the The Washington R**skin team name and the mascot (which by definition in the Dictionaries as being a racial slur), the Cleveland Indians and their idiotic looking and insulting Mascot Chief Wahoo, the use of Pocahottie costumes, the Brave costumes and so forth during Halloween. Using a culturally inappropriate image to make a commercial statement is poor form.

Now the Irish may not have an adverse reaction to the silly leprechaun image you see all over during St. Patricks Day, an image meant to characterize a whole nationality of people, or the stupid Luigie statue you see at Ma Ma Lucia’s in Potsdam that is to depict another whole nationality of people. But I have yet to meet a green Irish person, or a grossly fat rosy cheeked Italian chef.

As a way to cut others off at the pass, those considering using Iroquois images; we Iroquois don’t take kindly to non-Natives using our images to promote their businesses. For one, when a person dies, we do not repeat their name because it interferes with them in the other world. Two, sometimes non-natives do not know the meaning of the symbols they are mis-appropriating or mis-applying. Take Hitler and his use of the Swatstika, a Navajo symbol for the 4 directions and sometimes lightning, Hitler sewed it on thinking it was some magical shield for his Reich, the poor dumb bastard, in doing so he brought lightning on his people not protection from the 4 directions.

The people who made the ad were obviously not thinking correctly. This does not make them, or you for that matter Observer staff, racist. It just means you are tolerant to racism. And that is something you are taught, not born with. Which means you can educate yourselves and fix what was planted in all our minds in childhood.

As a gate keeper of sorts, think a bit about your readership and who they are and what they believe and hope for. Take that step and you are doing your part in maintaining good relations among all the various peoples that make up the North country.

Ray Cook