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News :: Civil & Human Rights |
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Mayoki Media Campaign Heating Up |
Current rating: 1 |
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by NWFIMC Staff |
24 Nov 2004
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Over the past few months, local activists have begun the task of attacking the mock-Indian "tribe", the Mayoki Indians. Since the controversy came to a head 6 months ago, in part because of this web site, many people in the Pensacola area, Native Americans and non-Native Americans, have come together to say that these racist stereotypes have no place in our community.
In the past week, two letters to the editor and one op-ed piece were written on the Mayoki Indian Controversy. (to see original article that started the controversy, go to http://www.nwfimc.org/feature/display/145/index.php )
The most recent articles are cut and pasted below. |
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From the Pensacola Voice:
Dear Editor:
As a Native American, I find it very disturbing that there are laws protecting monetary investments, yet there is nothing to protect my people from being portrayed as long dead relics with nothing left but the memory of a culture to be poked and prodded.
We are not gone, but we are forgotten. Any time an Indian (Native American) stands up to voice an opinion about anything, we are told to sit down, be quiet, and forget our history. "It's in the past, get over it," that is the usual response we get.
But we are not gone, and we have not forgotten. The past injustices are indeed passed, but should that give reason to continue the immoral acts of racism that continue to plague our culture?
A local group, which with many of us are familiar with, the Mayoki Indians, continue to promote stereotypes and misinformation amongst the public. They are teaching ignorant adults and innocent children that Native Americans are nothing more than funny cartoon characters without feelings who are to be made fun of.
As a mother of two young children with Native American blood, I strive as other Native mothers and families do to preserve our culture. It is a slap in the face when you see these fools in brightly colored chicken feathers and clown like faces dancing around hysterically representing Native American culture. These people are not Natives at all. They are not even a real tribe of Native Americans, yet unknowing tourists, townspeople and children are under the impression that this is the way we really are.
Many people would use the example of "would we allow someone to dress up in black-face?" They ask if we would accept a bunch of White people dressed up as Black people singing spirituals while eating fried chicken and watermelon. We all know this would be unacceptable, but black people are not the ones in question here. Black people are not the perpetrators of the stereotypes that the Mayoki's are promoting.
We are asking community members to stand alongside us in our effort to stop the injustice and the hate being promoted. Whether or not the racism is intentional, it is still racism. If the group being offended makes you aware that they do not like it, shouldn't that be enough to put an end to it?
Anyone interested in helping us with our campaign to stop the Mayoki's, please contact Lauren Anzaldo at: compassiontothecore (at) hotmail.com or myself at: jessie_matotoyela (at) yahoo.com .
Sincerely,
Jessie Mato Toyela
Pensacola
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From the Independent News
(letters to the editor are unavailable from their web site, but it's the Nov 4th edition)
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Viewpoint: We need a new image of Native Americans
November 3, 2004
by Lauren Anzaldo
Remember middle school? Awkward and self-conscious, pre-teens and teenagers are ultra-sensitive to teasing. I know I was. But derisions hurt even beyond middle school, especially when one's culture and religion are the objects of ridicule. People of color have come to know this hurt all too well as they navigate a society that hasn't come as far beyond racism as it would like to pretend it has.
Native Americans -- this land's original residents also known as Indians -- are often most hurt by misrepresentations by a dominant culture that tends to regard Indians as little more than history.
I recently became aware of a local organization that has built a more than 40-year tradition of lampooning Native Americans. The organization is the Mayoki Indian krewe, a participant in the annual Fiesta of Five Flags celebrations. The krewe may be best known for its wild antics during the Fiesta parade each summer in downtown Pensacola.
Upon witnessing the Mayokis' feather-and-face-painted, sequin-clad, booty-dancing performance, I was shocked at the flippant use of sacred things as props. Feathers, holy and special to Native people, were tossed about like candy. The regalia of the Plains Indians had become showy, skimpy costumes. One man wore a rhinestone pin shaped in the words "Bad Indian."
Whether or not the Mayoki krewe realizes it, their costumes and performance mock actual Native Americans. They've turned a culture into a burlesque show.
Furthermore, the Mayoki program misinforms. It teaches that Native Americans dressed and acted like that. Children seeing the Mayokis for the first time responded with, "Cool! Look at the Indians." It is very difficult to explain to a child (and some adults, for that matter) that the strangely dressed person handing out beads and feathers is not an Indian at all but someone pretending to be an Indian -- and not doing a very good job of it. "The Mayokis promote miseducation to non-Indians with ignorant insensitivity to Native Americans," says Creek hip-hop artist Shadowyze, aka Shawn Enfinger, a Pensacola resident and one-time Grammy nominee. "They hop around mouth-patting (in some cases in bars) in replica native regalia symbolic of sacred spiritual connections, with no regard to the centuries-old social degradation they employ with heart-crushing impact on our people."
The Mayokis claim to honor Native peoples, who existed in this area thousands of years before Columbus and were all but annihilated after his arrival. But none of the Native people I've spoken with feel honored.
"I would be honored if these community leaders would take off their costumes and present themselves as friends of the descendants of the most recent Muscogee Creek people," said Mikko Bobby Johns Bearheart, chief of the Perdido Bay Tribe. "They mean well, I'm sure, but it is disturbing that a mythical representation is used to identify the first people that lived and died protecting their home and families."
The Tribe is working to build a Native American Museum and Resource Center and welcomes help with funding. Would it be too much to ask that money spent on Mayoki costumes or funneled elsewhere go to organizations preserving Native culture?
Our community needs a Native American center to serve the Native population and to educate non-Indians. We see so few authentic Native Americans (the 2000 census indicates that they constitute 1 percent of the overall national population, although many people have traces of Native ancestry from years of forced and voluntary miscegenation) and learn so little about them that we don't really know what they're like.
This makes the Mayokis especially dangerous as they fill a void with myths and stereotypes. A mission of the Fiesta of Five Flags is the celebration of heritage, but the Mayokis are poor representatives of Northwest Florida's rich Native heritage. From the origins of the name Pensacola to traditions of environmental respect to democratic decision-making, we can glean much from Native people.
The Mayokis must go. We need a new image of Native Americans, one forged by Native people themselves. |
See also:
http://www.nwfimc.org/feature/display/482/index.php
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This work is in the public domain. |
Comments
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Re: Mayoki Media Campaign Heating Up |
by mj
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 1
22 Nov 2004
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This letter was published in the PNJ on Nov 19:
"No need for racism"
I was very happy to see Lauren Anzaldo's viewpoint about the "Mayoki Indians" (''We need a new image of Native Americans,'' Nov. 3). I don't see how people cannot think of this as obviously racist in nature. The use of sacred religious objects in very disrespectful ways is disturbing to say the least. It would be so easy for these people who mock Native Americans to simply find a different way to celebrate the Fiesta of Five Flags.
I don't know what role the City of Pensacola plays in this, but I would seriously hope that my tax dollars are not going to support a racist depiction of Native people. Haven't they suffered enough at the hands of whites?
I would also hope that the corporate sponsors of this group might re-think having their names associated with this.
It's embarrassing that this happens in such a beautiful and culturally diverse city like Pensacola.
Racism has no place in our society or in our world.
-- Michael Johnson |
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Re: Mayoki Media Campaign Heating Up |
by Scott
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 3
22 Nov 2004
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1999 NAACP RESOLUTION IN OPPOSITION TO NATIVE AMERICAN MASCOTS
Whereas, the National NAACP is committed to caring for and affirming the gifts of all people, with special regard to those oppressed or disenfranchised on the basis of race, national origin, and cultural origin; and
Whereas, the use of Native American people, images, symbols, and cultural and religious traditions as sports names, logos and mascots perpetuates racist stereotypes and undermines the self-determination and dignity of Indian people; and
Whereas, the National NAACP, as a nationally and internationally recognized protector of civil and human rights, is in the unique position to impact public and corporate policies and practices,
Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the National NAACP calls upon all members and friends to refrain from purchasing items with Native American sports team logos, and to cross out such logos on merchandise already in their possession.
Be It Further Resolved, that the National NAACP call upon member branches and State Conferences of Branches to inform themselves of and support local efforts to eliminate the use of Native American people, images, symbols, and cultural and religious traditions as sports names, logos and mascots.
Be It Finally Resolved, that the National NAACP call upon all professional sports teams, and public and private schools and universities currently using such names and images to reject the use of Native Americans, and all historically oppressed people and their cultural traditions, as sports mascots and symbols, and affirm their commitment to respectful racial and cultural inclusion in all aspects of their institutions.
Respectfully Submitted on April 28, 1999 |
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Re: Mayoki Media Campaign Heating Up |
by Johnny
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 3
24 Nov 2004
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This letter was published in the PNJ on Nov 23:
Stop the degradation
I agree with Lauren Anzaldo's viewpoint of Nov. 3, "We need a new image of Native Americans." Haven't Native Americans been through enough?
We invaded their land, killed a large number of them, forced them onto reservations and now some, like the Mayokis, insult them and their culture by dressing up like "Indians" and defaming their existence.
Organizers of the Fiesta of Five Flags and the rest of Pensacola need to tell the Mayokis that we will not tolerate the degradation of Native American culture any longer.
-- Valencia Penton |
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Re: Mayoki Media Campaign Heating Up |
by NWFIMC Staff
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
29 Nov 2004
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This is another letter to the editor posted in the PNJ on Sunday, Nov 28:
Thinking Students
I'm from the Muscogee Nation and I'm writing my dissertation on multicultural education for my doctoral degree at Harvard. I teach English to international students at Pensacola Junior College, and I utilize the News Journal as a significant teaching tool in my classroom.
One of my students wrote a compelling essay on Lauren Anzaldo's viewpoint, '' We need a new image of Native Americans'' which appeared in the Nov. 3 issue. I want to thank the News Journal for publicizing Anzaldo's viewpoint, a viewpoint that is critical to the success of the pluralistic society which we enjoy today. I want to also thank Anzaldo for her courage to speak out against negative images of Native Americans, a quest I find is a never-ending pursuit of mine as an educator.
I have been trained to provide students with multiple facets of an issue which give them the tools they need to critically examine images, whether in a parade, in a newspaper or in a textbook, so they can evaluate meaning for themselves. I often tell my students, ''I do not want you to think like me, but rather think for yourselves.'' Anzaldo's article does just that -- it helps them think for themselves.
Mvto (thank you in Muscogee) to the News Journal and Anzaldo for contributing to much-needed multicultural education.
-- Deidra Suwanee Dees, Atmore, Ala. |
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Re: Mayoki Media Campaign Heating Up |
by Mayokis for the Poor
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: -1
13 Dec 2004
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This is from the PNJ's web site:
Is it Damage Control?
Mayokis collect food as party season begins
Donna Freckmann
Special to Pensacola News Journal
Pensacola News Journal
The Krewe of Mayoki has started its season once again. In October, Kellie and Don Hafercamp were the hosts of a Survivin' Ivan party, where each krewe member was asked to bring school supplies and canned goods. All the supplies were donated to Bellview Elementary and Longleaf Elementary, which was sharing space with Bellview because of Hurrican Ivan. The canned goods were donated to Catholic Charities.
The Krewe of Mayokis conducted its annual Fall Party at the Transportation Museum where more than 500 guests who enjoyed a great party featuring the Astronauts. The Tribe asked each guest to bring a canned food item and made a substantial donation to the Manna Food Pantry.
This December the Mayokis are presenting the annual Caroling Party for Krewe members and their families. They load up floats with children and carol in local neighborhoods and visit Carpenters Creek and the Haven. This holiday season, the Mayokis will be conducting a toy drive for Toys for Tots. |
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