Outkast p*sses off the Native Americans

[Mikey]

Because they were wearing Grass skirts and smoking a peace pipe during his proformance at the Grammys. Native Americans found this offensive

[DaveWadding]

:roll:

[Kane Knight]

Which Natives?

[Downunder]

Which Natives?
The naked ones who had their smokes stolen

[SuperSlim]

nothin can ever be done without pissin someone off. why don't we just sit on our hands and do nothin?

[Mikey]

Rap group performed with smoking tipi and feathers in headbands

Even without Janet Jackson in attendance, Sunday night's Grammy Awards show managed to brew some controversy.

A performance near the end of the live broadcast by hip-hop group OutKast has angered and offended some Native American organizations and individuals.

Performing its popular and Grammy-winning song "Hey Ya!," OutKast went onstage with a lighted and smoking tipi, a band member wearing a headdress, women dancing in green stereotypical Native American garb with feathers in their headbands and frontman Andre 3000 sporting a green outfit reminiscent of an "Indian brave" costume from 1940s Hollywood westerns.

"I thought it was pretty distasteful and offensive," said Christina Wells, a 21-year-old Native American student at the University of South Dakota who watched the performance with her friends.

"We're very sorry if anyone was offended," Nancy Cann, a spokeswoman for CBS, told the Argus Leader Monday evening.

Phone calls to OutKast's public relations team and the Grammy Association's media relations department were not immediately returned.

The Atlanta group picked up three Grammy Awards throughout the night.

One week after Jackson bared her breast during the Super Bowl halftime show, CBS took extra caution to avoid any racy or lewd situations during the Grammys by implementing a seven-second broadcast delay for the live telecast.

Yet, it allowed the OutKast bit, which some Native Americans have called racist and a mistreatment of Native American culture.

Vernon Bellecourt, a member of the American Indian Movement and president of the National Coalition of Racism in Sports and Media, didn't watch the performance. But after reading about it and seeing pictures Monday he said, "In doing it, they do a disservice to us as Indian people and a disservice to themselves in the process."

He equated it to the African-American group performing "with a grass skirt, a bone through their nose, a war lance in hand and balancing a watermelon and pork chop in the other. African-Americans would be outraged. Why do they think that's a positive portrayal of our people?"

Ironically, the Grammys handed out an award for best Native American music album earlier on Sunday.

Paul LaRoche, a South Dakota native and leader of the Native American music group Brule, watched the performance at his home in Phoenix and was disheartened.

"Those are things you just don't do," he said. "The Grammy Association should have known better."

Gabe Night Shield, a Native American rapper in Sioux Falls said, "That would be like me rapping on stage in black face paint."

The outrage wasn't confined to the Upper Midwest. The New York-based publication Indian Country filled its Web site with letters of disgust about OutKast's Grammy performance.

While the people all expressed shock or outrage at the performance, they didn't necessarily think OutKast intended to upset Native Americans.

"They probably didn't even realize that it was offensive," Wells said.

"I don't think they do that to try to diminish the people," said Wayne Evans, who teaches tribal culture and related subjects at USD. "They probably think they're doing something cute and great."

In the 1970s, the disco group the Village People featured a man in Native American dress, but LaRoche pointed out that he was actually Native American. Even if Andre does have Native American heritage, it might not make things any better for him.

"It's almost worse for him then because he should have known better," LaRoche said. "I think he's going to be better off if he says ... ÔHey, I didn't know anything about it.'"

Wells said she's not looking for OutKast to apologize.

"An apology isn't necessary to me," she said. "I would like to see it be brought in the media that this was offensive, and that it would be out there (so) that people can start understanding that it is racist and that things like this are very hurtful and degrading toward native people."

[Silent]

Wow. Why is it offensive that they were wearing indian clothes?

[Seyda]

Didn't see it. I'm Native American, and doubt I would've been offended. I'm not a racist of any sort with a chip on my shoulder.

[Sephiroth]

Which Natives?
The naked ones who had their smokes stolen

:o

[TheJShow]

Someone will always be offended by something.

[The Outlaw]

LOL

[deathtrap]

did they really

[el fregadero]

<font color=teal>OutKast is a group, not a "he".</font>

[Vega]

Someone should offer them a tissue box.

[Joeleosis]

I dunno, I'm not offended.

[Kane Knight]

I'm not offended. Though I'm also only half native.

[road doggy dogg]

Wtf, that doesn't even make sense.

I could understand if they were like, wearing Native clothes and making fun of them and tearing them up and singing a song about how Natives suck and their clothes are awful, then I would be a bit offended too. But simply wearing them seems like a rather trivial thing to be upset about.

[The Naitch]

*dirt off my shoulders*

[Innovator]

I think it's almost impossible these days to not offend anyone

[Jesus Shuttlesworth]

LOL

[Kane Knight]

Speaking of which, I tend to offend the Native Americans a lot.

[Bad Guy]

I'm Native American
That's even better :naughty: