Is "Cowboys and Indians" offensive?

[SinCitysCold]

In an FB group I'm in, someone has asked for recommendations about holding a party, and has mentioned in passing that the theme of the party is "cowboys and Indians". Someone else has come on to tell them that the theme is really very offensive.
The Someone Else is white American, whereas the OP is European, and the party will be held in Europe. I'm inclined to think the American should naff off with their post-colonial hang-ups, but obviously I am not native American so I can't know how they would feel.
What do you think?

I wouldn't worry about it personally. It's a kids party for god's sake.

It's not a kids party; it's a fancy dress party for adults, so a bunch of supposedly grown-up people dressing up as Indians/Native Americans (and yes, some indigenous people of the United States portion of North America do prefer the term Indian to Native American). To my mind, that makes it worse. At least the kids would likely be innocent of the deeply racist ramifications.

I missed the part where its not a kids party.
Thanks @senecafallsredux.

Little bit weird then.
As it's a known party theme and a child has asked for it, different than grown adults who understand the origins. Do adults still have fancy dress parties? Wouldn't superheroes be more fun in that case?

@lottiegarbanzo - I was referring to known party themes and thought it was a children's party. If those are known party themes for you then that's disturbing. I think you took my post out of context a bit there.

Personally OP I do not find it offensive whatsoever. I think people are far too sensitive these days, after all it is just children dressing up. One fancy dress party is not going to turn them in big raging racists.
I'm probably in the minority though.

Oops, have I read it wrong? It's not a kid's party?

But still, I think as long as you don't poke fun at or mock whoever you're dressing up as there should be no offence taken by people.

No, I think I read and responded to your tone and sense of your post, quite accurately RibenaMonsoon.

Cowboys and Indians would be deeply offensive as a theme for a children's party. It's a celebration of genocide.

Having been a 'known theme' for children's parties 40 years ago does not change that, or make it acceptable.

Presumably you'd be happy to see children playing with gollies? A known theme, for children's toys.

It seems to me like the people being 'sensitive' here are people like the OP, who was so annoyed by some 'North American' criticising her friend's party theme that she had to start a thread on MN about it.

Those of us who object to genocide-themed parties are not being sensitive, just respectful.

If you don't think that cowboys and Indians refers to genocide, I politely suggest you read up on some history.

as long as you don't poke fun at or mock whoever you're dressing up as

Tell me how you can dress up as a "red indian" without mocking them?

as long as you don't poke fun at or mock whoever you're dressing up as

Yeah I'd love to know how you do that. So no one's going to wear a headdress, something indigenous people have repeatedly asked them not to do. No 'sexy' 'squaw' costumes (or references to that deeply racist and misogynist slur). No stupid whooping noise or 'me think' language. None of that at all. Hair is massively significant to several Nations in different way so I assume everyone will be extremely careful not to have a Mohawk (actually Kanyen'kehà:ka) hairstyle or even cut hair (signifies death in many Nations).

That's a lot of work to avoid being a dick when just not having a genocide party would suffice. I'm struggling to see how anyone would know it's a Cowboys and Indians party without racist stereotypes. A 'decolonize this' t-shirt?

Why should you find it offensive? Your people weren't isolated to the least desirable plots of land in a country. Your children weren't forcibly taken from their parents and sent to Jesuit schools where they had their language and culture whipped and raped out of them. Entire populations of your fellow first Nations tribes weren't genocided while your tribe was used as a tool to help because of colonialists abusing tribal lines and politics.
Your people do not still live on shitty reserves with bad water that the federal government won't touch.
3000 of you're women aren't missing.
You still have your language & your culture & your land and it has not been boiled down culturally to "how white man" and some stupid feathers in a spaghetti Western.

Just wanted to quote this for posterity, in case that last line sees HulksPurplePanties 's post deleted.

@SaltedPretzel

I've asked a few of my Native American friends today I'd they'd be offended and they ALL said they'd be horrified and very upset.

The state where I live had recently seen all of the 'Indian' school mascots removed.

Good.

mycarpetsun awesome. Now if only the redskins would do the same!

In Trump's America, not likely.

@HulksPurplePanties oh the redskins makes me furious. So offensive.

It's a blind spot a lot of British people have. I know two women, both generally sensitive to issues of racism, who didn't see the problem (at the time) when a music festival they help with did a cowboys and indians theme one year. Disappoiningly given the history of colonialism, a lot of British people know next to nothing about real life Native American or First Nation cultures. It can be hard to recognize the offensiveness of the literary caricature of an Indian if you dont know the real life subjects being parodied, and dont have any real understanding of the historical or present day hardships of affected communities.

But, once someone takes the time to explain it to you, the ignorance becomes less forgivable.

@mycarpetsun 😁

Of course it's offensive. I think HulksPurplePanties has pretty much covered why.

Personally OP I do not find it offensive whatsoever. I think people are far too sensitive these days, after all it is just children dressing up.

By that logic I guess you'd be alright with your weans playing a wee game of Nazis and Jews or Hutus and Tutsis. The native Americans were victims of a barbaric genocide. There is fuck all romantic or heroic about that and it is not something children should be encouraged to base their games on. How can we expect them to learn the valuable lessons from history if we dress up campaigns of mass murder as innocent fun?

And it's actually more recent than the Holocaust. The last residential school closed in the 1980s I think. Aboriginal women are still disappearing and being murdered and the Mounties are currently occupying First Nations land.

The last residential school closed in the 1980s I think.
Later than that, it was mid 1990s.

Shit. Even more recent. And of course the wholesale removal by MCFD to foster care took over so it didn't really stop.

Personally OP I do not find it offensive whatsoever. I think people are far too sensitive these days, after all it is just children dressing up.

I’m betting you also think Golliwogs are simply adorable little moppets.

Some of these posts are very powerful. I am ashamed to admit that I had not known the full extent of the abuse.