Indian Comics Irregular #23

If you think Native culture has no relevance to today's America, try this on
for size. Last year an ESPN special, "Outside the Lines: the Face of Sports
in Native America," showed the pervasive Indian influence. An account based on
a report in the LA Times, 11/15/99:

A lot has been made of [former Chicago Bulls coach Phil] Jackson and
his Zen Buddhism philosophies, and his use of Yoga and Christianity,
but here we see the role of his Native American philosophies. And
it's eye-opening.

"A basketball team is like a band of warriors," Jackson tells
reporter Rick Telander. Jackson talks about how Indian rituals
cleanse the mind and spirit.

Jackson used to show clips from "The Mystic Warrior" with game films.
Will Perdue, who played for Jackson and the Bulls, says the teachings
"helped us focus." Former Bull Steve Kerr talks about how Jackson
decorated the Bulls' team room with Native American artifacts to
reinforce that their journey together was a sacred quest.

If propelling the Bulls to six world championships isn't enough of an
influence, consider this: Seemingly 5% or 10% of all sports teams are named
after Indians. Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox) is on most people's short list for
Athlete of the Century. And Native Americans invented the sport of lacrosse.

Sports Quote of the Day

From Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, commenting on baseball
Commissioner Bud Selig's order that John Rocker visit a psychiatrist after
making politically incorrect remarks:

If Rocker gets slapped for his insensitivity to other races and
cultures, why doesn't Selig order 1 million Atlanta Braves fans to the
psychiatrist to be treated for their Native American-bashing "Tomahawk
Chop"?

Good question. As many pundits have pointed out, would anyone accept a stadium
full of "Zulu warriors" brandishing spears? To Native people, this is no
different.

Follow-up on Fictional Tribes

Is writing about a fictional tribe or nation racist? Here's what I posted on
the subject to the Minorities in Comics mailing list on 9/10/99:

It's (benign) racism as publishers practice it. Why? Again, the
proportionality issue. Almost every Indian tribe is fictional. Almost every
Latin American country is fictional. Almost every African country or tribe is
fictional. Note the pattern? Third World and indigenous people take the hits.

In contrast, you can read plenty of stories set in Britain, France, and
Germany. The X-books alone have featured Israel, Australia, and Japan. The
pattern is that fictional countries get stuck in the "strange," "out of the
way" parts of the world. That makes these countries and people less "real" to
us. Nobody invents a fictitious US state or Western European country.

That's why one invented culture (e.g., Wakanda), like one stereotype, isn't a
problem. It's a problem when it becomes a pattern, a way of thinking. As
employed by most comic book publishers today, it's a problem.

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Rob Schmidt
Blue Corn Comics