One of the reasons humans advanced evolution-wise was learning how to cook food. It expanded the diet, and it breaks down tougher foods so that our bodies can absorb the nutrients.
So, in a fantasy world because the slaves in question aren’t human, it isn’t slavery? In the books we see House Elves are thinking, sentient beings forced in servitude of other thinking sentient beings who use them as uncompensated and often poorly treated labor with little to no freedom. That shit’s slavery.
That’s not the only alternative, though. The others that immediately come to mind are doing an absolute ton of research and collaboration to make sure she gets this right, or alternately, deciding that this particular part of Harry Potter would be better left in her head and focusing on writing about some other part…
She’s been alerted that this is a bad idea. Native people don’t owe this well-educated billionaire, who is entirely capable of hiring researchers, a second more of their time than that.
i promise, i’m nice and very polite in real life! i still cuss a lot, though. this thread and the casual racism so many people are throwing around to justify why a YA writer doesn’t have to respond to criticism is just really getting to me.
friend. that is not just a pet peeve, it is a moral fucking outrage.
Totally. It makes me very careful and thorough as a researcher. I’ll never be native. I’ll always be approaching my work/subject as an outsider. That’s OK, so long as I’m aware of it. One day, one fine day, I’ll get research funding to relocate and that will be beneficial, but even then I’ll still be an outsider.
Sadly, part of gaining that cultural knowledge is the experience, and you won’t get that from history/culture books.
Yes, it is very easy for you to say that as a white person. Cultural appreciation and exhange are possible, though. But this is not an example of those.
That’s an obnoxious myth pushed by cultural appropriation police
That is a pet peeve of mine. It is not the job of minorities to educate the majority, and yet that is often what the expectation is.
Wait...why is education and collaboration the responsibility the Native folks and not JK Rowling? She could have very easily reached out. Also, no one is calling her names and pointing fingers at all.
Which is why I immediately looked up the reaction to it when I watched it and was surprised the reception was mixed positive. Those first episodes were so corny in general though.
But is this a ‘meaningful way’? The difference is that non-Natives treat Native culture as ‘lore,’ but that’s not what it is to Natives. I was told when I was young to never discuss skinwalkers with non-Natives and never at certain times. This (and other elements of Native cultures) is not wizardry or magic, so…
that xfiles episode was so aggressively stereotypical that i nearly died
This is one of those times where interacting with different Native communities would’ve been beneficial. It kinda sounds like she just read the wikipedia pages and went about her business. Nah.
I think Keene’s most important point is that Native spiritual traditions aren’t dead and Native American communities aren’t just history. Where are these Native witches and wizards now? Didn’t hear of any Native actors cast in that Fantastic Beasts movie.
Well, no way was that expected. A British person coming over and using something from First Nations peoples for their own purpose and potential profit? Inconceivable!