What Do Native Americans REALLY Think About Cultural Appropriation in Kpop? 

Thank you so much for elevating Native voices. In this entire conversation, as a native, I feel like I get spoken over a lot by some groups Antis because I am not speaking the narrative they so desperately want me to. But I am Shoshone and I agree with everything said in here. Loona's clothes aren't offensive. Yooa's face lines aren't offensive.. Seungri's warbonnet is 100% offensive. Because loona and Yooa's "appropriation" is so vague and generic that it can't really be specifically identified. You can't look at those face paintings on Yooa and say you can tell me exactly what tribe they are from and what specific reason they use them.. Because they aren't from any.. and frankly there is many cultures that paint their faces - even Korean and Japanese have historical face paintings.. who are we to claim ownership over this? The feathers... well the girl mentioning the bits of plastic reminded me of my mother when she would see a cheap, gaudy dream catcher in a dollar shop.. Who the hell has ever seen a purple bird? The warbonnet is uniquely ours and highly identifiable as a very sacred item within our culture. So that is absolutely offensive to drag that into being a fashion accessory. And that question at 4:35... Mad as hell. I am so tired of kpop antis telling me I have to either be offended or be quiet. No, you need to stop using my culture as a weapon against groups you don't like, because you are the problematic one here.

I appreciate you putting the effort to actually talk to natives, show their tribesand names... way more useful than the whole debate on Twitter.

Part of me understands that if someone feels their culture is being used as an aesthetic rather than respected we should acknowledge it. But the other part of me feels like a lot of times, nowadays, people purposefully look for ways to drag the artists down.

Most of these problematic peeps are just having difficulty of differentiating between tribal culture with native American.... Isn't it also quite racist that everytime you see facepainting and tribal like culture your only thought is only native American while there are lots of other tribes in other countries..

"at this point people are just looking for trouble"

thanks for making this video, i saw these and i didn’t know how to feel cause they were vaguely “native” but i didn’t know if it was offensive or not cause i’m not native 👁👁

"at this point, people are just trying to e problematic" periodt.

just out of curiosity, is the girl group dreamcatcher considered as being offensive? they use dreamcatchers in some of their MVs so i'm not sure, and obviously their group name is also dreamcatcher which is a native american item. i'm not even from the US so i don't know much about appropriation of native american culture but i want to learn

To me cultural appropriation is the most racist thing in the world. I will be more than happy if someone wants to use my traditional dressing and stuff in their music videos.

I'm sick and tired of people saying things are cultural appropriation without knowing anything about the culture. I'm glad you made this video and I hope this video is spread all around.

People always get offended FOR natives and then when we say its not a problem, they get angry. And then when natives say smth is offensive suddenly were being dramatic. Unless you’re native dont speak for natives. Even if your of another minority group, just because you aren’t white doesn’t mean you get to speak for natives. Thank you for doing this video! It’s great to see as a native kpop fan myself

This reminds me of when an African-American girl uploaded a video of herself doing Irish dancing, and twitter went insane. She got so much hate. The funny thing is it was almost only people from USA who were accusing of her cultural appropriation, whereas actual Irish people who lived in Ireland their whole lives loved the video. We loved it so much that our Taoiseach (prime minister) invited her to dance in a St Patrick's Day parade next year. She's a very skilled dancer who clearly worked very hard to get as good as she is. She wasn't doing cultural appropriation. It was cultural appreciation. Honestly as an Irish person I felt so proud that someone unconnected to us loved our traditional dance so much that they spent years perfecting it. Personally I think culture is best used when shared, not hidden away or forbidden. As long as we educate ourselves of the significance of the various aspects of different cultures.

it really is great to be able to hear real people's opinions about cultural appropriation. I don't like how people give themselves the right to criticize something using the term of cultural appropriation when they don't even listen to the opinion of the people that really matters. Good vid :D

stan twitter should watch this. the sad thing is i dont know they really care or just want to drag the group....

As a South Native american This is not offensive Its offensive to ignorant non native american that only associate that to native culture. Which is so racist but in undertones (BUT THE HEADRESS IS A NO)

"i think at some point, people are just trying to be problematic" LOL GIRL SAID IT. STOP BEING PROBLEMATIC BHIES

unless someone is 1.) stealing 2.) making fun of 3.) or changing it 4.) lying about what it means 5.) Pretending to actually be native I dont see a problem with it if people want to appreciate and wear it because it is beutiful. Some people are creating whole enemies cause they want to over police what people do and say. We need allies.

Thank you for including me in this video❤️❤️ it was nice to speak about my culture to people who actually chose to listen.

Not only is it nice to see actual native Americans talk about this, it is also nice to see adults talk about it ..... If you see the age of the people hating on Twitter you'll notice that 99% of them are between 13-16 yr olds

I didn't know that the Loona teasers were causing trouble

Non-Natives: “ThAt’S cUlTuRaL aPpRoPrIaTiOn” Natives: It’s literally just lines painted on her face???

I had been defending Yooa ever since her solo debut came out. I am Native American, yet when I gave my input, I was either silenced or ignored. I was a bit hurt, but I understood their sentiments. I just wish they allowed themselves to open up their minds and understand us! I get we need to be inclusive and respectful, but there is a time and place for everything, especially when many non Natives begin to overreact and bring things way out of proportion if it means to fit their own narratives. I just wish people would ask us directly before causing unnecessary drama for a change! I do love progression toward a more unified and harmonious understanding for one another, yet ever since the internet became a thing years ago, we still find ourselves needing to do some polishing when it comes to awareness and individual growth online, and offline (especially in the cancel culture community and such). We could get there one day. Let's hope!

I appreciate that you made sure to have people from different tribes and generations give their input. So often I have noticed that people just use the views from one tribe and make the assumption all other tribes are the same completely erasing the fact that different tribes have their own beliefs and histories. The only thing I can think of adding is that I would have liked to have seen some more discussion about intent. Like if any of the photos that were thought inoffensive by appearance alone would be seen in a different way if the look was created because someone thought that by adding feathers or face paint they were creating a “Native American” look. Intent can make quite the difference sometimes and should be a part of the discussion of cultural appropriation.

now don’t be starting fan wars yall

Yooa's thematic was inspired in Studio Ghibli "Princess Mononoke", not native americans

I really wish that DREAMCATCHER was included in this. I adore the group and I'm tired of everyone claiming they're 100% culturally insensitive

People on Twitter ALWAYS try to find everything to PRETEND to be offended just because they are desperate for attention Don't put attention on them, don't even make videos like that

This is why I don't use twitter, there's too many toxic people.

Nowadays we have two problems with CA in kpop: 1.People unwilling or unable to differentiate Appropriation and Appreciation 2.People calling EVERYTHING CA, even if it's the smallest detail or a loose word used in an interview. If people keep saying that everything is CA, one day we'll either just stop giving a damn(which is a bad thing), or we'll end up closing ourselves into our own countries and trying to stop others from interacting with pieces of it(bye bye globalization).

As a Native Kpop fan, it gets really annoying seeing Non-Native fans jump the gun and speak over Native people and claim things are cultural appropriation right away rather than do the research or listen 💀💀💀💀

idol: wears qipao, or some other cultural costume some twitter white girl: OMG CULTURAL APPROPRIATION!! chinese/natives: xx idol looks so good in our costume! thanks for liking our culture (no but really, if you have weibo you'll see that chinese are very welcoming)

You know how people say,"The toxic ones are always the loudest ones"? I feel like for the K-Pop fan community, the ratio of normal people to toxic people is more equal than any other community

THIS IS THE CONTENT We NEED.... I thank you for thinking of everyone in asking this question of all ages.... Thank you thank you thank you

Please make this type of videos more!!!!It's really informative & helpful. Thank you so much for this.

Im Indian (like desi) and i feel like when people say oh this looks like smth from indian culture, but then its just someone who wore a dot on their head its just like. No. A bindi isnt justa dot on the head, it has more meaning than just that. Stop trying to remove the meaning of cultures and dumbing it down to fit into some random idea. Im not speaking about native americans, just cultures in general

As a native, I find that our demographic gets used as a means for critique almost as much as black culture is used. What I mean by that is that participants in cancel culture use us as ammunition, or justification for being awful. It just doesn't matter to me or anyone else I know in the community. White or Korean girls wearing headresses and face paint is never something that makes me mad. Never thought the Washington Redskins was offensive either. With K-Pop, I always thought it was interesting to see idols wear Native inspired attire. Pretty cool that they're repping it on the other side of the globe. As someone who loves K-Pop, it's amazing seeing tribespeople acknowledged by them. We're more worried about dealing with our addiction and poverty issues, and making sure that our languages and traditions don't die out. If anything, such representation by idols brings more attention to our population, so I think that's a good thing.

In short, stop being so problematic, looking for how to do something big with the slightest thing, and don't decide it's cultural appropriation for yourself unless you're of that culture and stan loona

Really love your content.....fan from South Africa

stans on twt are never worried abt the actual culture, if they were, they wouldn't just throw the term CA around for things that they associate vaguely w cultures they don't even know.

What really annoys me is that people assume that feathers and face painting is only seen in Native American culture. Feathers and Face painting is very common in south east Asian culture.

please discuss about my girls dreamcatcher. i love them sm. the members haven't done anything problematic but as a non native i don't know if their name is offensive.

can you also do one including the group "Dreamcatcher"? they're my ult group and it hurts to see ppl commenting dreamcatcher racist and saying they should disband. I just wanna know if it's offensive/racist or not

As a person who isn't native american but doesn't want to promote cultural appropriation,this video was a huge help for me 😭😭😭 I'm a Miracle aka a fan of Yooa and I've searched up far and wide on whether or not the face paint was offensive and even asked a fellow Native American,and they did say those marks were offensive. But know that I got a more specific reason as to why it isn't offensive,I feel a breathe of fresh air.It's because as I was searching up war paint face paint on the net,I couldn't find anything similar to hers,but some natives on Twitter did say it was offensive,so for some time it really stressed me out.Thank you for letting other Natives voice out there opinion!!

They say things are offensive to Native Americans, yet they silence Native Americans opinions about it he subject.

"Taking their voice away is not really being an ally" This. This right here.

REMINDER: these people don’t voice for all Native Americans, so if someone who’s Native and finds it offensive good for them don’t bash them for it they aren’t sensitive. BUT, thank you for this video i’m tired of white people trying to use their voice for all Native Americans.

I always find it interesting that other people get triggered when other cultures are "appropriated"... However when you ask people of that culture what they think of it, most of the time they're chill about it

I am native American and really like that you included actual native americans in this. Our voices often get drowned out when it comes to culture appropriation. Its usually someone elses opinion and I would like to see more videos like this for sure 😁

Thank you so much for this. I just hope we have a version for this on Dreamcatcher next time. There's a Native who says it's ok vs Native who says it's not on Twitter and I want to understand from an actual Native's perspective.

I see...so it's offensive when something is taken out of context or belittling the significance. Tbh, we need a specific name for these young Karen social justice warriors. Becky's already taken so...

FUN FACT: MOST PEOPLE WHO ACCUSE KPOP IDOLS OF CULTURAL APPROPRIATION ISNT EVEN PART OF THE CULTURE

If you are going to include Dreamcatcher next , don't do it superficially. The group has changed their logo logo time ago, it keeps changing to something not similiar to a traditional Dreamcatcher, like their logo in dystopia. DC's general concept was about Dreams. You can Dream about anything, good or bad. They decided to start from Nightmare series. In the Nightmare series, each girl represents one nightmare, and the dreamcatchers that appeared in the mvs (chase me, good night, fly high, you and i [2017-2018] ) are there to represent they are trapped. After all, dreamcatcher were made to protec child and to trap nightmares. After you and i, Dreamcatcher concept was still about dreams but other than their name, nothing related to N.A culture. The girls, credited Natives americans when they were asked about the inspiration for their name. And even told us one of their famous tale ( the spider grandmother tale). They were respectful about it and see it as appreciation. After you and i ( 2018) , dreamcatcher had others comebacks , still i the dream universe, they cameback with "What" and the concept was about modern feelings of stress and anxiety, it was about Lucid dreams. In 2019 with "Piri" based on the korean flaute that has the power to send alway bad energy. After that, they came back with "breaking Out" japanese comeback and the end of the nighrmares series. Still in 2019 they cameback again with Deja Vu. It was a collaboration with the game Kings Raid. 2020 we moved to Dystopia Era ( Scream + Boca) . This is suposed to be a trilogy, the concept is about what we live everyday on social media, people saying hurtful words because they can hide behind a screen. As explained, since 2018, other than their name dc has done nothing related to natives. But people that don't know them use rhe chance to false acuse them of their "whole concept" being about natives. The big discussion is about the name of the group, the original word for the filter "dreamcatcher" its not even that, and it was created by a french. Some natives are fine some are not, but its horrible when white people call them racist without know nothing about the group. Also, about the logo, as long as it is not claimed as "authentic" indigenous art , it should be fine by the american law.

Yes I am cherokee nation and paint so simple like that wouldnt count but just changing it isnt fair like headdress as fashion

It's a shame you didn't include Dreamcatcher because it would be interesting too know what NA's think of that imagery. There's a lot of debate around it on twitter.

Really should've include dreamcatcher.. I'm a big fan and since I've been aware of the topic it's been really bothering me. Idk what to think or what to do about it :\

We live in generation where some ppl try to gets offended for other ppl cultures

In my country, we’re never offended if our traditional outfits are used by different races. Even if they transform it into something different or redesign the actual outfit, actually even people of our own redesign and transform those traditional outfits and turning them into something that’s modern and would be appealing to the eyes of everyone. I think it’s a good way of preserving our culture and our “fashion” (and yes we call those traditional outfits as fashion because our ancestors use those as their everyday outfits) for the next generation to still appreciate the beauty and culture of our country. Because if we will keep it as it is and not do anything to it then in no time it will start to fade away from our eyes.

Asian theory shading those people on the bird app 😂😭💀 Love you guys, xoxo

That 11 dislikes are people who found that Loona and YooA’s clothes and makeup are offensive

YooA: Has 6 lines on her face Woke Twitter: BURN HER AT THE STAKE

I think...if we are not apart of a certain community, we have no right to determine if something is offensive or not.

I saw this person on twitter say something along the lines of “you only find this offensive because you’ve only been exposed to this stereotype of native americans so you’ve created this image of their culture based on that” and yeah, thats it. also feathers are NOT exclusive to a culture, they’ve been used in many We don’t know the concept, they (kpop stans) assumed it was cowboys because, once again, americans judge everything in the world through their own standards. Woah, that was a bit longer than I’d expected. Edit: 1. Yes im talking about the loona example, yes im an orbit. No im not native american but im peruvian and descend from indigenous people here. 2. I really can’t remember OPs tweet mostly cause i forgot my password 😤 and i havent been on twitter for a month now but if anyone knows who im talking about link it please

What do you think about the name of Korean girlsband - "Dreamcatcher"? People on twitter are calling them rasist and saying very mean comments towards them. I'm wondering if that name is appropriate?

big accounts on twt: cancel her/him this is cultural appropriation

The girl at 00:50 says it all. The only offensive thing about this is people comparing it the Native culture.

This was an insightful video, my only wish was a question about Dreamcatcher. 👍🏾

I was expecting they'll be asked/shown about T-ara's Yayaya. Even their choreography supposedly also inspired by Native Americans. What a missed opportunity. I'm really curious what they think about it.

This just proves that nowadays, everyone thinks they know everything about everything 😂 it’s embarrassing to scream out “cultural appropriation” about a culture that isn’t yours. If you don’t know what you’re fighting for, don’t speak at all!

Literally these days people get offended about everything

Wow this was great! I've been defending YooA and Loona against CA accusers for over a month now. Finally actual Native Americans on camera reinforcing my points.

Gen Z is like "we're so powerful! " and all they do is canceling syrup on Twitter.

I'm a navajo i agree with all these people saying that its not really offensive but the head dress is a big no no

Sadly to your info Yooa’s whole mv was inspired by Princess Mononoke which is a Japanese anime. Face paint was used in a lot of cultures and they all used it differently. So the culture changes with the way it’s painted. Please stop saying everything is cultural appropriation without even being from that culture.

This cultural appropriation idea is something I've only heard from americans, specifically ones from the US. I feel asians in general doesn't have this kind of idea and do not feel offended by people wearing their national costume or tribal garments. That is what I've observed at least. Personally the whole idea of cultural appropriation is just problematic itself, unless you're actually claiming whatever that originally was from my culture or changing the narrative abt it, that I think is offensive cause you're just spreading lies.

I’m quarter Mountain Shoshone and couldn’t give the crack of a rats ass!

My statement always has been that, it's not offensive as long as they don't make fun of it. Maybe people get so offended by looking others culture using/wearing something symbolic for them, and I mean, as long as they use it respectfully. Maybe I'm wrong, tell me, don't attack me, I can hear/read and learn. I'm mexican and when I saw a member of Momoland wearing a hat that you could easly tell it was from Mexico, I didn't feel attacked offended

Nowadays people uses cultural appropriation as an excuse to hate. It was those people who thinks negatively that needs help. Although there are some cultural appropriation going on in KPOP some are actually more of cultural appreciation.

i think OMG's company was trying to make YooA look like a deer

Headress is very offinsive, made for warriors an have certain ceremony to wear those. Like if some person was wearing purple heart an they did not earn it an would get charge for it.

One for Dreamcatcher pls, i think is important to talk

I know this is off topic but I have my own opinions I'm black and I get happy when anyone where braids especially when I saw lisa from blackpink wearing it looks so good on her but I don't understand that back in the day these hairy style was being looked down on but right now these hairstyles are not negative well In some states but it not seen as negative anymore and just seen as a regular hairstyle but you don't have to agree with me just my opinion I have no problem seeing idols wearing braids

But to be honest, in asia, cultural appropriation is not based on simply wearing outfits or accessories. Like you could wear a hanbok, or kimono, or filipiniana, or qipao, or kebaya, or just any traditional clothing and you won't be called out for it, hell we even rent those stuff out for tourists. Instead, it's something that makes us proud because these attires are part of our history, and you, as someone who doesn't necessarily know the long history behind these clothes, has managed to learn something about the very culture that makes us, uniquely us. What's offensive though, is when you do something that you once shamed us for, completely disregarding our painful experiences, and acting like that something is yours. For an example, when non-muslims wear hijab for fashion, when non-orientals do that "fox-eye" gesture for beauty, when non-POC go tan to the point of being offensive, when non-indigenous ppl use tribal dances for choreography etc. Kpop stans must stop using cultural appropriation to drag artists down. Like,,,, dont even drag people down in the first place? You're acting like you're being respectful to a culture but you have the guts to be disrespectful to an individual simply out of bias. I'm not saying that kpop artists never did anything thats considered cultural appropriation because clearly, that happens, which, it shouldn't at all. But,,, just,,, stop,,, using,,, the,,, term,,, so,,, lightly,,,?

I kinda didn't like when the curly haired girl said "people are just trying to problematic." People are tired of being disrespected, mocked, and misrepresented. She of all people should know that. People have become more sensitive and over-protecting of cultures because of the decades and decades of racism. Being over-protective CAN be problematic but I think most people are just trying to help. I do think that some people who are over-protective don't know how to process the distaste or anger they feel and it turns into hate and harassment, but other than that people are just trying to stop cultural appropriation. In the recent years people are just now waking up and realizing how racist and fucked up a lot of things we thought were normal are. People are still learning what is and is not cultural appropriation. Hopefully we will eventually come to an even ground and all of this will stop.

Yooa outfit i always thought it was in relation to to the Nordic people fairytales - the Vikings, fairies and nymph themed.

I want to know what they think of Dreamcatcher?

Thank-you for talking about Yooa's case

I haaaaate seeing people in headdresses as fashion. It's very offensive. They are not at all supposed to be worn willy nilly, they are sacred, and only to be worn by certain members of the tribe, not even every native is allowed to wear them!

As a VIP, I personally think that Seungri’s Headress is inappropriate; however, back then I didn’t even know that it was inappropriate. It was just a couple years ago that I learned the concept of Culture Appropriation. I’m not defending him I would only like to express my thoughts on why most of us, Asians, thought of it as fashion. Maybe because we have seen it countless of times in the West. They look so good in it that we thought that it’s simply fashion. I’m not making excuses for us to be forgiven. I would only like to plead for your understanding and I sincerely apologize on Seungri’s behalf. If I were to conclude, I would want for a UNIVERSAL POLICY or INFORMATION about CULTURE APPROPRIATION that will be spread towards every youngster or student. It is because I saw a tv show with a black woman host saying that Culture Appropriation is when someone uses a culture for their own benefit and then she added that for her, it is okay if that person would acknowledge and publicly say that what she or he’s wearing is from a certain culture. However, I’ve seen that even though other people do what she says, netizens would still say that they culture appropriated and continuously bash the person, judging one’s life and condemning them for a single mistake. I hope an international organization or curriculum is made for this. Not only will it stop people from offending other culture or race, we can also appreciate and understand the beauty of diversity, a step towards ending racism and promoting unity. ♥️

Wish you could Include Dreamcatcher as well (talking about the GG) because the logo of the group inspired by the object but they respect the culture and history. Its been an ongoing debate would love to see perspective on that. But sad to see you didn't even know them I guess they are still underrated and underappreciated.

Ok I’m just going to say it: I absolutely hate cultural appropriation- simply because the people who always call out and hate on others for “cultural appropriation” are almost never of that culture. In most of the social tests I’ve seen on RU-vid and articles/interviews I’ve read, the people who are supposed to be offended for cultural appropriation are not, and a lot of the time are actually happy people are representing their culture, because it’s pretty rare to see someone dress in another culture’s clothing in a positive way- or simply because they like the style or traditions

The next video should be about kpop companies making their idols not be able to wear braids/cornrows im black and it doesn't offend me id someone wants braids

I also don't find it offensive when non-black ppl wear braids or certaint types of hairstyles of black people. I actually like when they do it. They like the styles and it makes me happy. Just don't make fun of it. And also don't it completely wrong. Because that's what people are gonna think what it's supposed to look like and make fun of it.

as a Native American who’s Navajo, the first 3 photos weren’t really culture appropriation but the last photo of seungri was definitely culture appropriation. when i showed my mom that she was actually shocked because ONLY if you’re Native American it’s ok to wear it. but seeing someone that’s not is not ok.

In order to be ally, you should be able to let the underrepresented people speak, not always speak for them. How people don't get that is beyond me outside of entitlement.

This was BRILLIANT! Indigenous voices of equal age, gender...thank you. I wish this was done more often and for other marginalized groups, including indigenous peoples.

Great video. Its important to get Native America's thoughts if they are offended before we say they are. But sometimes we need to be a voice for the voiceless. Sometimes groups are humble and don't voice their offense. Those times its ok to be a voice of change without their consent. WHEN there is something to be offended at. A couple times they said something key. Feathers in the hair abd face paint are not Native American exclusive. A problem sometimes in claiming CA of a western culture they are ignorant of Eastern culture. YooA's concept is not even referencing Native American. Its referencing Japanese mythology culture. Many ancient cultures have wise wolves, fairies, antler people in their nature mythology. To me I think its great that cultures separated by time and distance have similar ideas. That says we are all a connected human race. Think about who Native Americans' ancestors are? They are Asians. Most came over the Bering Strait. So is it NA appropriating Asian culture? No, like I said we are all connected.

I don't find it offending. Feathers are not owned by Natice Americans. This is coming from a Native American. Feathers are in traditional clothes but it is not offending because it is a part of nature. It is my opinion don't come at me.

As me as a Native American , I don’t actually find this offensive at all

Oh my God if they're wearing it as a compliment to the culture or as a fashion statement and not openly to criticize or be offensive or mock the culture then it shouldn't matter and they should be able to wear whatever they want for God's sake don't get your panties in a bunch every time somebody puts a feather on their head...

It’s good to hear actual Native American people commenting on what is involving their culture. I feel a lot more educated. Honestly, those people who are cancelling idols on Twitter and saying they are “teaching them” is just gross. It’s okay to be angry and stop supporting, but why miss an opportunity to help a willing person fix their mistakes? If you are actually wanting to teach others, you would aim for videos like this! Thank you ^^