Close X
Friday, November 29, 2024
ADVT 
National

Buffy Sainte-Marie Calls Headdresses As Fashion Trend 'Painful,' 'Disgusting'

The Canadian Press, 06 Aug, 2015 11:04 AM
    TORONTO — Buffy Sainte-Marie has seen fashion-conscious fans show up to concerts wearing headdresses as a trendy statement — and she's seen enough.
     
    "When it comes to things like headdresses, there are some things that are actually, factually, personally, deeply cultural to our heritage," the 74-year-old musical innovator said in an interview in Toronto this week.
     
    "To some guy who's got models in high heels, bikini bottoms, pasties and a big headdress, and everybody's drunk — I want people to understand why that is painful or disgusting, why that is negative to us.
     
    "It'd be like if you really loved your grandmother or your mom and all of a sudden you're watching wrestling on TV and you see your mom's picture on some wrestler's crotch.
     
    "It's inappropriate. It's not funny. It doesn't help."
     
    For the past few years, headdresses have become a popular — and controversial — fashion accessory. The trend seems to rear its ugly head with particular frequency at summer music festivals.
     
    Jessica Simpson flaunted a headdress on Instagram, Pharrell Williams in the pages of Elle UK, Karlie Kloss on a Victoria's Secret runway, Gwen Stefani in a music video, and Vanessa Hudgens at Coachella.
     
    Recently, festivals have fought back against the misguided trend. Osheaga, WayHome, Boots and Hearts, Heavy Montreal, Ile Soniq and the Edmonton Folk Festival have all issued bans in various forms on the fake indigenous headwear.
     
    Still, Sainte-Marie says the trend endures.
     
    "We see it a lot in Europe, especially in Germany," said Sainte-Marie, who was recently shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize for her fiery album "Power in the Blood."
     
    "You see these people showing up and they have handmade, craftsy, fake headdress-like things, and they somehow think they're paying us a compliment.
     
    "But we let them know."
     
    Still, Sainte-Marie — the decorated owner of an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Gemini and two Juno Awards — stops short of calling for an outright ban.
     
    She just wants anyone donning a headdress to understand how it will make an aboriginal person feel.
     
    "I don't tell people what to do," she said.
     
    "If you're still going to be a jerk, that's OK, but we want you to know that there are some things that are part of our cultural heritage that mean a lot to us.
     
    "I think it's mostly ignorance," she added. "I think most people who are doing that probably haven't given it much thought."

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Third Day Of Deliberations At Inquest Examining Deadly Blast In Burns Lake, B.C.

    Third Day Of Deliberations At Inquest Examining Deadly Blast In Burns Lake, B.C.
    Forty-five-year-old Robert Luggi and 42-year-old Carl Charlie died in the Jan. 20, 2012 blast that seriously injured 19 others and destroyed Babine Forest Products near Burns Lake

    Third Day Of Deliberations At Inquest Examining Deadly Blast In Burns Lake, B.C.

    Wife Of Dead Officer Says RCMP Made Her Husband 'Scapegoat' In Robert Dziekanski Death

    The wife of an RCMP officer who killed himself two years ago claims that her husband was used by the Mounties a scapegoat in the death of Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver's airport in October 2007.

    Wife Of Dead Officer Says RCMP Made Her Husband 'Scapegoat' In Robert Dziekanski Death

    Jim Chu, Vancouver's Former Chief Constable Joins High Profile Private Sector Firm

    Chu has joined the Aquilini Investment Group (AIG) as vice president of special projects and partnerships.

    Jim Chu, Vancouver's Former Chief Constable Joins High Profile Private Sector Firm

    Report On Environmental Response To Vancouver Oil Spill Set To Be Released

    Report On Environmental Response To Vancouver Oil Spill Set To Be Released
    VANCOUVER — A report reviewing the coast guard's environmental response to a fuel spill in Vancouver's English Bay that soiled several beaches is expected to be released Friday.

    Report On Environmental Response To Vancouver Oil Spill Set To Be Released

    Long Delay Before Suspect In Murder Of Grandparents And Grandson Goes To Trial

    Long Delay Before Suspect In Murder Of Grandparents And Grandson Goes To Trial
    Douglas Garland was arrested last year following the disappearance of Alvin and Kathy Liknes and five-year-old Nathan O'Brien.

    Long Delay Before Suspect In Murder Of Grandparents And Grandson Goes To Trial

    Provincial Police Say Speeder Wanted To Reach Cottage In Time For Sunset

    Provincial Police Say Speeder Wanted To Reach Cottage In Time For Sunset
    Ontario Provincial Police say a car was clocked at 150 kilometres an hour in an 80 km/h zone earlier this week on the Bluewater Veteran's Highway near St. Joseph, on Lake Huron.

    Provincial Police Say Speeder Wanted To Reach Cottage In Time For Sunset