For the hipster, a new day means another costume to don. So, come this time of fall, we ask ourselves, how can one identify hipsters on Halloween? Those lamestreamers Vampire Weekend made sure to authenticate their Halloween weekend vibes by picking a cool name. Some hipsters just don’t ‘get it’ though. They think every day is Halloween. Contributing to the poor hipster’s confusion are the likes of mainstream clothing brands that release Halloween ready-to-wear everyday hipster costumes around fall. In all reality there’s very little one can do to help these sorts. I mean, most don’t even know they’re hipsters. (Seriously, just ask them if they are.) In an attempt to try and at least reach out to those hipsters who have a chance at coming back to reality, I’ve outlined a short digression on one of the more prominent hipster guises that’s on the costume/regular clothing fence: the indie-an.
Neon Indian. Feather extensions. Local Natives. Beaded moccasins. Navajo print silk screens. All pretty 2k9. Granted, the whole “getting back to America’s roots as a pre-Columbian civilization” is passe, but cultural appropriation is something that’s been en vogue since colonial times.
Given Native Americans’ tenuous position in the recent history of the Americas, it’s pretty ballsy to prance around a concert stage in a Cherokee headdress or a steezin’, psychedelic Navajo shirt as a white bro or baguette. Cowboys and Indians was always a pretty “killer” game back in the day, but you’d think after reading a few history texts and realizing that white America is at fault for the deaths of hundreds of millions of indigenous peoples that the costumes would be tossed. Not so. Expect Halloween this year to be filled with blurry memories of pasty Caucasian Pocahontases and Sitting Bulls.
Urban Outfitters is pretty cool for indie-ans. Search its website and you’ll find a multitude of different options for the indie-an accessorizer in your life. But Urban is as “lamestream” these days as V-necks. The best places to satiate that consumptive itch are at resale shops. Good secondhand stores always have some authentic, native American Apparel on hand.
A couple buzz bands along with some great viral marketing from the likes of Wet Seal and Mountain Dew’s record label, Green Label Sound, helped give rise to the “indie-an trend.” Notable musicians like Neon Indian, whose Bonnaroo performance this year featured some topless indie-an babes, has definitely capitalized on the trend with his psychedelic, Southwestern native-inspired cover art. Don’t know if anyone remembers the first official Animal Collective album, but it was called “Here Comes the Indian.” The album’s predecessor was “Campfire Songs,” an album that consisted of “campfire songs that you can sing with a bunch of people and everybody gets connected and feels good and safe” according to Panda Bear (AnCo frontman). They were just ripe for those naturalistic, “organic” riffs. AnCo’s tribal bass lines and art rocky feel subdues an otherwise overt rip-off of Native American culture.
I think most people would agree it’s a good thing to have the ability to appreciate another’s culture. But that’s not what this is about. Unfortunately, what most likely started as “homage” or native-inspired art has been transformed into a fetishized commodity. And it’s a hot one. You buy your Pocahontas feathers to look cool, not to commemorate the vibrancy of a dimming culture.
This weekend, as you stumble down 14th Avenue perusing the bumpin’ party scene and looking for your next PBR, remember the indie-an, and may it be a constant reminder of how the youth of America continue to sneer and mock our territorial predecessors. Or just make utter fools out of themselves by ironically “going native.”
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