Stereotype : Something conforming to a fixed or general pattern.
Now in life there are a great many stereotypes: gender, age, and race specific. Sometimes stereotypes are extremely hurtful, and other times they are humorous and true. Now of course I do not wish to offend anyone, but today I would like to address some stereotypes I’ve been accused of, or asked about when people learn I’m Native American.
Stereotype No. 1. You live in a teepee. Sorry to burst your bubble but no. I live in the burbs, and even way back in the day my people The Tsalagi lived in cabins… not Teepees.
Stereotype No. 2. You wear your hair in braids. Well this is true, not all of the time of course. But when you have crazy fly aways and loads of hair how else are you going to wear it?
I love his hair! Don’t you?
Stereotype No. 3. You put your hand in front of your mouth and go wa wa wah. OK seriously do you believe everything in the movies? If that’s the case you’re probably also looking out for that upcoming zombie invasion that’s bound to happen too.
I’ve had people do this at me. Seriously rude much?
Stereotype No. 4. You have cheek bones that won’t quit. Ok this may be more of a fact than a stereotype haha.
Wow! This man is quite gorgeous!
Stereotype No. 5. You’re a drunk. Are you kidding me? This is just as ridiculous as saying all white people are racist. So no I am no drunk.
Stereotype No. 6. You love turquoise. Why yes, yes I do. Basically every pow wow I go to I buy one more piece of turquoise jewelry.
Stereotype No. 7. You have perfectly straight black hair. If only this were true. There are the select few who actually have the most perfect head of hair you have ever seen…but the reality is most of us don’t.
*sigh* if only.
Stereotype No. 8. You can go to college for free. Yes there are scholarships but being able to prove you’re Native American does not guarantee a full ride.
Stereotype No. 9. You all greet by saying Hau (pronounced how). Well since we’re not all Lakota men, the answer is no. My people greet with Osiyo or with siyo, but since the elders say that siyo is the equivalent to “sup” I don’t use it, cause I’m no gangsta haha.
and clearly this guy is no “gangsta” either.
And lastly No. 10. You were mocs. Well of course, mocs could quite possibly be the most comfortable shoes in creation!
and not to mention super cute!
I hope you all had a laugh and enjoyed this post. What are some stereotypes you’ve had people believe about you? Or even what are some stereotypes that you believed? I’d love some feedback. And as always have a Happy Monday!
Sarah Forshaw's Blog 
may I say this was awesome? 🙂
Why yes you most certainly can! May I say thank you so much? 🙂
Yes indeed:)
Braids are awesome and so is turquoise. I think my mom may as well buy some stock in it or something, she’s so crazy about it.
My mom is the same way! I think what I love most about turquoise is that is goes with literaly everything!
It does, and people tend to only wear shiny stones with formal dresses, but I have a vintage turquoise necklace that looks amazing.
Ooh that sounds awesome! You ought to upload a pic so I can see haha.
I think I just might try to.
Hooray!
Great post! The stereotypes just make me crazy sometimes, too.
I am so glad you liked my post!
I think you forgot the Casino one… I grew up in Illinois and everything around was of Potawatomi descent. Most of the parks, golf courses, and public spaces are positively influenced. However, on my many journeys from Texas to Illinois and through Oklahoma you couldn’t help notice that every casino had a Native American name. It’s an unfortunate negative connotation that goes along with a place where people mindlessly blow their money away.
Nothing wrong with braids, cheek bones or turquoise… but there is a lot wrong with the poser gangsta. I think you could do a Hau To Guide To Native American Lifestyle as a funny play on it and flip the script.
Yes the casinos are another thing ugh. I must say I like your idea for a play, it would be very entertaining.
Personally, I really hate stereotypes. I’m caucasian, so people seem to think that we’re all racist (when in actual fact, most “white” people I know aren’t racist, and a lot of “non-white” people I know ARE in fact racist, so there). I’m also blonde and I can’t stand blonde jokes where they insist that we’re all stupid. Again, most blonde people I know are very very smart and I know a lot more people who are not blonde and are stupid! Another one that bugs me is newfy jokes. My dad is from Newfoundland, whereas I was born in Ontario but I have a few “newfy” words that I’ve picked up from my dad over the years. A few people giggle when I say certain words, which doesn’t bother me, but I hate when people tell newfy jokes around me, especially since all the jokes are extremely mean!
From growing up with all of this, it’s made me really hate stereotyping people. I mean, people are all different and individuals so to put people together in groups based on something like race, age, hair colour, gender or anything like that is just plain dumb.
I could not agree with you more! Stereotyping is pretty ridiculous, I mean I have found several to be true, but just as many are untrue and hurtful. The old saying you cannot judge a book by its cover also should say you cannot judge this book by its genre either.
Exactly!
Straight hair sucks!!!!!!!!
Turquoise Jewelry is awesome!!!
🙂
Well straight hair doesn’t suck all the time…and turquoise is the bomb! 🙂
Great blog Sarah -people are really quite ignorant – the fact is that people who say these stupid things have no clue in hell what you or anyone else is about. Me – I’m fascinated by different ethnics and backgrounds and I teach my children to be embrace people or things that are different from them – after all if we were all living the same, same background, same ancestors – how boring would this world be? Keep wearing the turquoise though it looks great on you!
Thank you so much for your support! My mother always tells me varity is the spice of life! Your children are lucky to have a mother that encourages creativity and diversity!