Thursday, March 26, 2009

Obscene Racist Event: Burning Man's 'Go Native'

From Mark Anquoe, AIM West
Brothers and Sisters,

Yesterday I was informed about an obscene racist event that will be hosted by a Burning Man crew. On Saturday, March 28th, an organization calling itself "Visionary Village" will put on a dance party called "Go Native" where participants are being asked to come in "native costume". They advertise that the event will raise funds for "neurofeedback research" in Native American Church members. THIS IS A LIE. Real NAC members would never consent to being "studied" during our most sacred ceremonies! Furthermore, their "theme rooms", as scheduled, will make a mockery of Native cultures, including the Anasazi and "Pueblo" cultures (as if there was a single, generic "Pueblo" culture).

In addition, they proudly advertise that their dance party will be held "in a bordello complex" built on top of an ancient Ohlone site! Adding desecration to this insult is outrageous!

The event organizers have been contacted by *many* people in the community, and in addition to being completely insensitive to the Native people who have contacted them, they have also been unable to establish any connection between their "fundraising event" and *any* Native American Church group or individual.

The text from their advertising appears below. Read all of these details for yourself. Part of the flyer is also attached as an image.

The American Indian Movement WILL BE ORGANIZING AN ACTION AGAINST THIS EVENT. More details to follow.

For the moment, please write to the organizers and tell them how you feel about their event. Please write to the DJs and performers and tell them that real life Indians are insulted and furious about this event. Also, please forward this information on to any Burning Man people you know. Its important that these people know that their own community does not support this kind of racism! Tell all the Burning Man people you know to NOT ATTEND THIS EVENT! It is especially important that NAC members, Pueblo people, and Ohlone people make their voices heard on this issue.

Organizers:
visionaryvillage@gmail.com
Performers (partial list, more to come):
peachy@janakaselekta.net
www.myspace.com/janakaselekta
http://www.myspace.com/mozaicmusic
http://people.tribe.net/chlorophil
http://www.myspace.com/venusinvelvet
apache.cleo@gmail.com

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