I have been requested to respond to this ongoing controversy. Very well.
Off the bat, there are evidently people who read and write for your newspaper that have far too much time on their hands. I took a quick look at the offending article, and the two responses. First things first, I did not find anything overly disagreeable in the original article. It was a bit stary eyed and a bit too enthusiastic but nothing I would find offensive. As a columnist and humourist for a number of years, I myself might have used the offending title of “Pow WOW” to illustrate a point. What I found quite interesting was the objection to the usage of the term ‘spectacle’. It may come as a surprise to the people who commented on the original article that pow wows are indeed a spectacle. I have been to pow wows all over North America and at some of them, spectacle is indeed the word I would use. IN fact, I know of many traditional Native people who refuse to attend pow wows because of the spectacle effect.
On other different matters, I have travelled the world, participating in ceremonies and observing cultural festivities, and wrote about them - with the appropriate honour and respect of course. I did not go through the criteria listed in the committee’s response in writing such an article. Most of us have a deadline. As I said at the beginning, I didn’t find anything offensive in the initial article, so quoting a fellow playwright, it’s “much ado about nothing.”.
And I am always amused by non-Native people who get angry on our behalf - I am referring to the community and race relations committee and their response. Trust me, we can get angry on our own.
As a newspaper, there’s gotta be something more interesting out there than this!?
Go Leafs.
Me, Drew Hayden Taylor
