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KI-Yi Days Under Fire Again; Indian Ed Consultant Melmer Defended Racist Tradition

The commentariat went ape last fall when I said Watertown should stop dressing up its kids as Indians for homecoming. Now Stu Whitney can catch heck from Watertowners and other folks dressing up racist cultural appropriation as honor and tradition as he supports the view of South Dakota ex-pat Becky Plumage that it’s time for Watertown to knock off its culturally insulting Ki-Yi Days:

The common response among Watertown’s Ki-Yi supporters is that the tradition “honors” Native culture, but critics insist that is not their decision to make. Plumage cites studies that show such stereotypes are harmful at a time when Native youth need present-day role models rather than sloppy and demoralizing depictions of Indian “heritage.”

“There is a distinct difference between appreciating a culture and appropriating a culture, and this bastardized version of a very real and prevalent culture is unacceptable,” Plumage wrote in her petition.

She happens to be right, but Watertown will not go quietly [Stu Whitney, “Watertown Homecoming Needs to Change,” that Sioux Falls paper, 2015.09.24].

On the undercard (or could this be the new overcard?), Whitney reminds us of one prominent South Dakotan who resisted calls for change to Ki-Yi Days 14 years ago with tone-deaf White-centrism:

Gross and Assistant Principal Brad Bransrud think it is possible to remove the Indian aspects of the celebration.

But Watertown Superintendent Rick Melmer remarked during the 90-minute meeting, “You’re more optimistic than I am.”

…Melmer drew a parallel between students imitating Indians in the legend and the nation’s enthusiastic adoption of Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

Gross said unlike the Irish, who are a major component of the country’s dominant society and who shaped the St. Patrick’s Day tradition, American Indian culture had been appropriated for Ki Yi Day without Indians’ consent or participation.

“It was all whites that made up the legend,” she said with exasperation.

…Melmer noted a tradition nearly 80 years old is strongly attached to the Ki Yi celebration in both the school and community.

“You’ve asked us to change something that has been around for a long time,” he said. “That’s not going to happen quickly.

“There’s a whole other group that says this is part of their heritage, and they don’t want to see it disappear” [Peter Harriman, “Watertown Debates Use of Indian Tale,” that Sioux Falls paper, 2001.03.15, quoted in Rootsweb, downloaded 2015.09.25].

…and…

The crux of the issue is that Betty Gross indicated she represents a number of Indian people and the Indian people see (Ki-Yi) as being degrading,” Melmer said. ”We do not. We consider it an honor, not for native American people, but for the students involved. That’s the big rub. We see it as something honoring these students” [“Watertown Addressing Complaint About Indian-Themed Homecoming,” AP via Yaknton Press & Dakotan, 2001.03.16].

Thus spoke Rick Melmer, who went on to be a highly paid consultant for GEAR UP, a federally funded program South Dakota has aimed at helping American Indian students get ready for college. Given Melmer’s intransigence on Ki-Yi Days, letting him make money off a program meant to help American Indian youth seems a bit like putting Donald Trump on the board of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.

21 Comments

  1. mike from iowa 2015-09-25 08:28

    If memory serves,it was Sept 23rd of last year when you last addressed this topic. Over 400 responses.

  2. Joe 2015-09-25 09:27

    Here is the thing many do not understand, Native Americans view it as offensive for other native Americans to dress like that in non traditional settings

  3. Nick Nemec 2015-09-25 09:58

    If memory serves me right after Rick Melmer defended the racist tradition in Watertown Governor Dennis Daugaard plucked him out of relative obscurity to serve as the secretary of education. Payoff? First step on the road to the gravy train?

  4. Clyde 2015-09-25 10:18

    Might want to check into any organization that Melmer is involved with. Leadership South Dakota? Check on his side kick with this company!!!! Oh boy!

  5. leslie 2015-09-25 11:50

    fascinating nick. this whole thing is fascinating, human behavior, temptation, integrity for money. but not killing people.

    vote trump ha!

  6. Bill Dithmer 2015-09-25 12:11

    Words

    The Blindman

  7. Porter Lansing 2015-09-25 13:02

    ~reprinted from my lengthy group of posts (last Saturday, 9/19/15) on this issue from the Facebook page You Know You’re From Watertown,… (which I am)
    -How does the Native American culture reflect at all the heritage of Watertown, SD? Most of the people, at the time Ms.Bruhn scripted the pageant were and still are of German heritage. I’d say less than 1% of Watertown’s population is Native. Are the white people not appreciative of their own culture? How about a story of two groups of Caucasians dressed in lederhosen and suspenders. One group of Germans and one group of Austrians, fighting and raising heck. Someone suggests they stop fighting, come together, live peacefully and drink a few barrels of beer. That represents the culture of Watertown … not appropriating Native dress and culture. This is really only celebrating that the whites beat the Natives in a war so the whites are allowed to dress up like the loser and dance around with impunity.

  8. Porter Lansing 2015-09-25 18:36

    BUT … it’s not only Wasserstadt. There seems to be a “huge” disparity and disconnect about the heritage of the whole region. In Minnesota, German heritage outnumbers Swedes and Norwegians combined and in Sodak, Germans outnumber Norwegian heritage by double (Swede’s don’t even register). Why does the population need to appropriate Native and Scandanavian culture when it’s so overwhelmingly Deutsch? Why are they the Minnesota Vikings and not the Minnesota Panzers? Is it an embarrassment or just a German stubbornness about being a stubborn German? Don’t ask me. I’m half German. Inquiring minds want to know …

  9. Deb Geelsdottir 2015-09-25 21:45

    “Given Melmer’s intransigence on Ki-Yi Days, letting him make money off a program meant to help American Indian youth seems a bit like putting Donald Trump on the board of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.”
    Hahahahahahahaha! That’s excellent Cory.

    I can see the lure of “The Noble Indian Brave” imagery. Hollywood thrived on that for many, many years. New American Indian movies don’t do so well. They bust the century old mythology, showing this continent’s natives as real, flesh and blood people. Blows the myths all to pieces. Has anyone seen “Smoke Signals”? It’s one of my favorite movies. I have the DVD. It’s funny and heartbreaking and there are no “Noble Savages astride a colorfully painted pony.”

    Watertown, DC football, Cleveland baseball and others are not interested in real flesh and blood people. They just want to continue to play dress up and be silly. It doesn’t have anything to do with honoring anyone. School or professional sports traditions are not hard to change. The blowback is to be endured, but change is absolutely doable. Saying, “It’s too hard”, is not an excuse. It’s just pitiful behavior.

  10. John 2015-09-25 22:05

    Ha, ha, ha; the Rainbow Family’s planned Black Hills gathering of 25,000 dwindled to less than 2,000 when they “learned” the Lakota tribes did not think imitation was flattery. Watertown and its imitation, however once well intentioned, needs to grow-the-heck up.

    Often our well-intentioned fables are full of crap. Such as occurred from my PhD’ed grandfather who pretended the family background was of any nationality other than Germanic; yet I later proved his mother’s line arrived in the colonies in 1710 from the Palatinate Exodus – from the west bank of the Rhine. Such was the xenophobia against the Germans my grandfather experienced in the WWI and WWII eras. That xenophobia was real. Watertown’s fable is 100% make believe and needs to pass. “It is not too hard to let it pass; it’s just an excuse”.

  11. Porter Lansing 2015-09-26 06:55

    Good anecdote, John. Here’s one for the TeaParty. Your Donald has written and maintained for his whole life that he’s from Swedish descent. Recently a reporter dug in and found his father was as German as the Kaiser but lied about it so he could sell overpriced real estate to the Jewish community of New York. After WWII the surname Drumpf wasn’t well received. ???

  12. Deb Geelsdottir 2015-09-26 13:58

    T-rump is so slimy and greasy when it’s hot out he slides out of his $6000 loafers and lands flat on his $9000 Versace covered behind.

  13. Geraldine Estes 2015-09-26 16:33

    We are a PEOPLE, Native Americans, AND do not see how dressing up in our cultural regalia for something other than our ceremonies, is honoring us. Watertown wears it like a Halloween costume. WE ARE a PEOPLE…..wearing our regalia for your football or whatever activity is a disgrace……………

  14. Florine Larson 2015-09-27 12:51

    This is our culture…not your dress up day!

  15. Craig 2015-09-28 09:21

    A common defense for appropriation of cultural attire is how it is designed to honor ancestors or the history of an area. However those familiar with the Ki-Yi traditions in Watertown tell us that the two tribes mentioned in the story were fabricated and the stories have no resemblance to actual people or actual events.

    Thus, there really isn’t any attempt to honor a people or a culture. If memory serves members of the local tribal leadership made a comment something to the effect of those stories being theirs (meaning the citizens of Watertown) and not ours (meaning the people of the tribe) because it had no connection to them. Instead, these traditions smell a lot more like a form of entertainment, and thus the citizens of Watertown should strongly consider retiring the traditions and moving on.

    Perhaps they could appropriate some alien costumes and speak about how two different races of people from different planets came together for the sake of peace and unity. I doubt they would find anyone who could find that offensive other than perhaps a few Scientologists.

  16. Gale Coplan 2016-01-17 08:52

    What was originally written by Florence Bruhn wrote was a fictional skit to honor leadership. She used Native Americans as her Hero’s. It is fiction//////. What the problem is here is parenting for not respecting a school legend . Let us not rename Paul Bunyon to The Nice Woodsman.. Remember FICTION

  17. Porter Lansing 2016-01-17 11:30

    Yes, and the harm itself is far from fictional.

  18. Porter Lansing 2016-01-17 11:51

    Is it odd that the grand and wise Wizard of Schoenbeck is always conveniently absent from any discussion on this issue? It’s happening within his district. Or is his district really just Pierre? That’s what Republican leadership is all about, huh?

  19. mike from iowa 2016-01-17 12:47

    Cory-you’ve seen what fictitious and severely edited videos does to Planned Parenthood and associates. Even long after the videos are proven to be falsified,wingnuts still repeat the charges against PP verbatim.Not to mention the arson that has occurred since the videos were first published.

  20. bearcreekbat 2016-01-17 12:50

    mfi – excellent point!

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