apihtawikosisan:

analdrawings:

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Another exam’s tomorrow so nothing special for today, just a sketch of Mattie in Native American clothing. When I have more time I’ll draw him and Alfred as Native Americans 8)

Which Native American nation is this character from?

Is your character a person who has earned the right to wear the headdress?

Why have you chosen to portray your character in a stereotypical Plains headdress in the first place?  Are you aware of how few Native American nations actually use this style of restricted headdress?  Are you aware that women do not wear them at all?  Do you know anything about what a person must do in order to be allowed to wear this?

Are you aware that when you say things like ‘Native American clothing’ and then produce a drawing like this, that you are doing the equivalent of saying, “Here is someone in Asian clothing” and then depicting an ao dai, as though that one Vietnamese article of clothing represents all ‘Asians’?

Please avoid perpetrating stereotypes this way. 

Hi, this character is not mine, it is from a popular anime series called Axis Powers: Hetalia, a show where nations are portrayed as humans.  He represents Canada.

Since I like history themes I wanted to represent him in Native American clothing but I postponed drawing him in “traditional” clothing since I don’t have the time to do a more thorough research, and instead drew him in a more… hmm, casual clothing (so to say) that I saw Native American chiefs wear today. I am very much aware that women do not or rarely wear those kinds of headdresses and that males have to earn the right to wear them, I’m interested in Native American history and research it from time to time. I figured that since this character is a personification of a country where Native Americans lived back then and live today, he has the right to wear it. I said “Native American clothing” because I figured anyone with slightest bit of education will figure out it’s meaning and I rushed to get back to studying for my exam. English isn’t my first language, so I wasn’t aware it would sound like all Native Americans would wear these.

I didn’t want to perpetuate stereotypes. Quite the contrary, I like portraying something correct. If I unknowingly did I apologize but as I said, I had no intention to, and drew him in what I thought would be appropriate for a sketch in which the main accent is me drawing non-stop and trying to improve.