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Michigan State University's Independent Voice Since 1909, East Lansing, MI
If you've been on MSU's campus this week, you have most likely noticed the presence of the Boy Scouts of America and the Order of the Arrow for their centennial exhibition.
After Phillip Rice, a music composition graduate student and member of the Order of the Arrow, sent an
opinion letter
to The State News expressing displeasure with the event being held at MSU, Shelbi Meissner, a member of the Indigenous Graduate Student Collective and descendent of the Luiseno and Cupeño in Southern-California, teamed up with Rice at Spartan Statue to protest the group's use of Native American culture and imagery.
One of the main reasons Meissner, a philosophy graduate student, cited for protesting was the presence of teepees and individuals wearing headdresses around campus.
"They have a racist caricature of a native man in a headdress that they claim is no longer one of their insignias, but it has been flying on a hot air balloon around campus as well as on a lot of the banners that have come in here," Meissner said. "As a Native American woman I find it highly offensive, and as a member of this community I feel really offended that MSU would host a group like this without any regard for how it would make a lot of students and faculty feel."
Brotherhood member of the Order of The Arrow Drew Conrad, 39, was present at the protest, engaging in a discussion with Meissner about cultural appropriation and giving his personal stance on the role of the Order of the Arrow.
Members of the Indigenous Graduate Student Collective protest cultural appropriation at Spartan Statue on August 7, during the 2015 NOAC. Matt Argillander/ The State News
"We have to be careful," Conrad said. "We are utilizing the images and culture of other societies and we need to make sure that we give them the respect that they deserve. They have a right to come out here and remind us to be respectful.
"A lot of (Order of the Arrow) members work closely with tribes to make sure we are being respectful, so just like I can't speak for all of (Boy Scouts of America), she can't speak for all Native Americans."
Meissner said the university doesn't properly acknowledge the people that were native to the land MSU owns.
“The land that Michigan State is on was stolen land in the Saginaw Treaty of 1819," Meissner said. "Not only does the university nowhere in their history section acknowledge this, they actually tend to erase it."
She went on to say that the university claims to be "a pioneer," which she considered "extremely destructive rhetoric" that would make it sound like nothing was here before. She said that the farm lands here were Anishinaabe farm lands that would have been used to provide livelihood for their families.
“Now Michigan State University is profiting, I assume (they are) being paid by the Boy Scouts of America to be here, so now the university is profiting off of this appropriation and exploitation of Native American culture.”
Meissner stated that the Indigenous Graduate Student Collective didn’t get any warning that there would be Boy Scouts here, so there was not a lot of time to organize the protest, but she said they had to have a presence.
"We wanted to come today for sure because there was a big evacuation drill and there would be high visibility (and) we get to see a lot of the young people, which I think is important," Meissner said. "For a lot of young people this is their first time seeing a protest or knowing that there is some kind of public discourse going on about cultural appropriation.”
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They are educating these Boy Scouts on the Native American culture, not stealing it, or trying to disrespect it. They brought education to the campus about Native Americans; not to mention revenue to a city that hurts incredibly during the summer months. Native Americans work with the Boy Scouts of America in order to respect the traditions. For this MSU graduate program to be offended by the Order of the Arrow incorporating Native American culture into their stuff just shows the lack of knowledge that these protesters had. As a Spartan, I was really sad to see people protesting one of the only true avenues of educating Americans on the Native Americans in a true, respectful way.
Learn about the Boy Scouts of America before you bash want they are doing. Yes, there totally could be some misrepresentation that happens, but that is only done by those that are uneducated on the culture. How does this begin to be addressed? By groups like this actually having a relationship with Native Americans and educating young Americans! These protesters have a point, but you should be protesting outside of a festival that has individuals inappropriately wearing headdresses...not this.
Many Natives from all over our nation and Canada. Come to many Order of the Arrow Native American events to help educate the Scouts about their cultures and crafts. Even today at our celebration Powwow. There were many Native American Friends and family present to dance with us. It is a good thing when we see These Arrowmen be ing taught this culture. In many ways, it honors the people who truly know belong to these cultures.
The Order of the Arrow pays tribute and honor to Native Americans and their culture. You'd hope that people would educate themselves before protesting.
That is so stupid. I am am member of the Order and in our lodge, the Mowogo Lodge from NEGA, is very respectful to the native american culture that we emulate. The people on the ceremony team does a lot of research on our regalia so that we accurately portraying the people who lived here before us. So her assumption is way off base.