Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

'Total disrespect': Headdress appropriation spotted in three Napier stores within 300m

By Gianina Schwanecke
Reporter·Hawkes Bay Today·
14 Dec, 2020 07:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Subscriber benefit

The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

The Native American headdress found in Crystal Sanctuary Napier on Emerson St has sparked outrage from an indigenous advocate. Photo / Facebook
The Native American headdress found in Crystal Sanctuary Napier on Emerson St has sparked outrage from an indigenous advocate. Photo / Facebook

The Native American headdress found in Crystal Sanctuary Napier on Emerson St has sparked outrage from an indigenous advocate. Photo / Facebook

An advocate for indigenous communities has called for change on Napier's Emerson St after spotting three stores within 300 metre using Native American headdresses for commerce.

Mihirangi Mihi lives in Auckland but was visiting family when she decided to check out the shops along the city's main street - "the kind I usually like to visit", she said.

However, she was shocked to find a replica feathered headdress typically worn by high-ranking men of the American Plains Indians Nations for ceremonial purposes for sale in Crystal Sanctuary Napier and on display in AJR Fashion.

Mihirangi Mihi [centre] said her Native American friends would be "absolutely gutted" to see their ceremonial items for sale in Napier shops. Photo / Supplied
Mihirangi Mihi [centre] said her Native American friends would be "absolutely gutted" to see their ceremonial items for sale in Napier shops. Photo / Supplied

A third store, NoName Boutique, had a painting which depicted a brightly coloured headdress on a llama.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I was really shocked," Mihi said, who took to social media with her concerns after approaching the stores.

Open up the latest news from Hawke's Bay

Get daily Hawkes Bay headlines straight to your inbox.
Please email me competitions, offers and other updates. You can stop these at any time.
By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Representatives from Crystal Sanctuary Napier and NoName Boutique declined to comment on the matter to Hawke's Bay Today.

Aree Chanchumrat, of AJR Fashion, said she would be happy to take down the headdress in her store now that she understood the meaning behind it.

"I can put it away if it interferes with their culture or harms them."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mihi said she knew the history and ceremonies associated with the headdress after working with indigenous people through her music.

Mihirangi Mihi said she felt the need to speak up in support of her "indigenous brothers and sisters". Photo / Supplied
Mihirangi Mihi said she felt the need to speak up in support of her "indigenous brothers and sisters". Photo / Supplied

She said her indigenous friends would be "absolutely gutted" to see them sold here.

"It represents their sacred ceremony.

"If we expect people to have respect for who we are culturally then we need to respect other people's cultures."

Seeing the items in a commercial setting, showed "total disrespect", she said.

Mihirangi Mihi frequently works with indigenous chiefs and shaman through her role with the Alliance of Mother Natures Guardians. Photo / Supplied
Mihirangi Mihi frequently works with indigenous chiefs and shaman through her role with the Alliance of Mother Natures Guardians. Photo / Supplied

Chanchumrat said she hadn't really heard anything about cultural appropriation issues relating to the item and had bought it from a secondhand store to display alongside her clothing.

The store owner, originally from Thailand, said she could understand the issue though, relating it to the sale of Buddha statues as toys.

"They sell it as a toy but for us, it's really mean.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I can understand how they feel similar."

Mihi's advocacy came at a time when Native American history has been thrust into the NZ spotlight.

Last week fashion designer Trelise Cooper apologised after being slammed for naming on a dress with a phrase associated with a bleak period in Native American history.

The "Trail of Tiers" dress was called out on Twitter for its similarity to the phrase "Trail of Tears" - a period in the 1830s during which thousands of Native Americans were forced to relocate from ancestral land.

The headdress: Why it's not okay to appropriate it

Traditional Native American headdresses have been pirated and parodied in Halloween costumes and as festival attire for many years, however, more recently the costumes have become a symbol of cultural appropriation with growing calls to end the practice.

Cultural appropriation relates to the unacknowledged or inappropriate adopting of cultural elements from a less dominant or marginalised group in society, by a more dominant group.

Feathered headdresses, also known as war bonnets, are indigenous to the American Plains Indians Nations, and only worn by high-ranking men during special ceremonies.

The use of the headdress by people with no cultural ties or understanding of the practices surrounding it is thus considered inappropriate.

It is also seen to be used as a racial stereotype, rolling more than 560 distinct tribes indigenous to America into one.

Upset about its use is not new, but has gained more consideration through social media providing larger platforms for indigenous advocates.

Subscriber benefit

The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
Save
    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Napier electorate expanded to take communities from Tukituki

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

After 61 years of cutting hair, veteran barber Mike Bird is not done yet

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

NZ receives 1500 refugees each year but Hawke’s Bay doesn’t settle any. Why?


Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Recommended for you

Pedestrian dies in Hamilton car crash
New Zealand

Pedestrian dies in Hamilton car crash

Cars crashing off ‘extremely icy' roads a sign of a chilly week ahead for NZ
New Zealand

Cars crashing off ‘extremely icy' roads a sign of a chilly week ahead for NZ

Man charged after woman found dead at South Auckland address
New Zealand

Man charged after woman found dead at South Auckland address

'Senseless acts of cruelty': Endangered sea lions fatally shot in mouth in Waitaki River
New Zealand

'Senseless acts of cruelty': Endangered sea lions fatally shot in mouth in Waitaki River

Awkward interview sheds new light on Sydney Sweeney
Entertainment

Awkward interview sheds new light on Sydney Sweeney

'Gold standard': NZ urged to adopt new endometriosis care guidelines
New Zealand

'Gold standard': NZ urged to adopt new endometriosis care guidelines



Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Napier electorate expanded to take communities from Tukituki
Hawkes Bay Today

Napier electorate expanded to take communities from Tukituki

Pākōwhai, Waiohiki, Fernhill, Ōmahu and rural areas such as Crownthorpe move to Napier.

10 Aug 12:37 AM
Premium
Premium
After 61 years of cutting hair, veteran barber Mike Bird is not done yet
Hawkes Bay Today

After 61 years of cutting hair, veteran barber Mike Bird is not done yet

10 Aug 12:31 AM
Premium
Premium
NZ receives 1500 refugees each year but Hawke’s Bay doesn’t settle any. Why?
Hawkes Bay Today

NZ receives 1500 refugees each year but Hawke’s Bay doesn’t settle any. Why?

09 Aug 06:00 PM


Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’
Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

04 Aug 11:37 PM

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search