Thank goodness for newcomers — they bring such a refreshing antidote to our old, immoral thinking and ideas.

now that’s a pow wow!

One Allison Hope, arrival date 2018, and living on stolen land, is shocked and dismayed at the inherent racism being displayed by the Cos Cob PTA. Here’s her letter to the editor of the Greenwich Free Press; you may think I’ve invented it for submission to the Bee, but no, I assure you, try as I might, I could never reach this level of idiocy and trite repetition of every liberal trope.

Enjoy.

LETTER: Can’t we have fun without being offensive?

Submitted by Allison Hope, Greenwich

Not long after I moved to Greenwich in 2018, I came across an advertisement for the North Mianus Pow Wow and got excited, thinking it was similar to the Pow Wows I attended growing up in New York City, which were organized by and highlighting inter-tribal Native Americans. The tribes would travel from all over the country and gather at the only working farm in New York City for a weekend of drumming and dancing, native food and crafts, and education about Native American history and culture. It was always a beautiful event that I had the privilege to attend as a child and learn about Native American culture and tradition, and then, decades later, to return with my own child.

I arrived at the North Mianus event with my family only to see that it was not in fact a Pow Wow, but a carnival fundraiser for the school’s PTA, with no evidence of any Native American culture or tradition or people.

I was confused, then concerned. I sat on the observation for a long time, and then realized maybe the event organizers didn’t realize they were using a term that was coopted from Native American tribes and might not know that it was offensive to use it to describe an event that wasn’t organized by Native Americans.

Pow Wows are defined as gatherings of Native American nations, often a celebration filled with dancing and singing ceremonies, sometimes bringing together diverse indigenous groups.

I wanted to engage the event organizers, but I also recognized that I did not identify as Native American and did not want to speak for that community. [Then maybe you should shut up —ED] We have a phrase in civil rights movements, “nothing about us without us,” and I knew that I needed to include Native American perspectives and voices in my query.

As a non-Native, I reached out to a Native American advocacy group based in Connecticut to gather some resources, and they affirmed that the term Pow Wow was in fact not something they encouraged non-Native American communities to use, and were kind enough to share information about how best non-Native communities can be respectful and engage.

…. I reached out to the North Mianus PTA equipped with this information and shaped what I believed was a thoughtful note. I never heard back. [hahahaha! Good for them — ED]

Every year I see the signs for the Pow Wow and I cringe. I know I am not the only one who has raised the concern. There is no good reason why this should fall on deaf ears.

Is it child abuse to raise a 6-year-old this way? Asking for a friend.

My almost seven-year-old said it best. “This is like Mount Rushmore,” he said. “What do you mean?” I asked.

“They took the mountain away from the Native Americans and turned it into Mount Rushmore. And the parents took the word Pow Wow away from the Native Americans and are using it for their carnival.”

…. I stared in awe at my first grader and wondered why he seemed to espouse more empathy and understanding than the parents planning the school fundraiser. Imagine clinging to something that isn’t even yours? The fear of losing notoriety or money greater than doing the right thing.

What sort of lesson are we teaching our children? [Exactly what I’m asking — ED] What sort of moral compass are we using to steer our own decisioning, and if we do some soul searching, where does our conscience guide us?

This is not the thought police trying to ruin another good thing in this town. [No, not at all – Ed] We can have our cake and eat it too. We can have the best carnival fundraiser with no loss of joy or dollars and change the name so we’re not offending an important minority group [rude of me to ask, I’m sure, but what’s “important” about a long-defunct stone age culture whose remnants have retreated to casinos and discount tobacco stores? — Ed] a that has long been wronged by others coming in and taking everything that they have created and hold sacred. Let us break this heinous tradition.

To be clear, I still plan to go to the carnival. My kid wouldn’t let me decide otherwise. I am not a boycotting kind of person. I am a link arms and engage and let’s go on this journey towards greater humanity and ethics together kind of person. I support North Mianus and all that the school community is trying to do. I support more resources for our children. I also support inclusion and ensuring that we’re not trampling on anyone else while we lift ourselves up, especially not communities that have been long marginalized.

We have an opportunity to make this right. Let’s enjoy ourselves this weekend and then roll our sleeves up and get it all the way right next year.

My child even had some great suggestions for alternate names for the carnival, and would be happy to set up a meeting to discuss with the PTA parents at North Mianus.

UPDATE: Greenwich Free Press has published two very good letters rebutting Princess Wool For Brains, one from Silke Oellrich, the other from Fred DeCaro. I recommend both.