Hellobee Boards

'wild west' seems more PC as a theme

ETA: just saw the pic added. yea, i wouldn't be comfortable with that. at all.

@mrs. bird: I agree with that.

I think a labeling it Wild West would be less likely to offend. Like everything else, people's comfort levels with Indian vs. Native and costumes will vary. I lived next to a reservation for a long time and had Native friends who would dress as another tribe member for Halloween and then had Native students whose families asked us not to make headdresses during thanksgiving week.

I'd say gauge your audience/guests and go from there. I would be offended by the dressing up aspect for the same reason I'm not offended by kids dressing up like pirates.

@kiddosc: I think it can be offensive to say Indian because its symbolic of the injustices and wrongdoings that were put upon the Native people. They aren't from India, they are the native occupants of the Americas. Most of the Native Americans I know prefer to be called that or by their tribe over Indian. The history of the Wild West is pretty fraught with bad deeds.
But so is piracy (pirate themed) and royalty (Princess themes) and lots of other common children party themes.

Yeah I dont think the term indians is right either. They arent indians and dont want to be called indians or even worse red indians

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: "If Cowboys and Indians was not adversial and just happened to be characters that helped paint a picture of a Wild West party would that be better?" yes, that would be better.

Could you just do cowboys? Lots of westerns show fights between two grps of settlers and nothing to do w Native Americans. Kind of like Hatfields and McCoys? Maybe bank robbers? Just throwing things out as they come to mind.

@MsLipGloss: no, i didnt mean it like that. I just meant two groups of people. As a reference of fighting sides not as an example western history. ETA: also i know they werent in the west or having anything to do with that culture.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I see what you're saying. I guess I don't tend to think that deeply into it, which is probably why I don't always understand why people take offense. My first reaction is to think like @JoyfulKiwi mentioned, that these are "character" options without scrutinizing the historical context.

I wouldn't play a game that pits the two sides against each other, and would most likely just do a wild west party that featured cowboys alone rather than potentially offend.

I would probably go with a western theme, and just have them dress as cowboys. I would probably ask myself, what if one of my guests were Native American? Would they be comfortable with it?

I would say western. I think dressing everyone up as "indians" is offensive cause it's seen as racist. I think if people dressed up like they stereotype other races, those races would be offended too.

@citymouse: @MsLipGloss: I really like how easily misunderstandings and disagreements are resolved on here! Everyone is very respectful and polite