"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated November 21, 1909:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittkeNemo1905 (JANUARY 10, 2021):
As with many of the more offensive strips in the #LittleNemo collection, I feel it necessary to problematize how the strip portrays BIPOC representation. - 1/15
Building off of the stereotypical depiction of Inuit peoples from last strip, this one adds in other elements (on top of those discussed yesterday) to further caricaturize the culture. - 2/15
The broken English, the sled pulled by dogs, and the emphasis on blubbers and oils (as well as the increasingly unusual offerings) at the Thanksgiving table are all common tropes that have been used historically to stereotype and caricaturize the Inuit. - 3/15
That said, I have absolutely no idea what McCay was getting at with the offerings of "castor oil", "gasolene", or a "cup of kerosense"… It reads to me just as someone making fun of the dietary choices of a culture they don't understand, but I don't know if there is more to it or not. - 4/15
The representation of the Inuit people *alone* would be pretty bad, but what seems worse is the complicated thread of Indigenous peoples celebrating "Thanksgiving". - 5/15
Most of us are familiar with the origin of Thanksgiving; a 1621 feast shared between British colonists and members of the Indigenous Wampanoag nation. - 6/15
The relationship between Indigenous peoples and Colonizers has, since then, become far more tenuous as colonists stole land, claiming it as their own, and brought disease that ravaged Indigenous populations. - 7/15
That said, Brian Rice, an assistant professor in the department of religion at the University of Winnipeg and a member of the Mohawk nation, reminds us that Thanksgiving is originally an Indigenous ceremony (CBC). - 8/15
"All of our ceremonies…", he says, "have to do with giving thanks" (CBC). In this way, it isn't completely unusual (I don't think, anyway) to see a Thanksgiving celebration by a First Nations community. - 9/15
It does seem, however, to be strangely colonized in the way it's represented… especially with the notice pinned to the igloo "Grand Thanksgiving Dinner Here Today". I don't get the impression that this is what an authentic Indigenous celebration would look like. - 10/15
I do want to add the caveat that I might be completely wrong about this and would welcome corrections, if so. I am totally unsure what type of celebration the Inuit peoples would have/if they were similar celebrations. - 11/15
That said, my impressions were largely influenced by this article from CBC, which I found to be quite interesting and informative: - 12/15
Again, that is a singular family perspective, and I am by no means an expert here, so I would very much welcome alternative (more informed) points of view on this particular topic if anyone can share. - 13/15
All of this (without even mentioning the use of the detestable and derogatory term for Inuit peoples present in the strip) combine to demonstrate a lack of authenticity about the way the culture is presented. Not surprising given McCay's record, but no less upsetting. - 14/15
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #215. What's yours? - 15/15