ICON$
Title: On Tribal Grounds: ICON$ (Legal Tender)
Subject: Commercialization of Indigenous Cultures
Created: Original 2015
Medium: Graphic Design
Software: Adobe Illustrator CS5
Dimensions: 36″x48″
Article
“Originally, the term cultural appropriation was synonymous with cultural exchange. A culture taking on a cultural element from another culture. Now, cultural appropriation is synonymous with cultural theft. This is because the majority of cultural appropriation has been done through coercion and violence, rather than a mutually beneficial exchange. The “dominant” culture has used this dominance to steal and water-down and transform cultural elements from every culture it engages with. Because of the broader context of appropriation happening all the time, many people look at rewilding and see cultural appropriation wether it is actual appropriation or not. (Side Note: there is certainly white privilege/fragility in rewilding, but I’ll tackle that issue in another essay. While it relates, it’s a separate issue in and of itself).”
– Unsettling America, Towards an Understanding of Cultural Appropriation in Rewilding
Download the 8.5″x11″ print (.pdf), On Tribal Grounds: ICON$ (Legal Tender).
Close-ups



On Tribal Grounds
On Tribal Grounds is a series of artworks by Ihanktonwan Dakota artist David Bernie that addresses issues faced by Native American and First Nations communities when non-Native people access Reservations and Reserves.
Creative Commons License
On Tribal Grounds: ICON$ (Legal Tender) © 2015 by David Bernie is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
