‘Please don’t make a mockery of us’: Indigenous Halloween costumes shouldn’t be worn says Curve Lake resident

With Halloween around the corner, a Curve Lake First Nation woman says those partaking in the holiday should be mindful of the costume they choose to wear.

“It’s not right to dress up as Indigenous people because Indigenous people are real, they’re not to be made a mockery of. Halloween is about ghosts and goblins… I don’t think that it’s right that people dress up as us,” said Brenda Whetung.

Instead of celebrating Canada Day this year, Whetung partook in a 10-kilometre walk with about 50 others, some also from Curve Lake First Nation, in honour of the thousands of children that have been recovered at the sites of former residential schools.

The walk finished at Whetung’s memorial she had established in front of her home.

“I would hope that now that there is more awareness out there about the horrors of residential schools that people would be more mindful when selecting a costume. We have been discriminated against for so many years and it hurts,” she said.

Anna, a front-end supervisor at Value Village in Peterborough, said they’ve been monitoring the kinds of costumes they’ve been putting on their shelves to ensure there’s no racially inappropriate costumes being sold.

“Because there’s been so much talk about racial appropriation, we’ve been a little more mindful over the years about what goes out and what’s presented to our public,” she said.

“But I do know, especially with regards to the Indigenous people, we’re being careful all throughout the store. Even with regular shirts or our home decor and everything else, we’re being very mindful of what might be considered offensive or inappropriate.”

Jennifer Robertshaw, manager of Peterborough’s Party City, said they haven’t sold any racially inappropriate costumes for a couple of years.

“We actually don’t carry any of that stuff anymore. Corporate got rid of it a couple of years ago,” she said.

It’s important that stores selling costumes and individuals purchasing them avoid both distributing and obtaining any kind of cultural stereotyped costumes, Anna said.

“In this day and age, it’s best to just be mindful and respectful of everyone,” she said.

Stores allowing and profiting from costumes that depict racism are contributing to the problem, Whetung said.

“Please don’t make a mockery of us. We are real people. We are still here, and we walk amongst you every day,” she said.

The residential school’s crisis line is available 24 hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of a residential school experience. Support is available at 1-866-925-4419.