Headdresses as fashion is 'disgusting'

Buffy Sainte-Marie has seen enough headdresses, worn inappropriately by non-Indigenous people at shows, concerts and festivals, in her lifetime.

"When it comes to things like headdresses, there are some things that are actually, factually, personally, deeply cultural to our heritage," the respected and innovative singer told the Canadian Press last week.

“To some guy who's got models in high heels, bikini bottoms, pasties and a big headdress, and everybody's drunk — I want people to understand why that is painful or disgusting, why that is negative to us,” she said.

"We see it a lot in Europe, especially in Germany,” Sainte-Marie added.

"You see these people showing up and they have handmade, craftsy, fake headdress-like things, and they somehow think they're paying us a compliment. But we let them know."

The singer isn’t for banning headdresses or headdress-like fashions, although many music festivals have gone that route lately. She said she wants people to understand that doing these things is insensitive and harmful, and to choose not to.

Photo sources: www.buffysainte-marie.com and www.stuff.co.nz