Sources if you came from TikTok:
Article relating to the topic, but not directly on Heritage Classes (ApHC in California claiming they got Nez Perce Tribe permission to have club members dress up as Nez Perce Tribe members and walkin a parade): https://ictnews.org/archive/nez-perce-did-not-give-horse-club-blessing-to-play-indian-at-rose-parade-tribe-says
Wonderful Post by Trinity Appaloosas, which includes their message from the Nez Perce Tribe: https://www.facebook.com/share/LHFaBH5q2dQrXSAu/
A Post from the Nez Perce AppaloosaHorse Club calling out Cultural Appropriation: https://www.facebook.com/NPApHC/posts/pfbid022vSDmUZkZUt1dkDWqeWukzJJSwEjLyBDokZapUWsdXbCjjzTwtv9Jfky4yE8Qnc7l?__tn__=R*F
Trinity Appaloosas did also message the Nez Perce Tribe and ask them specifically about the Heritage Classes, and this was their response (Thanks, Trinity Appaloosas!)
Hello!
Today we’re going to talk about a VERY testy topic that got heated on my tiktok video! That’s okay, while disappointing, I fully expected it! So let’s jump into it.
I’m just gonna say it.
Heritage classes in the Appaloosa Horse Club, and costume or heritage classes in other horse breeds such as Arabians and Gypsy Vanners that allow and ENCOURAGE people to dress in the cultural outfits of cultures they are not a part of are racist.
Participating in them while dressed as a culture you are not a part of is racist.
I said it and no amount of arguing is going to make me take it back.
We’ll be focusing on the Appaloosa Horse Club today because, obviously, that’s the one I’m a part of.
So basically, these Heritage Classes are supposedly to celebrate the history of the Appaloosa horse breed (which is a whole other post on it’s own.*). This “celebration” is done by having people dress themselves and their horses up as different points in the breeds’ history. As such, a lot of non-native people, and specifically non-Nez Perce tribal members, dress in regalia inspired clothing, dress and paint their horses with “war paint,” and other things, to “show off” the history.
Now, Indigenous Americans, including members of the Nez Perce tribe do participate in these classes! But there is a CLEAR difference between an indigenous person dressing in their culture’s sacred clothing, and non-native people doing it.
Here’s the thing. Whether certain individuals like it or not, indigenous tribes have been telling us for years that dressing in their clothing, using their words and names, and other such things is wrong. Sure, if you buy clothing from an indigenous creator that is made for non-tribe members to wear, go for it! But wearing the clothes that colonizers forcibly took from them, clothes that have important spiritual meaning to them, is contributing to a system of oppression. Ergo, it is racist.