Bass Coast festival headdress ban ruffles feathers and sparks debate

What started as a policy decision by the Bass Coast Music and Arts Festival in Merritt, B.C., hasexploded into an international discussion on culturalappropriation and amovement to stoprevellers from wearingFirst Nation-style headdresses to parties around the world.

• OPINION|Please think before you put on a headdress
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• Bass Coast Festival bans First Nations headdresses

The feathered headdresshas become a sensitive pop culture phenomenon, springing up in fashion shows, music videos and on the heads ofpartygoersfrom Coachellato Bonnaroo.

But in a statement posted last week on Facebook, Bass Coast organizers explained that headdresses are unwelcome at this weekend's festival,which takes place on indigenous territory,and that security would be enforcing the ban.

'We want to be good neighbours'

Paul Brooks, the festival's communications manager, told CBC Arts reporter Zulekha Nathoo that the ban is about respect:

"This has been an ongoing topic of debate within electronic music and within festivals and our core team felt it was time to take a stand," he said.

"There are many Indian bands in the area, many reservations, so we want to be good neighbours. We want to be respectful of aboriginal people not only in the area but across Canada and North America."

Brooks saidhe's received an outpouring of thanks and support for the ban, including international mediaattention from Buzzfeed, Jezebel, and the British online publicationthe Guardian.

He also got a tweet of approvalfrom Juno-award winningaboriginal DJ groupA Tribe Called Red,who are headlining Bass Coast this year.

The headdresscontroversy became front-pagenews, literally, whenPharrell Williams wore a headdress on the cover of Elle magazine, a fashion choice for which he later apologized.

• Pharrell Williams sorryfor wearing First Nation headdress

Chanel, Victoria's Secret,H&M, Urban Outfitters and Paul Frankhave alsocome under firefor inappropriately using First Nations symbols or imagery in their fashions.

Wanda Nanibush, a First Nations artist and activist in Toronto, says that if artists really want to honour First Nations peoplethen they should find out what the symbols mean first.

"The headdress is a sign of honour, so really the only way that someone like Chanel or Karl Lagerfeld or Pharrell could actually get one legitimately would be if they did something quite amazing for our people, and they haven't done that, so they don't deserve one."

CBC Arts has thefull story Thursday night on The National.

TheBass Coast Music Festivaltakes place Aug. 1-4 at the Merritt festival grounds in Merritt, B.C.