Dont make me start with the raisen nuts jokes CJ.

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SLAM!

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Being of Tsalagi ancestry myself, Spirit was the catalyst for me getting into RAH GIJOE, and allowing my son to get into it as well.

I like his clothing, primarily because in the early and late seventies, many of us "city skins", people who swelled with Native pride and kept the traditional medicine alive, dressed that way at our schools, off time, and with some vocations, at work. My new jeans always got deerskin fringe sewn from hip to ankle. I wore bracers that me and mine beaded ourselves, as well as we would add turquoise and shell to our normal items, such as belts and jackets. The native apron (loin cloth is more of an overseas tribal term), we wore in the same fashion, either as blanket sewn to an Army web belt, or in my case, I wore one fashioned out of denim with a Thunderbird on the front and back, so that when my jeans faded, so did the apron, and matched. Many of us took our tallboots to the shoemaker, to have larger crepe street soles added so they could be worn longer. Nowadays the makers themselves add larger soles.

The Dineh boots he wears are no different than some in stores now that sell Muk-Luk boots for the Winter months, and Minnetonka, which has been supplying moccasins forever, tallboots are still a large seller, with Rennie, Native, or appreciator alike.

My brother still wears the two braids, in Spirit fashion, and he was working for the D.O.D in IT for the Navy as well.

A road killed Hawk or one from lightning if found gets the Borax treatment, and then the best heart feathers are dispersed amongst the family. Some adorn their hair, or in my case, I make the upper arm bracer much like the V3 Spirit wears.

Eagle feathers are very sought after but regulated far more strict than porn. Those that find them or can get them from the Dept. of the Interior through B.I.A channels, make single fans or adorn the hair. Some put them on everything from bows, rifles, and even Harleys.

Eagles come in a variety of colors, and yes, black is one of them. America has more than the Bald eagle. Pick up an Audubon guide to truly see the diversity of the avian world. Same for hawks. From red to black, to the bars like Opsrey and such.

Spirit would offend less if folks in general really saw the contemporary native past the media, casinos, and bad representations. Wes Studi rocks the Kasbah whether he is adorned in regalia for his historical movie works, or commanding ex-mercs on Deep Rising. Being proud and respectful of one's nativeness is not about the clothes, the regalia, or even the percentages. It's about the medicine. Not to be confused with the medical term, native medicine is that hard to elaborate connected feeling to the histories, ways, spiritual affinity, and oneness, whether you're pounding the ground at Powwow, or just beading the winter months away amongst likewise kin. When drumbeats, and sweetgrass scented handshakes remind you that you are part of something that others feel as well.

Trust me, Disney's Peter Pan's representations are far, FAR, more offensive than anything in the GIJOE mythos.

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I see valid points on both sides of the fence on this one.

As far as the uniform looking non-military, that's really a non-issue, as others have already pointed out. Just a few days ago my brother (in the Navy) was telling me a story about how Seals are pretty much allowed to dress as they see fit. They're bad ass fellows, and if they want to grow their hair out a bit or wear sunglasses indoors, they're going too.

I'm a bit more torn on the Indian appearance. On one hand, it seems like Hasbro was actually trying to be respectful of the character's origins. On the other hand, there's so much dated "Indian" stuff going on that it doesn't look like it belongs in this century.

It comes down to there simply being too much Indian stuff. A good parallel is the Battle Corps ARAH Wild Bill. He had pioneer boots, a very old revolver (I think), and a uniform that looked straight out of F-Troop. In this case, no one said it was racist. Likewise, it might be that the Spirit uniform isn't racist, it's simply dated and overdone.

The Dart figure was a better balance between contemporary military uniform and Indian influence. I'm ignoring the WWII era helmet as a sculpting error, too. Sometime, less is more. Spirit has:

1. Headband
2. Braided hair
3. Pet eagle
4. Arrow gun
5. Decorative wristband
6. Loin cloth
7. Necklace w/rabbit's foot? I can't tell what that is, but it looks white and furry.
8. Pants with frayed edges
9. Indian boots

That's less "Indian" stuff than Jay Silverheels wore as Tonto, playing a character set in the mid 1800's. It's just too much stuff. One or two of these attributes would have carried the character just as well without overdoing it.

It's so ironic! The first Spirit figure I found on the pegs had a major paint flaw; a white drip coming from that very same eye. I immediately thought of the old littering commercial that this image is from (yes, I'm old enough to remember it), and knew, even with a dab of touch-up paint, I'd never be able to look at this figure seriously. I left it there. I found a tearless one a week later.


I also feel like the stereotypical "Indian" has played itself out. While I respect how Hasbro is painstakingly recreating every figure as they were in their original forms, I have really warmed up quite a bit to the Devil's Due version of Spirit in his Black Ops uniform. I know they're focusing on the "classic" figures right now, but I hope the black ops Spirit is one of the first considered when they get around to the modern era.

i think that 9 out of 10 peolple living in America can claim some Indian in there ansestory

When Spirit came out in the '80's, it was not unheard of to find Cowboy vs. Indians toy soldiers like you would little, green army men. I've always imagined that Spirit's design was meant to make him a counterpart to Wild Bill, and probably some Hasbro guy thought they could pick up the "Cowboys vs. Indians" market. For that reason I've always been not crazy about the design. (The notion of some kid playing with a Dragonfly hunting down a bunch of Spirits on foot...)

Also, I think my Indian friends who hate the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves would probably say that Spirit was another example of the white man capitalizing on stereotypical representations of the peoples they killed and stole from, but - I dunno, that never stopped me from rooting for the Braves and I still get on with my friends, so maybe there's room for tolerance. This thread changed my mind. Spirit's pants, you're fine with me!

Yeah but I got papers to prove mine.
and seriously guys, havent we enough.

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I'm all Northern European mutt, except for a great-great grandpa that married him a Cheyenne (Cherokee? Hell, I dunno) squaw around the time of the Civil War.

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I'm all Irish, neither side in the country before 1927