"My Ojibwe father drew the Land O'Lakes maiden. She was never a stereotype."

[jberryhill]

Link to tweet

[Newest Reality]

1. "They got rid of the Indian and kept the land."

Woah.

[StarryNite]

6. That speaks volumes, doesn't it?

Maybe I would feel differently if I were Native American but personally I don't see anything wrong or offensive about the previous design. It's almost as if there is a plot to erase history. People should be proud of their heritage and offended by those who want to erase it. I think the previous design was nice. After all, this is America and the Native Americans were here first and so much of their land and culture was stolen from them. Are we going to get to the point where only pictures of old white men will be accepted?

[CatMor]

2. I use Land O Lakes and I'm going to miss her ...

she is beautiful and comforting.

[StarryNite]

12. Me too.

She's been deleted.

[Shermann]

3. It is mostly harmless Nativeamericansploitation nt

[The Magistrate]

4. As A Child, Sir, The Infinite Depth Of The Thing Fascinated Me

She was holding a box, which had on it a picture of her holding a box, which had on it a picture of her holding a box, which had on it a picture of her holding a box, and on and on and on ad infinitum, ever smaller, ever tinier, ever finer....

[guillaumeb]

8. And inside that tiniest box there is a picture of.....

Sorry, I am sworn to never reveal what it is. But it is shocking.

[LeftInTX]

11. Never thought that way..LOL

Only saw the knee chest thing recently...honestly, never thought about what was behind the box

[guillaumeb]

13. Sorry, I cannot tell you either.

Shocking!!

[exboyfil]

19. Sorry boxes all the way down to the quantum level

just like Turtles.

[guillaumeb]

20. The tiniest box had a picture of a turtle.

A real turtle, not the GOP Senate Leader type.

[LeftInTX]

9. That was what I liked about it too!!!

I kept trying to see the box within the box within the box etc

[unblock]

5. i see the point that she's "not a stereotype",

and i'll trust his assertion that the details are sufficiently specific and realistic.

but that may be missing the mark, at least as far as why she was removed -- what did mia, or anything having to do with native american culture or history, have to do with land o' lakes or its butter?

it seemed like cultural appropriation to me. trying to burnish the image of a corporate food product by implying it has something to do with the positive associations with native american culture when, i'm guessing, there's little to nothing native american about the company or the way it does business.

so, maybe they avoided one of the specific problems the washington "redskins" has (because that has cultural appropriation *and* negative stereotyping), but there's still plenty of room for keeping the image to be problematic.

[jberryhill]

14. "Corporate food product"

It's a member-owned co-op.

https://indiancountrytoday.com/news/there-s-another-story-behind-that-land-o-lakes-butter-box-v-QWAwVzCUCmHEs3OmHTdA

[unblock]

17. that may be a better organizational structure,

but it doesn't really change my point. the coop exists to manipulate the image of the product and to increase profitability for its producers, so while they may be less likely to try to take advantage of their members the way a corporate entity might try to take advantage of its suppliers, they still have incentives to behave badly in some ways.

in any event, i'm still not clear on the relationship with native american culture. are many of the members native american, or were they when it was founded?

[cwydro]

7. Interesting.

Thank you.

[Mosby]

15. K and R

[Polly Hennessey]

16. Hers was a lovely and gracious image.

When I saw the box with Mia, I would think of all the tribes that inhabited the beautiful Great Lakes region. I like the thought made earlier that now all we see is the land. The land we took away from the original inhabitants. Something about some of the reasoning for cultural approbation seems strained. Not everything is an insult. She was the inspiration of a talented Native American. Her image graced a product seen by millions. I will miss her: the image of a strong American woman.

[MagickMuffin]

18. We Need A Bring Her Back Campaign

Yep, Certainly someone will start a petition.

[mopinko]

21. i said on another thread, in reply to the question- what could they have done?

they could have credited the artist and the history.
and sponsored a big museum show of his other work.