Clothing not costumes
On Martha's Vineyard last week, I had the opportunity to spend a day with members of the Wampanoag tribe, who occupy and own most of the western tip of the island. One member told me, 'We've been here 10,000 years!' Before I sat to watch the Wampanoag's 'Legends of Moshup' pageant -- an outdoor telling of the tribe's traditional tales -- I made the mistake of calling their traditional clothing they wore as 'costumes.' 'No, it's not costumes,' they gently reminded me. 'It's our clothing.'
Clothing, not costumes. Something to keep in mind when in western Martha's Vineyard, or mingling with various 'minority groups' in places like Southeast Asia...
