A London costume store has stopped selling Native headdresses and other Indigenous costumes after being targeted in an online petition.
The Change.org petition was launched Tuesday by Londoner Suze Morrison after she saw a display of Native headdresses at McCulloch's Costume and Party Supplies on Dundas St.
"I walked in the door and literally the first thing I see is the big wall behind the cash filled with multiple headdresses, tomahawks, beaded necklaces, bows and arrows, everything intended to dress up as my culture," says Morrison. "I froze for a minute because it was just so hurtful."
On Wednesday morning, the store pulled the headdress and costumes from its shelves and from its online store.Shaking in rage in the parking lot of McCulloch's. STOP SELLING RACIST COSTUMES. #ldnontpic.twitter.com/d4agoR5YVG
— Suze Morrison (@DelSuze) October 18, 2016
“We’ve been in business since 1962, it has never been our desire to offend anyone,” says Dale McCulloch, store manager. “This morning I came into work and saw a comment on our Facebook page from somebody saying we are being racist by selling these headdresses, so we are obviously offending these people and I can understand why, so we pulled the head dresses off our shelves and website.”
Morrison says she was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the store took action.
"I would like to give kudos to them. It's not an easy thing to be called out and to lean into what people are telling you, listen to it authentically and then take action on it," says Morrison. "Their quick action speaks to their willingness to hear and be respectful of the community and their customers."
McCulloch says they have never received this sort of negative response from one of their costumes before. But Morrison says after a lifetime of seeing these costumes it has become too hard to accept.
"Culture can be likened to intellectual property, cultures have the right to say who can and cannot take ownership or profit from really significant components of that culture," says Morrison. "Headdresses are one example of a cultural item that has a lot of sacredness and significance to it."
Morrison, who was at McCulloch's to find props for her own Halloween costume, says she is absolutely satisfied with the store's response and will definitely continue shopping there.