The American Indian Ready to Wear Catalog 2018

American Indian Ready to Wear Catalog 2018 
by Joey Clift, illustrations by Janet Myer 

14cm x 21.6cm, 12 pages. Colour cover, black and white pages. 

$5 or $1 digital* copy

You only need to have a very rudimentary knowledge of American history to be aware of the horrific atrocities carried out on native tribes by 'settlers' of the 'new land'. Even at this point in history discrimination against indigenous people in American is ongoing, and in many cases codified into law. 

American Indian Ready to Wear Catalog 2018 is written by Joey Clift, a registered member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, who grew up on the the Tulalip Indian Reservation. In correspondence Joey said this about his zine:

"Working in the entertainment industry, it frustrates me to no end to see how little representation actual native culture has in popular media. When we do get representation, it's almost always based on a very specific image of native people that hasn't been accurate for hundreds of years, if not just a straight up racist stereotype, the goal is to shine a light on that"

The American Indian Ready to Wear Catalogue 2018 is a biting satire which leaves no appropriator of Native American culture unscathed: Disney; The Native Sports Mascot; a well known butter manufacturer; Hollywood actors; sports team owners; male and female retired New Agers; and middle-class hipsters. 

This is a perfect example of the tone and style of Joey's zine:

For satire to work it needs to be funny and simultaneously make a political point, this zine does both of those things extremely well - that it needs to do so proves the tragic state of American culture.

I'm a sucker for cross generational collaboration, so the fact this zine is illustrated by Joey's mum is an added joy. Janet's drawing contributes considerably to the look and humour of the zine. She's a professional artist in her own right, some more examples of her work can be found on her artist facebook page. 

So, to know what not to wear this, or any, season go and buy a copy of the zine here: Redcatpress.com

*Please note we do not endorse digital zines at Syndicated Zine Reviews!


Review by Nathan Penlington