Dear Mr. Schmidt,

That was an excellent article on the problems with face painting. I wanted to point out, however, that sometimes we paticipate inadvertently in the perpetuation of the stereotypes mentioned in the article. At most pow wows that I have attended over the last ten or more years there have been Native American face painters making money by painting children's faces, usually white children's faces.

Although I do not disagree with you on the whole about the role of face painting for many warrior societies, I am aware of quite a number of non-plains tribes who painted their faces for other occasions such as mourning rituals, funeral ceremonies, puberty rites, spiritual guidance in hunting/food gathering, thanksgiving harvest dances, and assorted prayer ceremonies.

Many Blessings,
Henry Vasquez