Another Stereotype of the Month entry:
Another Stereotype of the Month entry:
A correspondent sent me this ad from the San Francisco Chronicle. The image doesn't look Mesoamerican to me. I'm guessing the store, Floorcraft Garden Center, made it up.
Floorcraft's motto is "We Sell Happiness!" Which explains why it may have fabricated a curse and thereby impugned millions of Indians living in Central America today. Buy bark chips and "Snail Death," make yourself feel good, and relieve the awful pressure of the "curse."
That Indian cemetaries, skulls, masks, and other items carry age-old curses with them is a common stereotype. More general is the stereotypical belief that everything about Indians has some supernatural or mystical component. Heaven forbid that some Indian object should have no magical power or "energy" whatsoever.
At the bottom of the ad, Floorcraft writes: "We reserve the right to correct the printed errors the lamebrains in the ad department continually make." To apprise the lamebrains of their errors, contact Floorcraft at (415) 824-1900.
Related links
"Primitive" Indian religion
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