Indigenous Teen Criticized For Wearing Traditional Ribbon Skirt To Prom — ‘I Feel Stupid For Wearing It’
She should have been able to wear whatever she wanted and felt best in without being subjected to others' opinions.
Antonio Guillem | Shutterstock On your prom night, you should be able to wear whatever you want that makes you feel the most attractive and confident. Unfortunately, teenagers can be mean, and they aren’t always accepting of whatever that look that you choose might be. One girl experienced this firsthand when she wore a traditional Indigenous ribbon skirt to her prom and received backlash from her classmates.
An Indigenous teen wore a traditional ribbon skirt to her prom and received criticism for doing so, both online and off.
A teenager known only as Cel on TikTok shared what she wore to her prom on the app. “My prom fit,” she said. “Left early cuz I felt out of place.” In the caption of the video, she wrote, “Idk, was not feeling it, I feel stupid for wearing it in the first place.”
One of the hashtags Cel included with the video was “Ojibwe,” leading one to believe that she was a member of the Ojibwe tribe. According to the Minnesota Historical Society, the Ojibwe are the most populous Indigenous tribe in North America. They “live in both the United States and Canada and occupy land around the entire Great Lakes, including in Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ontario.”
Kaija Heitland, a member of the Métis Nation, began a company to showcase Indigenous women’s fashion creations called Indigenous Nouveau. As part of the company, she started something called The Ribbon Skirt Project. She explained what ribbon skirts are and why they are significant to Indigenous women.
“For Indigenous people, the Ribbon Skirt represents our own personal reclamation,” she said. “It represents reclaiming identity, and wearing that identity proudly. It had become armor. It is a cultural protection against assimilation and degradation.”
Cel’s video in which she is wearing the ribbon skirt she wore to prom has received 2.7 million views. It also received quite a few comments, and apparently, not all of them were positive.
An Indigenous TikTok activist stood up for the teen and her ribbon skirt on his own account.
A TikTok user who goes by the username @oodhamboiii came across Cel’s video and shared one of his own on the topic, which reached 4.4 million views. He came to Cel’s defense, saying, “An Indigenous teenager wore a ribbon skirt to her prom and was shamed to the point that she left early. A night where it is supposed to [be] a memorable experience was tainted by the racist [white] people there and in her comments.”
As for the comments Cel received on her video, we won’t be able to judge them. She made her comment section private, so it is only visible to those who are mutual friends with her. People had some strong opinions to share in @oodhamboiii’s comments section, though. Many argued that she didn’t say anything about being “shamed” for the ribbon skirt, just that she decided she personally felt uncomfortable wearing it.
“She LITERALLY stated no one bullied her or said anything about it,” one person said. “She just felt out of place which still is an issue but NO ONE was being mean to her thankfully.” Someone else seemed to confirm that Cel had received negative comments on her TikTok video when they said, “OMG and not to mention how awful people were being in the comments.”
Regardless of what the truth was behind the teen's decision, it was unacceptable that she felt uncomfortable wearing traditional clothing on what should be a special day.
Whether Cel was actually shamed for wearing a ribbon skirt to her prom is unclear. What is clear is the fact that no one should ever be made to feel uncomfortable for wearing traditional Indigenous clothing, even if it was just her own insecurities that prompted her to leave early. The world needs more security, inclusion, and compassion, not hatred.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
