Talk:Cowichan knitting

Siwash Nomenclature

Whether or not a given term is “racist” is, ultimately, a judgement call that needs to be substantiated with evidence before it can be deemed factual. By this standard, it is a fact that there is a large number of perfectly liberal, tolerant persons in Canada who use the term “Siwash Sweater” to describe this article of clothing. It is also a fact that the use of this word, whether or not the users are aware of the putative controversial nature of its origins, is not itself racist. The english term “siwash” (sweater) is derived from chinook: “siwash ” (native), a term itself derived from CanFr: “sauvage ” (wild). I believe the majority of hand-wringing over this term stems from the uncomfortable proximity between these terms and CanEng: “savage” (racist epithet), but “savage” forked from French into English long before the evolution of the name of this sweater. Failure to understand this belies nothing more than an ignorance of French. I am reminded of my time at University, when a professor had to apologise for using the word “niggardly” in a debate — a word which has nothing to do with the phonologically-similar racial epithet.

I do not believe “siwash” is racist, but I have to acknowledge that — loathe as I am to do so — there are people out there who disagree. Furthermore, there are significant numbers to warrant mention of the so-called “controversy” in the article. At the same time, those who believe with the fiery conviction of a thousand flames that the word is evil and hate-filled and pure racist bile must, I repeat must, accept that 1) there are people who use the term in exclusive reference to this sweater, 2) that the term is not, by any objective standard, inherently racist, and 3) that use of the term does not make people using it “insensitive”, “racist” or “ignorant” of anything except this execrable debate raging on wikipedia. Muckapedia 00:08, 27 February 2010 (UTC) « «

HBC controversy re Chinese fakes

This is missing from this article - the HBC's commissioning of Chinese factories to make copies or similar-to models of Cowichan sweaters for commercial sale in Canada; this is a big news item, I don't have time to resource all the news copy, but it's out there, and should be a whole section in this article. Anyone from Victoria who gets the chance could maybe take a picture, also, of the stores on Government Street which specialize in selling these (authentic ones); there's one, or was one, on the corner of Government and Johnston...Skookum1 (talk) 20:05, 30 January 2010 (UTC) «

Depiction of Sweater on Picture

The article correctly states: "Cowichan knitting is a form of knitting characteristic of the Cowichan people of southeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia." However, when I look at the picture it shows a Christian theme. Even though I am Christian I am offended by taking the native characteristics out of this design. Based on Cowichan traditions the sweater should show a picture of a mythical animal, that is to say it can include a Christian theme but the overriding one should be one of native origin. If Christians would like to knit their own sweaters with crosses on them that is fine, but then its not atypical of Cowichan knitting. If needed I can provide and donate a good picture of what a Cowichan sweater would look like. Thanks, xTrance (talk) 9:37, 13 March 2018 (MST) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.17.40.36 (talk)

Appropriation (section)

'Appropriation' is a non-neutral (and very one-sided) term for what amounts to an intellectual property dispute. One that was not tested in court, and where the legal settlement out-of-court did nothing to recognize "ownership" of the claimed IP. The section and title should be re-worded to reflect a more neutral perspective.

Also the part about Mary Maxim, in that section, is unclear and seems a bit mangled. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.97.232.167 (talk) 21:36, 5 July 2018 (UTC)