A California woman calls out TikToker Tyler Catastrophe for alleged cultural appropriation in a viral video. This video has received a lot of attention, particularly for his claim that he is two-spirit, an Indigenous term, though he is not part of any Indigenous community.
In the video, Catastrophe, who is from Oklahoma, claims, “One thing that never stopped calling was the land I was born to.” Furthermore, the TikToker explains that choosing to engage with Indigenous beliefs is a desire to keep their traditions alive. It is this studying that Catastrophe believes he is “two-spirit” and claims to have received the blessing from his “deadliest auntie.” This video has been viewed over 2 million times.
A California woman calls out this video with a response that has been viewed over 200,000 times. She begins by expressing that she takes issue with his claim to be two-spirit. She explains this term as one of great importance, “a queer term for indigenous people.” The biggest issue she finds with this is that Catastrophe “says he has no Indigenous ancestry.” He argues that he acknowledges the land that he lives on and that his “deadliest auntie said it was okay.”
The California woman states that being two-spirit is more than being a queer person. It’s “being an intentional member of the community.” Because of his lack of ancestry, she believes he can’t be two-spirit, stating, “He’s claiming a role not meant for him.” Furthermore, she says that many queer Indigenous people like herself don’t refer to themselves as two-spirit. This is because “they haven’t done the work inside our communities to call ourselves two-spirit.” She states that respecting these communities doesn’t mean you get to claim to be part of them.
Many Support California Woman’s Frustration
Others in the comments share her anger and express similar opinions. One says, “He’s colonizing the term, that’s wild.” Another says, “I watched his video with genuine shock, and my jaw opened at the things he was saying.” A third commenter says, “Don’t see how another white person co-opting terms from indigenous communities that have already been erased by said group of people is allyship in any sort of way.”
Many have posted similar videos on TikTok, agreeing with the California woman’s statements. One commenter claims that they “just posted a rant about this.” Another vents frustration, claiming, “People like him make it hard to claim my heritage because it creates doubt about skin color.”
