photo courtesy of gawker.com

In case you missed this, Russian duet figure skaters, Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, found their way to the Olympics back in January, with this pretty offensive skating routine at right.

Back in Jan., the team showed up in dark skin colored body suits that imitated traditional paint used in Aboriginal groups in Australia. They danced to an inauthentic aboriginal song with a routine that remind one of the over-the-top minstrel shows that have been entered in the shameful-past archive of U.S. history.

Yes, the Russian skaters probably did not grow up with a lot of Aborigines, but that’s no excuse for having a complete lack of respect for another culture.  Because their only admitted exposure to Aborigines is internet videos, they should have taken the extra time to research the dance and costume before this… attempt. Their interpretation is so laughable you almost forget it’s based on actual people.

Sol Bellear of the New South Wales state Aboriginal Land Council said:

“We see it as stealing Aboriginal culture and it is yet another example of the Aboriginal people of Australia being exploited. It’s been stolen without our permission and without consultation of the relevant dance groups within Aboriginal Australia.”

This year they nixed the costume, but this only solves part of the problem however, since they have also stolen a traditional dance as well.

February 16, 2010 by Stefani
Tags: Aborigines, australia, b-listed, culture shockers, figure skating, Maxim Shabalin, Oksana Domnina, Russia, Vancouver, Winter Olympics