00:01Germany has little connection with Native Americans,
00:04yet they've become a cultural phenomenon.
00:07Every summer, hundreds of thousands attend a large Wild West spectacle.
00:12But this enthusiasm has its downsides.
00:16We have had our children taken away.
00:19Our land has been taken away.
00:22What's left today is our culture.
00:24Once you have people taking away our culture for their own enjoyment,
00:28it takes away who we are.
00:33Winnetou is a cult figure in Germany,
00:35a fictional Native American character created by the German author Karl May.
00:40We know there's good and evil, and Winnetou is the good guy.
00:44Winnetou represents the idea that you have to stand up for what you believe in and fight for it.
00:49I've been reading Karl May since I was a kid.
00:52I've read his books cover to cover three times, so this takes me back a bit to my youth.
00:56Why is Germany so fascinated by Native Americans?
01:02And is that appreciation or cultural appropriation?
01:08Since 1952, Karl May's novels have been performed at the Open Air Theatre in Bad Sigeberg in northern Germany.
01:16For many Germans, Winnetou has been a childhood memory for generations.
01:24It's essentially a German phenomenon, and it all began with the books.
01:30While they were translated into 50 languages, it was only in Germany that they really took hold.
01:39Karl May wrote his first adventure novels in the 19th century, long before he visited the US.
01:44His books sold millions of copies and influenced the German perception of the Wild West.
01:50Winnetou was largely a product of May's imagination, but his world wasn't entirely fictional.
01:55Karl May's stories are just one aspect of Germany's fascination with the Wild West.
02:00Brandenburg is home to one of several Wild West towns in Germany.
02:03At El Dorado Templin, visitors can fully immerse themselves in the Wild West experience for a day.
02:11And of all places, it's here that you'll find someone for whom Native American culture is not just make-believe.
02:17Kendall Old Elk is a member of the Upsalagay Nation.
02:20As a permanent member of the ensemble, he enjoys talking to visitors about his culture.
02:27It's a Western town, it's amazing because me, as a Native American coming from Montana, the Wild West,
02:35to see all the interest, not only in the Native culture, but in the Western culture as well.
02:42You have cowboys, you have trappers, you have reenactors for the Native American.
02:48It's amazing how many people are interested in the Western culture today, here in Germany.
02:55In German pop culture, Native American imagery has long been featured in movies and carnival costumes.
03:02But this representation has drawn criticism for reducing diverse indigenous cultures
03:07to simplistic stereotypes like feather headdresses and teepees.
03:13Many of these paints, they are not like, oh, this looks good, so I'll do this.
03:21It's family paint. It's a family paint that can only be used by these families.
03:27When somebody dies and has not passed that on, then that paint goes with them.
03:33It can't be used again.
03:35And to see somebody, oh, he's an Indian, so we've got to put stripes on him.
03:41We've got to put a diamond up here.
03:47That's, for me, that's mocking our culture.
03:51The Karl May festival has faced accusations of cultural appropriation.
03:57It's often the case that non-indigenous actors portray indigenous characters.
04:03They wear costumes and symbols associated with outdated stereotypes.
04:11We're in the fantasy world of Karl May. There's no historical reality here.
04:17Still, we do consider what you can or cannot say.
04:24If people can remember that it's fantasy, then I have no problem with it.
04:30If they look at it as entertainment, enjoyment, that's good too.
04:36Because we need things to stimulate our minds so we can learn.
04:41Karl May's Vinatou is a fictional character, but the fascination he inspired remains very real today.
04:50What do you think?
04:51Is Germany's enthusiasm for Native American culture a genuine sign of appreciation?
04:57Or does it go too far?
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