I lived in Oklahoma for a time , which has a buttload of Native American presence . Most people don ' t seem to realize Oklahoma was one of the last states to become a state because it was the last completely shitty piece of land the Natives most , no Navajo for example got pushed towards , until we figured out there was oil and wanted it too . Oklahoma has a required Native American history class in high school , and it ' s unique insights into Native American culture are one of the reasons I ' m glad to have wasted time in that state . I imagine other states that would stress such classes would be the Dakotas , Arizona , New Mexico and some others , though I can ' t say for certain . The one exception where I would absolutely say cultural appropriation is an actual thing is with Native American tribes . Little things like the placement , positioning or angle of a feather can have robust meaning , so dressing as a Native American is pretty much bound to come off as exceedingly ignorant and accidently insulting . Just don ' t do it lolololol . Yes , there ' s not many native americans left and a lot of HOW DARE U I ' M 7 % CHEROKEE people running around wearing heritage like nothing more than a badge of pride and outrage , but in my school for example I had two fullblooded high school teachers , and the town I lived in was the headquarters for one of the tribes . With that experience I can say that yes , there are places in the USA where if you somehow wound up there or wound up on TV in your shitty native american costume , I know some full blooded natives who ' d wanna punch you in the face lolololoolol . Just show respect , don ' t do it . Appropriate any other culture on earth and you should be cool , from wearing a kimono to wearing lederhosen or wearing a ushanka while making jokes about Sowjet Russia . It is different with the Native Americans and yes they do tend to mind it . They seem bitter for some reason . something about some honkies stealing their land and destroying their culture or something , iunno .