London: &ldquo;Harry Potter&rdquo; author JK Rowling has been accused of appropriating the &ldquo;living tradition of a marginalized people&rdquo; by writing about the Navajo legend of the skinwalker in a new story.
<img title="The logo of the controversial story. Pic/Pottermore" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2016/mar/Logo.jpg" alt="The logo of the controversial story. Pic/Pottermore" />The logo of the controversial story. Pic/Pottermore
Rowling posted the first part of a four-part series, the &ldquo;History of Magic in North America&rdquo; on her website Pottermore, on March 8, depicting the magical history of America within her fictional universe of witches and wizards.
<img title="JK Rowling. Pic/AFP" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2016/mar/JK-Rowling.jpg" alt="JK Rowling. Pic/AFP" />JK Rowling. Pic/AFP
The series of stories, titled &ldquo;A History of Magic in North America&rdquo;, will give fans the historical background to the latest &ldquo;Harry Potter&rdquo; film, &ldquo;Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them&rdquo;, ahead of its November release.
But it has upset a number of Native American writers and activists, who have objected to the new material&rsquo;s depiction of their spiritual beliefs. In particular, the inclusion of characters based on the Native American concept of &lsquo;skinwalkers&rsquo; &ndash; humans who can transform into animals at will &ndash; in publicity materials and a video trailer have led to accusations of cultural insensitivity.
Twitter ire Dr Adrienne Keene, a Cherokee scholar, called out the novelist on Twitter, posting, &ldquo;You can't just claim and take a living tradition of a marginalized people. That&rsquo;s straight up colonialism/appropriation @jk_rowling.&rdquo; Navajo writer Brian Young wrote on Twitter, &ldquo;My ancestors didn't survive colonisation so you could use our culture as a convenient prop.&rdquo; Rowling&rsquo;s representatives are yet comment on the issue.

&ldquo;Harry Potter&rdquo; author JK Rowling has been accused of appropriating the &ldquo;living tradition of a marginalized people&rdquo; by writing about the Navajo legend of the skinwalker in a new story

Native Americans accuse JK Rowling of appropriation

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Native Americans accuse JK Rowling of appropriation

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