After publishing the history of North American wizardry to her Pottermore web site, J.K. Rowling became the target of internet outrage. People accused the Harry Potter author of appropriating Native American culture, mainly because it was lazily researched and drew upon some stereotypes.
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Well, it looks like we’re gearing up for round 2.
Software engineer Federico Ian Cervantez was digging around the backend of Pottermore when he discovered what seem to be the names of the four houses of “Ilvermorny,” the North American school of witchcraft and wizardry. The school will be featured in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a Harry Potter spinoff movie.
Horned Serpent, Wampus, Thunderbird, and Pukwudgie, despite sounding kind of uninspired, are also drawn from Native American folklore, opening up Rowling for cultural appropriation accusations.
Gizmodo was quick to the punch, beating even Twitter in the finger pointing:
The real issue is that Thunderbird, Horned Serpent, and Pukwudgie are all from various Native American myth, culture, and folklore. The Wampus, a terrifying cougar-type creature, is according to Wikipedia “often compared to the ‘Ewah’ of Cherokee mythology.” So it’s a school in the mold of British Hogwarts, but the house names are taken from Native Americans—this is practically the platonic ideal of cultural appropriation.
The comments echoed the article, but not without disagreement.
While Gizmodo was crying cultural appropriation, most Twitter users are just pissed at the fact the names are dumb and a shameless tie in to the Fantastical Beasts title.
The #Ilvermory (US Hogwarts) house names are all wrong. Should be: Trash Panda, Sky Rat, Swamp Cat & Elegant Horned Floof. #HouseTrashPanda
— Prism Princess (@QuetaAuthor) May 12, 2016
If "horned serpent, wampum, thunderbird, and pukwudgie" are really the American wizarding school house names I'm calling the police
— Brooke Ihlefeld (@BrookeIzzle) May 12, 2016
It seems everything Rowling touches with regards to Native Americans becomes a controversy. Just earlier this week, she stirred up controversy by calling “skin-walkers” a muggle conspiracy in her lore.
.@Weasley_dad In my wizarding world, there were no skin-walkers. The legend was created by No-Majes to demonise wizards.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) March 8, 2016
You can't just claim and take a living tradition of a marginalized people. That's straight up colonialism/appropriation @jk_rowling.
— Dr. Adrienne Keene (@NativeApprops) March 8, 2016
