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TakePart is happier than ever to present Anna Breslaws 600-Word Sprint, a weekly column of social justice insight, provocation and solution. Look for Annas Sprint every week on the homepage of TakePart.

Two weeks ago, Americas most visible Native American activist, Russell Means, passed away of esophageal cancer. Meanss work on behalf of the American Indian Movement began in the late 1960s with highly publicized objections to athletic teams use of caricature Indians as mascots, and included the bloody 71-day Wounded Knee, South Dakota, standoff of 1973 in which gunfire killed two activists and paralyzed an FBI agent.

Russell Means summed up his lifelong agenda in a controversial, yet apt, quote from his 1996 autobiography Where White Men Fear to Tread: When a woman grabs my braids and says, How cute! I grab her breast and say, How cute! She never touches me again.

Today, a Native American activist with a savvy press person might have been persuaded to edit that statement.

MORE: Keeping the U.S. Unsafe for Native American Women

It's a curious injustice that in this hyper-PC, sexually and ethnically aware, Glee-era time, Native American culture continues to be blithely appropriated in mainstream pop culture, a whimsical appropriation that occurs quietly but notably in fashion.

The heedless commodification of Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters Navajo print items and Native-themed spreads in Vogue magazine utilize non-Native designers, non-Native models, non-Native photographers, non-Native stylists and make-up artists, and non-Native consultants and editors, points out Chippewa blogger Jessica Metcalfe, a Ph.D. in American Indian Studies, on her excellent website Beyond Buckskin.

Lets just come full circle: Why does the offensive use of Native imagery remain the last bastion of acceptable racism?

This summer saw clothing company Paul Frank Industries throw a Dream Catchin party. Guests had war paint applied to their faces and drank Rain Dance Refresher and Neon Teepee cocktails. (Paul Frank later apologized on behalf of his company, claiming he had nothing to do with the eventhe also announced an impetus to hire a Native American designer for a new line.)

This week, the band No Doubt, enjoying a comeback after 10 years between albums, pulled the cowboys-and-Indians-themed video for their second single Looking Hot after an outcry from YouTube commenters about the offensive imagery: In Looking Hot, lead singer Gwen Stefani writhes in a come-hither buckskin-and-feathers outfit as her band mates, dressed like protagonists in a spaghetti Western, tie her up in a provocative position.

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