Young Ahousaht mother Margarita Frank spent a hectic Feb. 11 in the hospital tending to her two-year-old son who underwent dental surgery.
The surgery went well, but there were some complications in the recovery room when the boy’s oxygen levels dropped.
“He was fussing and we were trying to keep him awake,” said Frank, when a caregiver approached with some stickers to entertain the little boy.
“There were some Captain America stickers, Sesame Street stickers and then there were some stickers from the movie, Home,” she said.
Frank told her son that he got some ‘Home’ stickers and reminded him that the family had watched the movie. The caregiver, according to Frank, overheard her and came by with two more stickers, saying they were the last that they had from the Home sticker series.
In a rush to get home with her drowsy son, Frank stuffed the stickers in his pocket and left them there until they arrived back home in Port Alberni. It was then that she saw one of the last two stickers handed to her at the hospital, which depicted a movie character saying, ‘GREETINGS NATIVE SAVAGES!’
“I don’t know what the intention was, but I thought the sticker was just wrong,” said Frank.
Frank has seen the Dreamworks Animation move titled Home with her children and says her son like it so much that he has asked to watch it over and over.
The movie is about aliens that come to colonize earth, sucking up all the humans and exiling them to Australia. Then the aliens, with their self-perceived superior intelligence, take over management of earth and the human problem. Sound familiar?
According to one review, the movie is about the ugliness of colonialism in human history, put in a kid-friendly format.
“It’s a funny movie and the kids enjoy it, but I don’t ever remember hearing them use the term ‘savages’ and, it’s like, wow!” said Frank.
Frank does not blame the hospital staff for handing her son the sticker. She holds the manufacturers of the stickers responsible.
Smilemakers is a company that manufactures stickers, toys and other rewards for kids.
A representative at the company said this particular sticker has been brought to their attention in the past. They apologize for the sticker and have stopped selling the sticker series in response to complaints.
