JK Rowling Accused of Being 'Disrespectful' and Insensitive in Her Latest Story

JK Rowling has been accused of appropriating the “living tradition of a marginalised people” by writing about the Navajo legend of the skinwalker in a new story.

She's posted the first part of a four-part-series - The History of Magic in North America on her website Pottermore. Episodes are being published each day.

The short piece of writing deals with the magical New World in the 14th to 17th centuries.

Although many fans were stoked about any new Harry Potter info they can get, the author is being strongly criticised online by a number of people from Native American communities - particularly because she wrote about skinwalkers, which in Navajo legend are said to be evil witches or wizards who can take on the form of animals.

Rowling writes that the myth “has its basis in fact … A legend grew up around the Native American Animagi, that they had sacrificed close family members to gain their powers of transformation. In fact, the majority of Animagi assumed animal forms to escape persecution or to hunt for the tribe. Such derogatory rumours often originated with No-Maj medicine men, who were sometimes faking magical powers themselves, and fearful of exposure.”

Responding to a question on Twitter, Rowling said that “in my wizarding world, there were no skinwalkers”, with the legend created by those without magic “to demonise wizards”.

.@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

But campaigner Dr Adrienne Keene told Rowling on Twitter that “it’s not ‘your’ world. It’s our (real) Native world. And skinwalker stories have context, roots, and reality … You can’t just claim and take a living tradition of a marginalised people. That’s straight up colonialism/appropriation.”

She continued on her blog: “Native spirituality and religions are not fantasy on the same level as wizards. These beliefs are alive, practised, and protected … we fight so hard every single day as Native peoples to be seen as contemporary, real, full, and complete human beings and to push away from the stereotypes that restrict us in stock categories of mystical-connected-to-nature-shamans or violent-savage-warriors”

Johnnie Jae, founder of A Tribe Called Geek, described herself as a Potterhead who had “often thought of what it would be like if Natives were represented in this world”, but that the reality was “so disrespectfully done”. 

We're saying that there is problem when non-natives continue to use outdated & racist stereotypes as the basis for their native characters

— Johnnie Jae (@johnniejae) March 9, 2016