Cree woman with cultural face tattoo told to leave brewery in Prince Albert, Sask. | 24CA News
A Cree lady is urging the proprietor of a brewery in Prince Albert, Sask., to enhance its gown coverage after she was requested to go away over the weekend due to her cultural face tattoo.
Sara Carriere-Burns of James Smith Cree Nation met up together with her cousins on the Prince Albert Brewing Company over the weekend.
In an interview with Global News, she mentioned she had simply ordered a weight loss program coke and water when a male workers member requested her to go away due to her chin tattoo — one she bought a 12 months in the past that has important cultural which means.
Carriere-Burns mentioned she requested to talk to the supervisor, and that the proprietor was delivered to her desk. She mentioned he requested her to both go away or cowl the tattoo with make-up.
In a video she posted to Facebook, the person is heard saying, “Our dress code is no facial tattoos.”
Carriere-Burns mentioned the tattoo is a part of her tradition, to which the person mentioned, “I don’t care — put makeup on it, cover it up. You’re not allowed in our bar — I don’t care what your culture is … I see people coming in every day with s— written on their face, doesn’t matter what it is, that’s the rule.”
The brewery’s gown coverage is posted on the entrance entrance, and states that individuals with “tattoos from ear to ear, wrapped around the neck, racially offensive and/or gang related, will not be allowed on to PABCO premises. The option of covering tattoos around the neck is available.”
When Global News known as the Prince Albert Brewing Company workplace, the person who answered mentioned he didn’t need to touch upon the incident or the video, however mentioned, “I’m the star of it.” He reiterated the coverage on tattoos and shortly ended the decision.
Prince Albert Brewing Company’s gown coverage is posted on the entrance entrance contained in the brew pub. Credit: Sara Carriere-Burns.
Sara Carriere-Burns / Submitted
“I didn’t see (the dress policy) when I went in, but I don’t usually look for a sign because I’m not generally breaking rules,” mentioned Carriere-Burns. “And I’ve by no means heard of a ‘no face tattoo’ coverage or rule.“
She mentioned she and her cousins left instantly as a result of she didn’t assume it could be a secure area for open communication.
Her tattoo has important which means and has been a part of her therapeutic journey, she defined.
Carriere-Burns mentioned she’ll be sober 10 years in August, and that diving deep into tradition, custom and her youngsters is what saved her.
“I started doing some research on the facial tattoo,” she mentioned. “Women use (the markings) to ward off ailments … and thought to be medicinal, and my kids are my medicine and that’s what’s pulled me through for the last nine and a half years.”
The markings symbolize her youngsters, she mentioned.
“The two outer lines represent our two children we lost during birth. The two inner lines are my biological daughters. And then I have dots in the middle,” Carriere-Burns mentioned. “(They) represent children that are my children but not biologically.”
She’s proud to show her tradition and tattoo in such a visual means as a result of Indigenous folks couldn’t for thus lengthy. “We weren’t allowed to do that,” she mentioned. “Things like this is what had our people killed or beaten or raped back in the day and and we weren’t allowed to have this.”
She mentioned it helps present the world that she’s a proud Indigenous lady.
“It’s my way of showing my girls to love who they are and value who they are and know that they matter.”
She mentioned she doesn’t assume an apology from the pub is probably going, however hopes the workers will acknowledge that tradition and custom are human rights.
“It’s ignorance and discrimination,” she mentioned. “Telling me, ‘Cover it up and come back’ — (to) hide my identity and come back, right? It’s hurtful.”
Carriere-Burns is asking for the business to alter its coverage and for the business to develop a greater understanding of Indigenous tradition in Treaty 6 territory.
“We’re not sitting down anymore and people need to accept that,” she mentioned. “We’re on equal grounds. We just got to come out of those old ways.”
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
