Yes Nany is spelled "Nany". I'm referring to Nany Kayo, a self-described real, authentic, full-blooded, card-carrying, certified, US government enrolled, Native American Indian. Actually Nany Kayo is a Second Life avatar and the person (or persons) behind the keyboard may or may not be a real Indian but she talks an authentic, if racist and xenophobic, game.
So why bother with a blog post about her? Simple. Through her numerous posts in the official Second Life forums, Ms. Kayo frequently raises the ugly specters of thought control, political correctness gone wild, and censorship over yours and my Second Life experiences.
So why should we worry? (After all, most people consider her a troll.) Because she and others like her appear to be at least partially successful for convincing Linden Lab that
moving adult content to Zindra was the right way to take care of an external image problem for Second Life. And, if Nany really had her way 100%, adult content would have likely been banned altogether.
People do this under the guise of making Second Life friendly for education, learning and business. In fact, what they often do is make it so miserable for people engaged in activities they don't approve of that many just "give up" trying to fight this creeping vision of the "nanny state". They also provide easy cover for Linden Lab to punt on some of the more difficult decisions about Second Life.
Back to Ms. Kayo. Here are just a few of her "interesting" views (in her own words):
On who is a "real" NA:
Native Americans do have a very clearly defined means of determining who is or is not Native American, and all of us who are agree on how to tell what is and is not appropriate use of Native imagery.
On how pure Nany herself is via mitochondrial DNA (does this sound like Aryan purity?):
I am tested and verified and looking 100% per mtDNA. That's how it works. this is one of the credentials we ask each other for, so I have it ready. sorry if it offends you. sort of sorry. really, I could give a shit, but you know.
On thought control:
My suggestion is for Linden Lab to get someone onboard who can serve as a laison and provide guidance as to what is and is not appropriate use of Native American imagery in SL.
On race and Second Life:
The problem that has arisen in SL is that the fakes are preventing the real Indians from using this platform. I dont know if that is also happening to Germans or Japanese. I have heard it is happening to Gypsies.
On what she thinks about your role play:
It's our religions. What these people are doing is desecrating our religions. Kind of like trashing your cemetaries, spitting on your flags, crapping on your alter. It may be freedom of expression from your point of view. Maybe nothing is sacred to you, or the concept of sacredness is incomprehensible to you.
Comparing Second Life to porn:
As a result, Native Americans are not using Second Life. Our leaders and teachers are refusing to have anything to do with this. They take one look and leave.
How Nany thinks Second Life should be really be used:
What matters to me is putting this tool to use for the benefit of American Indian people. I will use any and all means I can to accomplish that.
On using pixels to depict Native American themes:
It is against federal law in the United States to sell anything as Indian made unless it was made by a person who is legally enrolled in a federally recognized tribe.
http://www.artnatam.com/law.html
Some of these roleplay operations are breaking the law.
If you're like me, you probably think this is fairly fringe stuff. But true to her word, Ms. Kayo has now promised to try to take down a RP sim, Tombstone. In her opinion as the arbiter of Native American views, it's a violation of Linden Lab's TOS. Yikes!!
It turns out Tombstone's exploitation of Apache culture is extremely offensive to Apache tribal members. We are going to file a formal grievance with Linden Lab concerning Tombstone's violation of SL's Terms of Service and enlist the help of the tribal governments involved. It looks like Tombstone will turn into the initial test case that will set the standards on this issue.
It apparently comes as a surprise to a lot of people that there is more to Second Life than roleplay, but it's true. There is also education and commerce going on here. This particular kind of roleplay has negative real world impacts on Native Americans use of this platform for education and commerce.
Further discussion on Tombstone's violation of the Terms of Service and Community Standards will be conducted through formal channels.
Each of us should take our own PERSONAL experiences from Second Life and not impose them on others. If it's patently illegal, then it doesn't belong in SL. But just because one person has a moralistic and xenophobic view of their world, it doesn't mean they should be able to apply it to mine. Even more chilling is the idea that someone actually THINKS they represent the views of the greater universe.
Linden Lab, I sincerely hope you will reject the attempts of the Nany Kayos of the world to hijack my world, my imagination for their narrow-minded views.
I found the Innsmouth sim, which is a slice of Second Life weirdness on steroids, about 3 years ago. If you haven't explored it, do. Fantastic build, volunteer supported and really downright creepy. While it helps to be familiar with the works of H.P. Lovecraft and his gothic horror tales (Google "Cthulhu"), Innsmouth stands on its own as the recreation of a small, New England fishing village where something is terribly wrong and evil.
