too late... bugger.
Anger over 'Australian Aboriginal Lucky Dolls' on sale at Brisbane Airport
The sale of "Australian Aboriginal Lucky Doll" souvenirs at Brisbane International Airport has sparked outrage on social media.
The little wooden dolls, which come complete in "traditional" Aboriginal dress, are being marketed as "lucky" to tourists.
The dolls were seen by Brisbane woman Robin Taubenfeld.
Posting to Facebook on Thursday, Ms Taubenfeld shared her dismay at the sale of the dolls.
The post has since garnered hundreds of likes and shares with other Facebook users openly mocking the decision to sell the dolls.
The shop owner was accused of cultural exploitation with many social media users questioning how the dolls came to be for sale in the first place.
However, the retailer that stocked the controversial dolls, Australian Way Pty Ltd, promised on Friday to pull the range from shelves around Australia.
"These dolls ended up in our business by what I believe was an error of judgment made by a stockist," Australian Way managing director Costa Kouros said.
"As soon as this was brought to my attention, I had all our stores remove the dolls from shelves".
"We have stores in airports across Australia and we have agreements with certain suppliers. I wasn't even aware we stocked this particular item," he said.
All of the male dolls are adorned with red headbands, a traditional symbol of initiated men.
After sharing the image on Twitter, Amy Brim told Fairfax Media, "My husband is [from the] Anmatjerre tribe in the Central Desert and the red headband is a symbol of initiated men.
"I feel like they've used our culture in a way that does not match the beliefs [or] lore of Aboriginal people," she said.
"If they knew anything about the history, they would know there's nothing 'lucky' about anything we've been through."
Frustrated, Ms Brim chose to share the image on Twitter, believing the dolls represented a mindset more akin to that of the 1960s.
"I was just outraged," she said. "I had to share on Twitter to get some attention to it.
"People need to know this is not OK and [is] deeply offensive and completely exploits our people and culture."
Spokeswoman for Brisbane Airport Corporation Leonie Vandeven confirmed on Friday the airport had requested the removal of the dolls.
"Our agreement with retail tenants does not extend to vetting specific types of products sold on site," she said.
"We have, however, contacted the retailer stocking this product and they have confirmed these items will be removed from sale immediately."
The doll maker was unable to be contacted.
http://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia ... spartandhp
Have they stopped selling boomerangs too?
