Nas Daily In Hot Soup Over Claims Of Exploiting Indigenous People For Profit
Nas Daily is in hot soup over claims of him exploiting indigenous people for profit. Nuseir Yasin, the vlogger who is well known for his one minute videos runs an online academy that provides short online courses at an affordable price.
A recent ancient art of tattooing course put up under the “Whang Od Academy” (that has now been taken down) caused an uproar when it was alleged that Nas didn’t offer a proper contract to the tattoo artist, Whang Od.
Grace Buscalan went on social media to explain how her grandaunt, Whang Od did not sign any contract with Nas Daily to set up an academy. She alleges that the whole thing is a scam and implies that some people are exploiting their tribal culture for personal gain.
Nas Academy released a statement saying that Whang Od was aware of their plans to launch the online course and had photo proof of her signing the contract with a thumbprint.
However, Grace went on to elaborate further on the issue. She claims that her grandaunt wasn’t aware of the details of the contract and she is not a part of Nas Academy.
Filipinas took to Twitter to express their disdain towards Nas Daily and the likes of content creators that love to shoot “poverty pornography.”
Wow Nas daily and Project Nightfall are perfect example, yuck pic.twitter.com/hx9UiNrzO9 — Thesa Elaine (@ElaineThesa) August 5, 2021
This thread is…Nas Daily really mocked PH for being poor. Dude deserves to be thrown into the sea, that would be great content. https://t.co/aDzdjjma9f
— Erna 'Team Volcano' Mahyuni (@ernamh) August 5, 2021
Some chose to remind the public of what other people have been saying about Nas Daily Palestinian controversy.
The plot thickens when social entrepreneur Louise Mabulo of The Cacao Project joins in the conversation, claiming that Nas wasn’t who he portrays himself to be on social media.
“In 2019, Nas Daily had come to my town to cover my story on The Cacao Project— at the time, I was a huge fan, watching his clips with my Dad daily. At the time, I was gaining some press exposure and building up on opportunities thanks to UNEP’s recognition of the work I do in my hometown for my farmers. It was enough that a friend, Shai Lagarde, had referred Nas Daily to us.
My family took him and other content creators in as welcome guests— with typical hospitality we are known for. However in so little time, I was disappointed to learn that the man I’d looked up to for years was not the bearer of good news he’d misled his followers to believe he was.”
Her full post can be read here.
A round of mud slinging ensued when Nas took the time to reply to Louise in a lengthy post which had an accusatory undertone.
“As you can see in the picture, we are trying to tell the world about your story. By the way, no other media did that. They just report from their fancy offices. But we wanted to go the extra mile for you.
We spent 2 days flying and we were very excited for your story of how you “revolutionised the cacao industry in your province” according to the Internet. We know the “story” already, so that’s why we flew in to come meet you.
To my biggest sadness and surprise, your story was not true on the ground. Once we arrived at your plantation, once we saw the village and talked to the farmers, we came to the conclusion that there is no story here. That the awards on the Internet are just that…awards.
Our investigation has made it clear that your story in the media is false. And that there are no “200 farmers” that you work with, and there are no Cacao plantations that you don’t personally profit from.”
Louise responded to Nas in a Facebook post, addressing his allegations and left it at that.
According to Twitterati, there are procedures to adhere to when it comes to dealing with indigenous people.
You may have been transparent about this @nasdaily Nas Daily but have you thought of going through a legal process with the National Comission on Indigenous Peoples? Even though 40% of your workers are Filipinos, ignorance on the law and legal bases is not an excuse for this act. pic.twitter.com/JibxUTiR2S — Drei (@Dreinanigan) August 5, 2021
It is not the first time Nas has done things to hurt the sentiments of Filipinos.
It is an ancient art for a reason and to monetize it in any form can be a violation.
WHANG OD, THE LAST KALINGA TATTOO ARTIST
At 104 years old, Whang Od is one of the last living mambabatok, a Kalinga tattoo artist who still practices the art. Batok tattooing involves hand tapping the ink into the surface of the skin. Traditionally, only men were allowed to learn the art however, Whang Od’s father saw her talent and decided to teach her. She’s been tattooing the male headhunters of the Butbut tribe and on the women for aesthetic purposes. Whang Od then broke the patriarchy by choosing to pass down the art to women apprentices. Since she did not marry and have no children of her own, she trained her grand niece, Grace Palicas and a bloodline ancestor Ilyang Wigan to carry on the ancient art for the future generations.
Reporter’s Opinions: Maybe it’s just me but he’s kinda annoying?
Frankly, most of these content creators who love going to less privileged and 3rd world countries tend to exploit people’s misery for clicks.
To give him the benefit of doubt, maybe a lot of what was discussed got lost in translation. Even if you wanted to help preserve their art, it is their tradition and you have to respect that. If you had done your research thoroughly, you would know that her grand niece is her successor and it would have been better for you to liaise with her instead.
If you could go to the lengths of finding Whang Od, you can definitely find her grand niece who is on social media.
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