Goodbye to the Butter Maiden

Mia, the kneeling “butter maiden” on Land O’ Lakes packaging, has been banished.

Seen as old-fashioned, sexist and a stereotype insulting to Native Americans, she went. American indigenous academic Lisa Monchalin wrote in her book “The Colonial Problem: An indigenous Perspective on Crime and Injustice in Canada” that the Land O’Lakes woman was an example of the romanticized and sexualized construction of indigenous women. American indigenous academic Lisa Monchalin wrote in her book “The Colonial Problem: An indigenous Perspective on Crime and Injustice in Canada” that the Land O’Lakes woman was an example of the romanticized and sexualized construction of indigenous women. 

“We’ve recognized we need packaging that reflects the foundation and heart of our company culture,” explained Beth Ford, Land O’Lakes President and CEO, in a press release which didn't mention any missing maiden. The Minnesota cooperative of 1,700 farmers feels a need to emphasize its tradition of being "Farmer Owned" as it nears its .

The new package has the same view of a crystal-clear blue Minnesota lake, framed by spruce trees.

The original logo was painted in 1928 and redesigned over the years. The imagery goes “hand-in-hand with human and sex trafficking of our women and girls … by depicting Native women as sex objects,” North Dakota state Rep. Ruth Buffalo (D) told the Pioneer Press.

But was she really a stereotype?