Exploi...wot?!
Seriously, ignoring the above late 70ies German remake (that perhaps in this particular performance didn't just exploit Native American culture), what was exploitative about the Raiders version? Is it exploitative if non-Native Americans take up the real ethnicity's historic plight and sing a song about it? Can you then not be a credible advocate for a good cause even if it has turned popular?
I've read that even Redbone were supposed to be exploitative, overplaying their Native American DNA as opposed to their Mexican heritage ...
- onlly drummer Pete „Last Walking Bear“ DePoe was a 100% Native American, a member of the Makah Tribe. I believe that is taking things a bit far or is this exploitation too?
The 60ies and early 70ies saw a (belated) noticeable cultural shift in the popular depiction of Native Americans, all of the sudden "
Injuns" were no longer portrayed as always evil, we learned that scalping was a white man's idea after all and the (at least positive) likewise clichée of the "noble savage" in harmony with nature appeared. And of course the allegory to what was happening in Vietnam played a role too.
But if hopping on that train of thought is exploitation, then I've seen worse forms of it.
I like Robbie Robertson's collaborations with Native American musicians - I don't remember his Native American DNA ever being mentioned, much less flaunted when he was leading The Band in the 60ies and 70ies, but I wouldn't hold that against him. You're free to rediscover your origins.