Walt Disney World has released a statement regarding a high school performance conducted at the Magic Kingdom by the “Indianettes.” The cheerleaders of the group from Texas performed a cheer routine that included Native American parody with one part featuring a call for “scalping” the school’s opponents. How this made it through a band director, cheerleading coach, every single parent, every single child involved, and then happened at the Magic Kingdom is bizarre. Did nobody think, “this might not go so well?”
Still, unlike some other Disney news blogs, we will not be posting close-up images of the children involved, especially when those images are not from the action in question. That’s a messy affair and probably not ethical. As other writers have been noting on this website about other topics, kids are off limits. We do not want to draw internet-wide attention to individual teenagers who may or may not have participated and may or may not have understood the ramifications of the act.
We regret the performance took place as it did not reflect the audition tape that was submitted. We have immediately put measures in place to ensure performances reflect the auditions.
— Jacquee Whaler, Disney Parks Spokesperson
We will share the original video for readers given that it has gone viral, and is therefore part of the news. I have to say that it’s also surprising that moms and dads didn’t protest their teenage girls sticking their bottoms out at the theme park crowds, but maybe that’s what is in these days?
Here is the tweet that went viral:
Cuz a bunch of kids in fringe chanting “scalp ‘em Indians, scalp ‘em” is honor, right?
And any Natives who attend @pngisd should prolly just accept their classmates dehumanizing them cuz “tradition”, right?
Shame on @DisneyParks hosting this. Nostalgic racism is RACISM. pic.twitter.com/ELsJHRgJlw
— tara houska ᔖᐳᐌᑴ (@zhaabowekwe) March 18, 2022
There’s also another tweet that purports this group has performed and been photographed at Walt Disney World in the past wearing Native American regalia. So it does not seem that this is a single incident as Disney may want people to believe. We will not be showing the tweet as it provides close-up photos of minors.
All of this gets to the question of cultural appropriation, what is appropriate, where are the lines, and more. However, it would seem that clearly having kids chant to “scalp” their opponents in a family-friendly theme park is stupid. It not only is offensive to large groups of people and is inherently violent, but it also puts a bunch of kids in the internet spotlight to be castigated forever. Meanwhile, it’s the parents and the coaches who clearly lacked the good judgement to say, “this doesn’t seem right and it will certainly not go well.”
Let us know your polite thoughts in the comments below. As always, check out That Park Place for the latest news that should be fun!
