Due to one person getting offended on Facebook. Update to this story.
Via Helena IR:
After a float in last year’s Vigilante Parade was criticized for its portrayal of Native Americans, the superintendent of Helena Public Schools will personally approve any float related to Native American culture ahead of the 94th annual event on May 4.
The float was supposed to portray the Madison Buffalo Jump in Three Forks, where Native Americans strategically hunted by herding buffalo over a cliff for 2,000 years. It included scantily clad girls in “squaw” outfits, teepees with inaccurate symbols, and students making “whooping” noises.
An online video of the float was viewed more than 100,000 times and spurred a debate between students, school district officials and community members about whether it was racist or offensive. During the controversy last year, Superintendent Jack Copps wasn’t aware of or involved in the screening process, and the educator responsible for approving each float said there wasn’t enough time to properly vet them all.
While the usual guidelines and approval process will stay in place, students who want to create a float related to Native American culture will have to jump through an extra hoop and personally meet with Copps to explain their float this year.
While Copps said then annual event is historically important to the school district and the community, changes must be made to ensure the floats don’t portray Native Americans with hurtful stereotypes.
“We do not want that to happen again,” he said. “If you do this, you have to have a meeting with the superintendent about what you intend and how you intend to do it.”
In the past, students have been allowed to choose from a list of approved themes related to Native American history, Helena’s history, pioneer life, mining or famous people. The cultural guidelines say students can not represent Native American people or other minorities with stereotypes. The guidelines prohibit painted faces, dancing and drumming in a Hollywood style or inappropriate costumes. Also forbidden are depictions of Native Americans assaulting women.
Amanda Walking Child, the Indian Education for All educator who approves the Native American-themed floats, previously said she didn’t see the inappropriate costumes until the students were already wearing them. And when she approved the float, the teepee with inaccurate symbols wasn’t part of it. This year, her process of approving floats will be the same but the onus will be on Copps to make sure the parade is without cultural misappropriation.
“I’m just following what Jack wants. I’m still approving the floats, but he has the final say,” Walking Child said.