Clintonville cancels homecoming after stunt mocking Native Americans

Tribes, social media offended by four students imitating drum circle
By: 
Lee Pulaski
City Editor

UPDATED 5:45 P.M. OCT. 4

CLINTONVILLE — Homecoming was abruptly canceled at Clintonville High School on Friday after a video showing student mocking a Native American drum circle during a lunchtime activity the previous day went viral on social media.

The 45-second clip, posted numerous times on various Facebook sites, showed four male students dancing around in a circle as a recording of Native American drumbeats played in the background during a lunchtime activity on Thursday.

Shortly after area media outlets started inquiring about the video, the Clintonville School District website showed that all homecoming events on Friday, including the football game, had been canceled.

Reaction to the video from the online community was immediate. Destiny Dayton, of Shawano, was one of many who expressed their anger online.

”The second these students started acting in this manner, it should have been shut down,” Dayton wrote on the Facebook page “Shawano, LETS TALK ABOUT IT” Friday.

Dayton’s response was measured, but others on social media were less civil, which prompted the school to put a hold on students for the day for their safety, according to Clintonville Police Chief Craig Freitag.

“That was essentially not allowing any outside activities on school grounds,” Freitag said. “They were keeping the kids inside. There were some comments made on social media — no credible threats — to Clintonville School District, so they decided for the safety of students and staff that a hold should be put in place.”

Freitag noted the school was not locked down, despite the chatter on social media claiming it was.

Representatives of local tribes were dismayed at what the students did.

Shannon Holsey, president of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, said cultural appropriation is never acceptable, and what the students did negatively impacts the school and the community it serves.

“Quite honestly, the actions of these few students in the Clintonville School District demonstrated there is much more work to be done on this issue in order to make sure there is an environment that is created and sustained in which students can reach their full potential and be one of acceptance and inclusion,” Holsey said.

Native American tribes derive their cultural identity and spirituality from various rituals and practices like the drum circle, which some off the reservation see regularly in tribal powwows.

“The drum is an indicative practice and are religious and ceremonial and traditional things,” Holsey said. “We are obviously highly offended in its misuse and its depiction inappropriately.”

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com

Holsey said she believes the students were “unaware” that their actions were racially offensive and would have caused such outrage. However, she wants school officials and community leaders in Clintonville to address the issue to try to avoid such a situation again.

“There are 11 tribal nations in the state of Wisconsin, and I think we have a lot more work to do in terms of their significance and the importance of those cultural traditions, one being the use of the drum,” Holsey said.

Richie Plass, an enrolled member of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, agrees that much more needs to be done to educate schools, not just in Clintonville but across the state, about Native Americans and the values they hold dear.

He noted that Wisconsin Act 31 requires schools to educate all students about the state’s 11 tribes, but Friday’s action in Clintonville indicated to him that the school district is not adhering to the law.

“I’ve been dealing with this stuff for so long, and just when I think I’ve seen everything, you think, ‘Oh, here we go again,’” Plass said. “This proves that (Act 31 education) is not happening in Clintonville.”

Plass said he and his wife watched the Clintonville video several times, and they collectively had one question: Where were the parents in terms of explaining to their children that mocking other cultures is wrong?

“Where did these kids get the idea that it’s OK to do this?” Plass said. “I would really like to know how them guys chose that song and chose to do what they did. How did they learn that, and who did they learn that from?”

Plass believes actions like what the students did comes down to two things—fear and arrogance.

“The fear is, ‘Hey, we might get in trouble,’ but the arrogance is ‘Well, we can do what we want. This is who we are,’” Plass said. “There’s a lack of education, but there’s also the arrogance of, ‘Well, we don’t care. They’re just Indians.’ That’s a common thing.”

He was surprised that the actions took place, considering Clintonville’s homecoming opponent was Fox Valley Lutheran and not one of the tribal high school teams.

“Why didn’t they have a cross and play an opera or a song or a hymn from church and have a bunch of people dressed as the Apostles dancing around that cross to be funny?” Plass said. “That’s basically what they did to us.”

Plass has created a traveling exhibit that shows people the concern over having Native American mascots and culturally appropriating other Native American symbols and actions. He said he hoped to work with the Menominee Indian School District and contact Clintonville school officials and look at bringing the exhibit to the community.

Holsey was also interested in reaching out to the school district and providing some kind of educational forum to make people understand why the actions of the four students were viewed as racist and reprehensible. She noted that other school districts have come to her tribe requesting cultural education on Native Americans.

“We thought about taking a collective approach and having a community roundtable with tribal leaders, school officials, parents and students and educate them around who we are,” Holsey said. “We want to take it a step further and look at eradicating these sorts of things because they’ve become deeply divisive and hostile.”

A statement from the Clintonville Public School District was published on the district’s website. In the statement, it says that “Non-American Indian students wrongfully created a disrespectful mockery of American Indian culture by imitating and misrepresenting an American Indian dance. The specific dance was not school approved nor sanctioned by the school or any District employee. Immediate initial action steps have been taken, including the cancellation of all Friday homecoming events.”

Calls to Superintendent David Dyb’s office seeking further clarification on what the district was doing about the issue were not returned.