Leaders from the Dallas-Fort Worth Native American community want Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo organizers to take accountability for what they say was an offensive misrepresentation of Native culture in one of this year’s events.
A stock show spokesman, however, said the man at the center of the controversy was an outside participant and not specifically invited to represent Native Americans.
What happened at the All Western Parade?
Cheyenne Goss, an ambassador and committee member with the American Indian Heritage Day in Texas organization, was surprised and angered when she saw a photo and video footage of a man in Native American clothing riding a horse in the All Western Parade in downtown Fort Worth on Jan. 17, which marked the opening of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
In a photo posted to an Instagram gallery that was liked by Visit Fort Worth, the city’s tourism bureau, the man in question appears to be wearing makeup to darken his complexion. In a video aired by KXAS-TV, the same man is seen letting out a whoop from atop his horse. He also appears to be wearing prosthetic teeth that protrude in a cartoonish manner.
An Instagram post shows a man dressed as a Native American in the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo’s All Western Parade. He appears to be wearing makeup to darken his complexion.
Goss called the makeup “scary,” and said the depiction “has nothing to do with Native culture.” Furthermore, Goss alleged the man isn’t Native. She said local Native American groups were legitimately represented in the parade, but the man in the makeup was, according to Goss, part of a Mexican charro group.
“How was that allowed?” Goss asked. “Why did no one stop him?”
Response from the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo
Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo spokesman Matt Brockman said the man in the Native attire was a parade entrant and was not affiliated with the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo or its organizers. The All Western Parade is open to all who belong to a riding group or other organization, Brockman said.
When asked if the organizers could prohibit entrants from participating in the parade if they are acting in a potentially offensive way, Brockman said that is difficult when you consider the size of the parade, which included roughly 1,300 participants this year. Brockman added that it’s also an issue of free speech, which Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo organizers are reluctant to infringe upon.
Brockman pointed to the situation 10 years ago when Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo organizers banned the Virginia battle flag, more commonly known as the Confederate flag, from being displayed in the All Western Parade.
The Sons of Confederate Veterans still handed out small flags during the parade, Brockman said, and the event organizers did not intervene, citing free speech.
The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo’s rules for parade entrants includes a provision that says “Stock Show management reserves the right to deny participation or remove from parade any exhibit, person, animal, wagon or other entry that may be falsely entered or may be deemed unsuitable or objectionable, without assigning reason thereof.”
After speaking with the Star-Telegram, Brockman shared the following statement on behalf of parade organizers:
“The Stock Show’s Parade Committee worked diligently to ensure that the approximately 1,300 parade riders and their horses participated in the safest manner possible and that all rules were followed. The Stock Show will always strive to ensure the All-Western Parade celebrates all cultures that reflect Texas’ unique and diverse identity.”
Brockman was unable to say which group the man in the Native attire belonged to. Goss said she and others were still working to determine who the man was.