Appaloosa Horse Club in Rose Parade

Another Rose Parade, another stereotypical display of "Indians."



Apparently the Calizona Appaloosa Horse Club dressed as (their idea of) Nez Perce Indians to honor the Nez Perce history with Appaloosas. A Facebook video shows a 15-second snippet of their ride. Here are some photos taken from the video.
And an album of photos from an Old Spanish Days ride on August 7 of last year. Which may have been a precursor to the Rose Parade ride.

According to those who contacted the club, none of the riders were Native. Most dressed as stereotypical chiefs and maidens in "leathers and feathers," although a few women wore Nez Perce-style hats.



A behind-the-scenes photo makes it clearer that these people are dressing in wigs and makeup--i.e., redface. As someone wrote to the Tournament of Roses:We HATED the disgusting display of the fake Indian "performers" put on by the Calizona Appaloosa Horse Club during the Rose Parade yesterday. In 2016 you would think that educated people would know better than to make a mockery of a sacred culture by donning ridiculous wigs, face paint and fake sacred regalia. This was such an ugly insult to Native Americans. It's most disturbing and disappointing that an organization such as the Rose Parade would actually INVITE these buffoons to prance around in their caricature costumes and expect Native American people to feel "honored" by that. Please issue an apology and omit this ignorant group of people from the 2017 Rose Parade roster. Otherwise, it will be evident that the Tournament of Roses is run by supporters of racism and ignorance. Thank you.

Finally, the Nez Perce denied they gave the horse club any sort of permission or approval:

Nez Perce Did Not Give Horse Club Blessing to Play Indian at Rose Parade, Tribe Says

Oops. For more on stereotypical parades, see Debating an "Arab" Parade Float and Columnist Defends Mummers Parade.