An Indiana high school has been forced to cancel appearances of its longstanding Native American mascots after a viral TikTok video showed them performing a pre-game ‘peace pipe’ ritual and doing a traditional war dance.
Anderson High School first found itself under fire at the end of February, when Sarah Holba posted a video of the school’s pre-game ritual, saying: ‘I literally hate Indiana.’
It then cuts to show the school’s cheerleaders gathered around the ‘chief’ and a girl dressed as an ‘Indian maiden,’ wearing what appeared to be a buckskin dress with her hair in two braids, performing a ‘peace pipe’ ritual.
The female mascot handed the male mascot a pipe which he pretended to smoke in front of the crowd.
Afterwards, at what appears to be half-time, the mascots rush to the court and start dancing around in a traditional ‘war dance’ as the school’s pep band played.
The school has conducted the pre-game ritual for nearly a century, according to the Indianapolis Star, as an apparent homage to Chief William Anderson, the one-time chief of the Delaware Tribe, for whom the city is named. School officials have said the district has always used the mascot with the blessing of the chief’s descendants.
And the school’s website says ‘the pre-game peace pipe ceremony and “war dance” are unique, long-standing traditions that are cherished by all Indian fans.’
A viral video shows a male and female student dressed in Native American garb performing a ‘peace pipe’ ceremony before a basketball game in February
The male student then pretended to smoke the pipe in front of the crowd, while the female mascot sat back down