Walt Disney World officials said Friday that a performance by a visiting group of Texas schoolchildren that used Native American stereotypes, including the chant of “Scalp ’em off,” did not reflect the value of the Florida resort.
This week’s performance at Magic Kingdom by a group of Indians from Port Neches Grove High School “didn’t reflect our core values and we’re sorry it happened,” Disney spokeswoman Jacqui Wahler said in an emailed statement.
The statement said that the audition tape the school provided for the theme park entry did not match the actual performance.
Wahler said new measures have been taken to prevent this from happening in the future. She didn’t elaborate.
In a video of the performance posted on Twitter, members of the exercise team can be seen putting their hands over their mouths and yelling to the beat of a drum in the background, stereotypically referred to as a “battle cry”.
Courtney Schexneider, director of the drilling crew, did not respond to an email asking for comment. Port Neches is located near the Gulf Coast, about 13 miles (20 km) southeast of Beaumont, Texas.