Indian Dance Circle, August 1962
It seems like it's been a while since I've shared photos from the Indian Dance Circle in Frontierland. As I've mentioned before, my family never made it to this area for some reason, but I wish I'd seen the various kinds of Native American abodes, the Indians making totem poles, weavings, and sand paintings, and of course the Indian Dancers. Maybe I'd learn something, and it wouldn't make my brain hurt! You know how it is sometimes.
Internet commentators love to make fun of Walt Disney as "insensitive", and he certainly was famous for his temper and farm-boy humor. Perhaps I'm not the right person to judge, but it at least feels like the Indian Village was a genuine attempt at a respectful presentation of Native Americans as something other than bloodthirsty killers (as seen in so many B-movies). He wanted to show their culture, arts and crafts, the way they lived off the land and used what they gathered. Let's at least give him credit for that.
7 comments:
Major-
'Internet commentators' often make thoughtless and oft times downright stupid remarks about Walt and Disneyland. Time and world-wide popularity of Walt's original idea(s) have proven these nincompoops for what they are: Idiots.
The Indian Dance Circle and the Indian Village, though not currently part of The Park, were at one time "... a permanent and popular attraction here at Disneyland..." and added to the overall guest experience on many levels - and one of those was Hard Facts.
Thanks, Major.
Wow, these are nice! Crystal clear with saturated colors. Seems like most of your posts, these last few months, have had better than average scan/photo quality. Are you doing something different? Or just lucky, in finding nice slides?
I have a possibly (probably) silly question: Are those porcupine quills in the dancer's headdress? That's a stylish costume the dancer is wearing; quite elegant, actually.
Again, beautiful, elegant costumes on these dancers. There's a mask of some sort up on that one pole; I don't recall seeing that before. There is a pair of red-shirted twins going by in the Canoe... they probably never made it back to the dock. ;-)
Thank you, Major. You're spoiling us with really good photos. If/when you post some 'average' pics, we will rebel, storm Tom Sawyer Island and mess the place up! Oh wait... it's already messed up.
In the first pic, we can see the clock/sign that reads, "Next Ceremonial Dace Will Be:" It's like the one we see in "Disneyland Showtime" with the Osmonds and E.J. Peaker, but it doesn't have Mickey Mouse in the center. I bet that one was made just for the TV show.
Maybe internet commentators are confusing Walt Disney with another "Walter."
Thanks, Major!
On an unrelated note, I came across a quote from Joyce Bulifant's biography, just yesterday. She said, “I was recording a song for ‘The Happiest Millionaire’ when he (Walt) came down from his office. He put his arm around me and said, ‘I’m going to walk you over to the studio.’ I said, ‘Oh Mr. Disney, that’s so nice!’ I couldn’t believe the special attention. He said, ‘And young lady, I have big plans for you!’ And then he died. I only found out now, and even his wife didn’t know, that Disney was working on a series where Lesley Ann Warren and I would be the guides at Disneyland and our boyfriends would be Tommy Steele and John Davidson."
I wonder if that would have been an actual "series" or just an episode of "The Wonderful World of Color"?
Tokyo: that’s interesting : I remember reading a story about Joyce Bulifant auditioning for the part of Carol Brady for THE BRADY BUNCH . She was hoping to land the part because a tv show project of her and Leslie Ann Warren as a pair of airline stewardess had been canceled . Sounds very similar as the two Disneyland tour guides ..
Anonymous was me
Considering how tight money was in the early years of the Park’s development, having the Dance circle at all seems to disprove the critics.
I barely remember the show here, and to be fair, I was probably bored by it, but the photos and stories make it sound respectful and interesting.
Losers and haters are going to be losers and haters, no reason to give them any credence when the hard facts are here for everyone to see.
Thanks for the pics and a moment of introspection, Major.
JG
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