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.
9 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
Nanook, I guess it’s fun for some people to say that Walt was racist or an antisemite. See: “Family Guy”. I get it. The man wasn’t a saint, but for somebody born in 1901, he had some progressive views compared to many. It’s too bad that the Dance Circle was a victim of changing social mores, but that’s the way it goes of course.
JB, I don’t want to give away any secrets, but let’s just say I had one of those wishing willows. I’m sure those are porcupine quills, my mom used to be into all sorts of ethnic costume and “ornament”, and she had things made out of quills. I’m sure we’ve seen that mask before, but it’s easy to miss being up on the pole. Glad you enjoyed these!
TokyoMagic!, yes, I am sure the “clock” from that “Disneyland Showtime” program was made just for the show! Ha ha, good old Walter K… the man hated Commies, but he knew how to party.
TokyoMagic!, I had to look up “Joyce Bulifant”. Oh her! I remember her from the Mary Tyler Moore show, and game shows. I guess I only knew her as “Joyce”. Imagine Walt Disney himself telling you that he has big plans for you, only to die. He probably had big plans for me too, but never had the chance to tell me. It’s in one of his planners: “Call Kurt Russell and Major Pepperidge”. The description of the show Joyce described sounds more like an episode of the Wonderful World of Color than a series, at least to me.
Anonymous, Joyce would have made a good Carol Brady. But Florence Henderson did a fine job too. A show about two stewardesses in the late 1960s or early 1970s sounds so much like something that would have been actually made! I wonder why it didn’t happen.
Mike Cozart, Blogger strikes again.
JG, I would think that the Dance Circle would not have been a high cost attraction, but then again, they had four to six performers, so maybe it cost more than I imagine. I saw a similar Indian dance show when we visited the Okefenokee Swamp, and I think I was just too young for it. “Why are these guys dancing around half naked??”.
I sometimes wondered if the Indian performers were paid. Around twenty minutes into "Disneyland USA" the narrator identifies the dancers onscreen as "the Drum and Feathers Club", and says several groups are invited to use this space. Perhaps a more permanent version of the vintage car events on Main Street, or the early parades where school bands and various cultural organizations were mixed in with the Disney performers and floats.
Faintly recall an article quoted somewhere, which reeked of PR flack invention: Supposedly a Soviet publication claimed the Indians were slaves paraded for capitalists' amusement, and a "chief" replied they had a good contract with benefits because this is America.
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