Teacher Who Did a Poor Job of “Playing Indian” in Video that Went Viral is Placed on Leave
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A Riverside High School math teacher may know a lot about trigonometry, but she lacks wisdom on life matters—especially when it comes to Native Americans relations.
A video that went viral on social media shows a Caucasian teacher prancing among students in a classroom, wearing a headdress—with feathers made from construction paper—in an attempt to dance like an Indian. She even threw in a tomahawk chop. The video captured her making chanting-like statements and pretending to pray at her desk. She reportedly chanted “SohCahToa” to help students remember trigonometry terms sine, cosine, and tangent
The video was filmed by a Native American student during his trigonometry class on Tuesday.
By Thursday afternoon, the Riverside Unified School District had released a statement in reaction to the video, saying the teacher was placed on leave pending an investigation.
The video was posted by Akalei Brown (Kanaka-Maoli and Taos Pueblo), a graduate of the Native American Studies program at UC Davis and Native history and culture consultant and an advocate for foster youth. Brown says she posted a portion of the video with permission of the unnamed Native American student’s parents.
Brown posted on her Facebook page: “After watching the full 6-minute video I was left physically trembling. I may have left out pertinent details in the video, but my hands were shaking so hard that’s all I could manage to clip to post.”
“I felt it necessary to share this video with the world so they could have a small glimpse into the type of abuses Native children face in US schools everyday. This is not a one-off scenario. Halloween is just around the corner,” Brown writes.
The video raised the ire of Native Americans across Indian Country.
“We’re outraged and shocked by a California teacher’s behavior where she is seen in videos wearing a headdress and mocking Native cultures. This conduct is extremely disrespectful and unacceptable. The videos have been shared widely on social media and were reportedly filmed by a Native American student who was in the classroom at the time of this incident. The student states he began filming because he “felt that violence was being committed against him and he had the right to record,” Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of IllumiNative said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
The only Native American currently serving in the California state legislature, Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-Highland), chair of the California Native American Select Committee and California Native American Legislative Caucus, said the troubling video underscores the need for greater understanding of Native American culture and history.
In a statement issued with Assemblymembers Jose Medina (D-Riverside) and Sabrina Cervantes (D-Corona), Ramos said, “We fully condemn the actions that took place at John W. North High School earlier this week. The teacher’s behavior was highly inappropriate and offensive.”
The Riverside Unified School District's statement acknowledged the recording and said, "These behaviors are completely unacceptable and an offensive depiction of the vast and expansive Native American cultures and practices. Her actions do not represent the values of our district."
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Simple answer? Fire her.
Saw this video a couple days ago. This woman behaved like a lunatic. This was a high school classroom?
I heard this went on for an hour. I am at a loss for words as to how the teacher or anyone else could explain this behavior, let alone defend it.
I agree John - how in the hell can someone actually "act" like this and think it's alright?
Wonder if she does/did the same thing for the Black/Hispanics/Asians?
I wouldnt mind seeing her fired after the proper investigation etc. She might need mental help.
Thats a good question. I guess she could dress like a rapper and rap something about "Soh Cah Toa"
Watched videos, this woman needs help, she is either on some serious meds, drugs, or drunk. I was embarrassed for the students.
Did you see the one student bury her head in her arms 'cause she was so embarrassed?
Bizarre. I suppose she was trying to make Trigonometry entertaining but she was waaaay beyond out of control. Something is wrong with her IMO.
Moosh noosh chimook.
I thought it was going to start raining in the classroom. Scary stuff, that was hard to watch and embarrassing. Some people have no shame.
I don’t love when people immediately get suspended or fired for this kind of thing. This requires a conversation, first. If we can’t reach an understanding, then sure, go ahead and dismiss her from her duties.
I very much doubt this lady set out to disrespect native Americans. The SOHCAHTOA mnemonic is super common in Trigonometry classes. Lots of teachers try to find fun ways of communicating it to their students - not necessarily by imitating native Americans - especially through song or chanting. I would assume that her intent here was to make a boring subject fun to learn, and not to shit on anyone’s traditions.
Tacos!, that is NOT an appropriate way to teach any lesson in or out of school. Therefore no "conversation" is required.
Apparently, she has been doing it for a while, so it's clearly not as obvious an issue as you think. People often think they understand the whole situation by watching a couple minutes of video, but they are frequently wrong.
Like to see where you get the "obviously" from. Nothing in the links substantiate that.
I was not referencing a link. I was responding to Duck Hawk's comment in 9. Declaring that what we see is not appropriate and that no conversation is required makes plain he thinks the issue is obvious.
And that's fine. People will feel how they feel. Many, if not most, will come to a story like this to engage in a communal piling-on of this teacher. I, on the other hand, try to assume people are not evil, and am open to other possibilities regarding both the nature of her behavior and possible official responses to it.
Gotcha - thanks.
Looks like she had the black kid thinking about Triangular Thursday. Yea, she's a fruit but a fruit without malice, and California is the farm. Hear what she says then learn her the policy again.