Lc Band’S Halftime Show Under Review

Spokane School District officials debated the appropriateness of a marching band’s halftime show Monday, two days after the group won top awards with the controversial program in Pasco.

The Lewis and Clark High School Marching Band routine, called “The Death of Custer,” has drawn criticism for its portrayal of Native Americans. Also at issue is the use of a cap gun during the show.

District 81’s equity director, Vickie Countryman, met with Assistant Superintendent Nancy Stowell, LC Principal Mike Howson and other officials Monday afternoon. The group was to review a video of the performance and decide whether Band Director Larry Jay violated the district’s policy that requires school functions be respectful of everyone, and the district’s zero-tolerance policy on guns.

Band members were invited to attend the meeting.

“We are going to try and make this a win-win situation,” possibly by cutting offensive parts out of the show, Countryman said.

But by late in the afternoon on Monday, the meeting was still running and officials had called in more people for input.

A decision will likely be reached today, Countryman said.

The band performance re-enacts the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn, where U.S. Army Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and more than 200 troops were killed by a force of several thousand Sioux and Cheyenne Indians.

During the show, the band marches in cavalry uniforms, while the auxiliary team dances in costumes that represent Native American garb. They wave blankets and bows decorated with tassels. During the climax of the performance, the auxiliary team acts out a scene in which Custer is shot with an arrow and killed. The student playing Custer fires a cap gun several times in the air, then falls to the ground dead.

Afterward, the auxiliary team dances victoriously in a circle that symbolizes a war dance.

Jay said last week that he had cleared the use of the cap gun with his supervisors, even though the district has a policy that bans guns of any kind, including toy guns, at school or school-related functions.

Principal Howson could not be reached for comment.

The show was first performed at Joe Albi Stadium on Sept. 28 during LC’s football game against Shadle Park High School, and again Saturday at a competition in Pasco.

The performance came into question after a Shadle student watching the Albi game said she was offended by what she characterized as a cartoonish depiction of Native Americans.

“(School officials) are going to have to change a lot of things if they want to do it correctly,” said 16-year-old Dylan Lodge. She is a member of the Gros Ventre Tribe from Montana.

Although Lodge is the only person to file an official complaint with the district, Countryman said her office received a dozen calls Monday - half sympathized with the band, half with the girl.

The band is scheduled to perform Friday at another football game and compete Saturday in the Pacific Northwest Marching Band Championship at Albi.

Band students, however, said changes would affect their ability to perform the routine.

“It would take a little bit off our competitive edge,” said band member Kelly Guilfoil.

The band placed sixth out of 26 bands and took top awards in the AA category at the Cavalcade of Bands competition in Pasco on Saturday.

The band received first place in AA class, auxiliary, brass and winds, marching and maneuvering and general effect. In percussion, they took second. Also, Guilfoil took first place as the band’s drum major.

“People absolutely loved it,” Jay said. “They said it was the best marching band performance they had ever seen.”

He declined to comment on the controversy.

Lodge said she was happy that the band did well, because of the hard work students and staff put into rehearsals.

“I can see why they won, it just would have been more dignified if it had been more accurate.”

Many students said they feel frustrated and angry that the program they’ve practiced for three hours a day since school started is drawing fire from officials. And they blame the media - specifically an article in Saturday’s Spokesman-Review - for inflaming the situation.

Students passed a copy of the article around on the bus trip to Pasco.

“On Saturday, it was really hard at first to maintain the pride we felt for the program,” Guilfoil said.

Jay told the students the situation was “out of our hands,” Guilfoil said, and that the students should keep in mind the hard work they invested.

“After we got over the shock we felt because it became such a big deal so quickly, we were able to pull together and put it out of our minds and we were successful,” she said.