Westernaires horsemanship group to end all Native American portrayals - including Battle of Little Bighorn

DENVER - The Golden-based Westernaires youth horsemanship organization will end its long-controversial portrayals of Native American culture, including a reenactment of the Battle of Little Bighorn and an Indian dancing program.

The organization's Board of Directors sent a letter to members, volunteers and alumni last week to alert them to its commitment to halt "all programs that teach and portray Native American dancing, riding or history in all our performances."

"We have heard the concerns expressed regarding how Indigenous communities have been portrayed in some of our performances," said the letter, signed by each of the nine board members. "While our intent has always been to celebrate aspects of Western heritage and horsemanship, we recognize that intent does not always equal impact. When any individual - past or present - feels unheard or disrespected, it matters and it deserves our attention."

The Westernaires board also committed the organization to better listen to diverse perspectives, evaluate programming with cultural awareness, and "evolve in a way that reflects both our values and the community we serve today."

The letter is a pivot from the board's previous attitude about scaling back Native American representation in programming and performances. In an email earlier this year signaling the end of the dance program, the board bemoaned the move as not being its "preferred outcome."

Board president William Schleicher declined an interview request from The Denver Post to speak about what led to the changes.

"The letter is legitimate and we consider the situation closed," he said. "We are not interested in following it up any further."

The Westernaires have taught horsemanship to young people in Colorado and performed equine entertainment with Wild West themes for more than 70 years.

Bill aimed at preventing deaths like CU Boulder student Megan Trussell's heads to Colorado governor Bill aimed at preventing deaths like CU Boulder student Megan Trussell's heads to Colorado governor

But the organization has faced criticism from the Indigenous community for decades for its perpetuation of cowboys-and-Indians stereotypes, including performing a reenactment of the 1876 Battle of Little Bighorn and its Indian dancing program, which dressed up predominantly white children in Native-inspired regalia to perform sacred Indigenous dances.

The all-volunteer organization ended the dance program in February after mounting pressure from the National Western Stock Show President and CEO Wes Allison and Denver City Councilwoman Stacie Gilmore. At the time, the group did not address the future of other Native American programming, particularly the Battle of Little Bighorn reenactment.

Last week's letter offered the first public explanation about the situation from the Westernaires. "To our members and alumni who have shared concerns in the past and may have felt they were not fully heard, we want to acknowledge that we can - and must - do better," the board wrote.

While Indigenous groups long have been critical of the Native American representation, a family of young Native girls who joined the Westernaires in 2022 reignited the movement.

Justice and Jamilah Maldonado, 11 and 12, respectively, joined the Westernaires after their grandmother, Marjorie Lane, signed them up to ride horses.

The girls - members of the Northern Arapaho tribe- loved riding and making friends, but they were horrified when they saw their peers wearing Native-inspired clothing performing Indigenous dances and acting out the Battle of Little Bighorn- a major defeat of U.S. forces in what is now Montana that is also known as Custer's Last Stand or, to Natives, the Battle of the Greasy Grass.

The girls and Lane asked the Westernaires through different channels to stop appropriating Native culture, but the organization didn't listen, Lane said.

In January, Gilmore invited Justice to speak at a Denver City Council meeting attended by Allison, who was there for a proclamation honoring the 120th National Western Stock Show, which the Westernaires traditionally perform at.

Justice shared her disappointment about the Westernaires' lack of respect for her and her sister. Allison and Lane connected at the meeting, and Allison later told Lane that he let Westernaires' leadership know they might not be able to perform at the stock show if they continued their Native programming.

The Westernaires board's letter last week referenced the Maldonado family's activism, but did not name them.

"A former member of our organization recently provided personal feedback to the Denver City Council regarding her experience in Westernaires," the board wrote. "Her words reflect a deeply felt personal experience, and it is important that we take a moment - as a community - to listen, reflect and reaffirm who we are and who we strive to be."

Lane felt conflicted about the Westernaires' actions, she said in an interview with The Post. She was pleased they finally made the changes she and her granddaughters advocated. But the organization didn't contact her about the changes, nor did they credit her granddaughters in their communication, she said.

"Do you thank people when they stop acting in a racist manner?" Lane said. "The way they rolled this out made it pretty obvious that it had nothing to do with how my granddaughters were feeling or even anyone in the Native community… I guess they did what we asked for originally. That may be all that matters right now. Why they did it and how they did it may not be that important."

Lane reached out to Allison to let him know about the changes and thank him for the role he played, she said - and he told her he already knew because the Westernaires' leadership had hand-delivered a hard copy of their letter to him.

"That spoke volumes to me," Lane said.

When reached for comment, Allison referred The Post to the Westernaires.

In a statement, Gilmore, the Denver councilwoman, praised the Maldonado girls for speaking up for themselves.

"Never quit," Gilmore said. "And that is exactly what the community did, by continuing for decades to demand change by this organization. I commend Justice and her family for speaking truth to power, carrying forward others' voices. Listening, learning and then letting community lead is how good change begins."

_____

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.