Protester Opposes Chasco Krewe Float

Ruby Beaulieu says it’s hard for her to look at the Krewe of Chasco’s float in the Chasco Fiesta street parade. 

The float features portrayals of Native Americans, and Beaulieu, executive director of the Florida Chapter of the American Indian Movement, has problems with the depiction she sees.

“It’s a mockery of our culture,” said Beaulieu, who says she is an Ojibwe a.k.a. Chippewa Indian.

Beaulieu is calling for people to join her in a protest of the float as the parade rolls through downtown New Port Richey this coming Saturday.

The float has featured white people dressing up in costume as Native Americans. Some of the costumes include headdresses.

Beaulieu said she considers the float demeaning. She said the costumes are “Hooters” style clothes.

”Imagine white people dressed in blackface on a float with big red lips singing Mammy and eating watermelon," Beaulieu wrote in a flier about the protest. "It would never happen” nowadays, Beaulieu wrote.

Beaulieu wants the float banned from the parade.

She has protested the float for many years.

“Too many,” she said.

Why does she continue to do it, especially when she’s tired of doing so?

“If we don’t protest, it’s going to look like we accept what they’re doing, and we don’t," she said.

Chasco Fiesta, which started as a three-day festival but is nine days this year, is based on a fictional tale fabricated by a postmaster. The tale is about a Spanish expedition captured by a tribe of Calusa Indians. The story says all the expedition members were sacrificed except for a young girl, her stepbrother and a priest.

The story reportedly says those three were adopted into the tribe. The girl was made queen of the tribe and the boy was made prince.

The first Chasco Fiesta was held in 1922 and was touted as a way to raise funds for the local library. The festival has been held annually in New Port Richey since 1947.

Other parts of Chasco Fiesta have come under fire for their depiction of Native Americans, but they’ve been removed. One example is a pageant that featured white children dressed as Indians making stabbing motions in a reenactment of the Chasco tale. That pageant is no longer held. 

The fiesta still holds a Native American Festival and Pow that spotlights Native American dance, arts and crafts, and vendors.

Kristen King, executive director of Chasco Fiesta, points out that the Krewe and Chasco Fiesta are separate entities. She also said that Chasco Fiesta has had a Native American involved in running the Pow Wow to make sure it is accurate.

The Krewe of Chasco's Facebook page says "The Krewe Of Chasco commemorates the noble and historic significance of the Calusa Indian Tribe in West Pasco County and honors all Native American Indians."

Beaulieu says protesters will meet at 11 a.m. Saturday at the parking lot of the Lowe’s at Ridge and Little roads, where they will make signs, and then will move along to the parade route. Protesters normally set up on the parade route at the Marathon gas station on Grand Boulevard in New Port Richey. The parade starts at 1 p.m.

Find out more about Chasco's schedule on Patch.

What do you think about the float? Should it stay or go? Share your thoughts in the comments section.