A Gaelic music festival group removed a song from their repertoire after a complaint from parents that it was offensive to native Americans.
Don Staniford and his wife Elena Edwards were shocked when a group of youngsters at a recent Rhymetime session in Ullapool were encouraged to dance in a circle while making “whooping” war cries.
The couple immediately left the session with their young daughter.
They later lodged a complaint about their experience.
Feis Rois, which ran the special Gaelic-themed event at the MacPhail Centre, has now apologised to the couple and have removed the song from their sessions.
Mr Staniford said that he and his wife, who is from Canada, enjoyed taking their daughter to the events but believed that the choice of song was “ill-judged”.
He said: “At best, this reinforced stereotypes about ‘Indians’. At worst, this is racist.”
He added: “Sadly, the Gaelic Rhymetime crossed the line into disrespectful racism and ethnic stereotyping. This is all the more disappointing since I would have thought that Gaelic speakers would know all about respect for different cultures and oppressed minorities.”
Chief executive of Feis Rois, Fiona Dalgetty could not be reached for comment yesterday.
But in a letter to Mr Staniford, she said: “Feis Rois works with many other minority cultures, particularly other minority language communities in Europe, and we have a deep respect for other cultures. We also have a partnership project with the renowned Celtic Colours Festival in Nova Scotia and we are very much aware of the diversity of cultures in Canada, including that of the First Peoples.”