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The Fort McMurray Minor Hockey Association has apologized after a video of three players mocking an Indigenous dance in a locker room went viral.
In the video, one boy is seen beating his hockey stick against a trash can lid as he and others jump around and shout Indigenous music. The dance the players performed caused an uproar in the room.
The video was posted to Facebook, shared over 5,000 times, and brought in a slew of comments condemning the boys' actions.
One person who watched the video called it "pathetic" while another stated that "white people really need to stop mocking Indigenous culture."
“It is wrong and will not be tolerated,” the association said in a statement. “The display of ignorance is sad and gravely unfortunate.”
The association added that it would deal with the players swiftly and the response would include education to drive home how wrong their actions were.
“We are sick to know how many people this hurts and offends and for that we sincerely apologize on their behalf.”
One of the boys who claimed to be in the video went to Facebook to mention that the three players are, in fact, Indigenous.
“I would just like to say I am deeply sorry for the actions we made and to clarify we were not trying to be racist or offending anyone or anything,” he wrote. “This video was us fooling around in the locker room and we weren’t using our heads.”
Indigenous relations consultant Jed Johns went on to say that their ethnicity was not the point.
“I don’t think it matters if they’re Indigenous or not,” said Johns. “It definitely stirs an emotional response.”
With files from the Canadian Press.
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