Video of Indigenous dance from California, not Canada
- Published on November 25, 2025 at 17:01
- 2 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP Canada
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Canadian and US social media users are claiming a video shows a man in traditional regalia dancing at a government assembly in British Columbia following a landmark court case in the Canadian province concerning Indigenous land rights. This is false; the footage comes from the US state of California, where a local school district welcomed one of its high school graduates to open a November 2025 board of education meeting with a performance for Native American Heritage Month.
"This is British Columbia," says a November 23, 2025 post sharing the clip on X. "Who's the bigger fool here, the performer or the audience?"
The post comes from right-wing US filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza, who has previously spread misinformation and conspiracy theories about US elections, mass shootings and other topics.
Similar posts on X and other platforms, such as Facebook, linked the video to a major British Columbia court case that has triggered concerns for some homeowners living in the province.
"How to lose your home and property rights in BC in two easy steps!" the posts say. "1. Keep doing land acknowledgments. 2. Pretend this isn't retarded."
The posts come as a judge's ruling granting Aboriginal title to the Cowichan Tribes over several hundred acres along the city of Richmond's Fraser River -- a historic victory for Indigenous land rights -- has raised questions about the future of the area and the security of its private properties.
The province, city and other First Nation governments have appealed the August decision.
Official proceedings in Canada often open with territorial acknowledgments recognizing Indigenous peoples' traditional presence in the region.
But the video of a man performing an Indigenous cultural dance in front of a government body was filmed in California, not Canada.
A reverse image search traced the video to the Garden Grove Unified School District in California's Orange County, which published it on Instagram and Facebook on November 19 (archived here and here). The words "Garden Grove Unified School District" are visible on the wall in the background.
"Last night, GGUSD's Board of Education meeting opened with a powerful and moving performance by Bolsa Grande graduate Ba'ac Garcia, who shared a traditional Native American dance in honor of Native American Heritage Month," the school district captioned its posts.
Text overlaid across the video reads: "Native American Heritage Month -- Board of Education Presentation."
Garcia's introduction and full dance performance -- as well as the complete board meeting -- appear on the district's YouTube channel, which streamed the meeting live November 18 (archived here).
Garcia said he was performing a "Grass Dance," a style derived from the Omaha people in Nebraska.
Searches of Garcia's Instagram page and the website for RedBoy Productions, an Orange County-based Native American family dance troupe Garcia leads, show images and videos of him dancing in similar attire at various other locations (archived here and here).
The website says Garcia is a member of Tohono O'odham Nation, a federally-recognized tribe occupying parts of southwest Arizona.
AFP previously debunked claims that another clip showed British Columbia's minister of housing and municipal affairs performing a traditional Maori dance.
See more fact-checks on Canada here.
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