A dance performed at the Ukrainian pavilion at this year’s Folkfest is being called cultural appropriation and offensive by some.

Janelle Pewapsconias recorded a video of the performance Saturday night and posted it to her Facebook account. It shows a group of Ukrainian dancers performing a routine which includes parts similar to powwow dancing. Pewapsconias calls the performance an act of cultural appropriation.

"It was really offensive because as a dancer who has been initiated, as an adult who understands the tradition of pow-wow, how could this be honourable?" she said.

The video shows about 30 members of the Pavlychenko Folklorique Ensemble wearing different cultural regalia, some wearing headdresses, and performing a dance that is similar to fancy dance. The video of the performance Pewapsconias posted online has been viewed more than 100,000 times.

“I don’t say this to offend or be offensive, but it is not up to white people to decide for us how we can be honoured,” she said.

The Pavlychenko dance group released a statement Sunday saying the dance called Canadian Kaleidoscope has been performed internationally and in Saskatoon since 2003, when artistic director Serhij Koroliuk became a Canadian citizen. The dance group said the performance was not meant to disrespect Indigenous cultures, but was mean to promote inclusivity.

“It was created with gratitude, love, and respect to all of the cultures that make Canada so wonderfully diverse,” the statement read. “This montage has been performed locally, provincially, nationally, and internationally, and has been well received. The sequence of the cultural segments was taken into careful consideration. Knowing the Indigenous peoples were the first inhabitants of Canada, they are the first to be honoured within the piece.”

Pewapsconias is asking that more consultation be done with Indigenous people.

“In the city with one of the highest populations of Indigenous people, why weren’t our dancers being used?” she said. “How could their outfits look like that? I am confused as to why this still happens.”

Koroliuk is in Ukraine until Friday but the Pavlychenko dance group said he will speak with reporters and elders when he’s back in Saskatoon to create a more open dialogue.