The golden arches at a McDonald’s in rural Ronan, Montana, were not at all welcoming to students from the Blackfeet Nation’s Browning School District.
On Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, the Browning High School boys wrestling team whith their coaches stopped at the Ronan McDonald’s while traveling from Polson to Missoula to compete in the Rocky Mountain Wrestling Classic.
In a 14-second video that has since circulated, a male employee is heard telling the team the restaurant would not serve them.
“Browning School is not allowed. We’re not allowed to serve you guys. I’m sorry,” the employee says.
While the white male employee did not explicitly say the refusal was based on race, someone off-camera can be heard responding, “I guess they don’t like Indians here.”
Browning Public Schools are located on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. More than 80% of the district’s students are Native American.
Rebecca Rappold, superintendent of Browning Public Schools, issued a statement following the incident.
“While the team was stopped at the Ronan McDonald’s, service was refused,” Rappold said. “The restaurant informed coaches and student-athletes that they would not serve Browning Public Schools. As a result, the team departed the location without being served. The athletic director worked with coaching staff to ensure students were safe and fed at another venue.”
The Ronan McDonald’s is one of seven Montana locations owned and operated by Chris and Melissa Crawshaw.
Melissa Crawshaw later described the incident as an “unfortunate misunderstanding.”
“We’re aware of the incident that occurred at our Ronan restaurant, which was the result of an unfortunate misunderstanding — and not in any way a reflection of our values,” Crawshaw wrote in a Facebook post. “We sincerely apologize for the frustration this has caused. We’ve addressed the situation with our team and personally reached out to Browning High School to make things right. Let me be clear: Everyone is welcome in our restaurant.”
She added, “We’re honored to serve the Ronan community and look forward to welcoming all students at any time.”
It was not immediately clear what the misunderstanding involved or why the wrestling team was denied service, an action that also resulted in lost sales for the Ronan restaurant.
