Street music stereotype

There is one photo from Hameln that I didn't include in my post about that day.
It's of a three-man band playing the pan flutes that you often hear in airports or city streets. The interesting part is that these guys were all dressed like American Indians - they had headdresses, moccasins, even war paint.

I tried to explain (in German, so it was awkward) to my Colombian and Uzbek friends why I had to take this photo. I told them that musical act dressed like this in the U.S., it would be considered anywhere from distasteful to offensive or even racist, depending on who you asked. Sure, people in the U.S. use ethnic stereotypes, but they don't parade them around on the street and put out a hat for tips. I guess the equivalent would be a group of Germans dressed up like orthodox Jews and performing on the steel drum in Tokyo.