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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 22, 2016)
8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2016 SCHOOLS WITH AMERICAN INDIAN MASCOTS Amity High School: Warriors Banks High School: Braves Lebanon High School: Warriors Mohawk High School: Indians Molalla High School: Indians North Douglas High School: Warriors Oakridge High School: Warriors Philomath High School: Warriors Reedsport High School: Braves Rogue River High School: Chieftains Roseburg High School: Indians Scappoose High School: Indians Siletz Valley School: Warriors The Dalles-Wahtonka High School: Eagle Indians Warrenton High School: Warriors Mascot: Ban is due to take effect in July 2017 Continued from Page 1A Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Jessica Smith is led into the Clatsop County Courthouse for a hearing Thursday. Judge Cindee Matyas ordered her to undergo more mental health evaluations. Smith: Status hearing over results is set for late March Legislature wanted exception Continued from Page 1A Smith, 42, is accused of drugging and drowning her toddler and attempting to kill her teenager in Cannon Beach in July 2014. She recently told the state-hired psycholo- gist she had “little to no mem- ory of the events of July 31, 2014.” Matyas said in court last week she would prefer to have Smith evaluated by a psychi- atrist or psychologist already involved in the case, or agreed upon by both parties. She will also research having Smith evaluated locally, if resources are available in the county. Smith’s defense lawyers William Falls and Lynne Mor- gan raised concerns in a court ¿ling earlier this month about Smith’s ability to aid and as- sist in her defense. The law- yers said Smith suffers from a mental disease and is un¿t to move forward. They asked the court for a competency ex- amination of Smith and then a determination of Smith’s ¿t- ness to proceed. “Our ¿rst concern is for Ms. Smith to get the help we feel she really needs,” Mor- gan said in court Thursday. “That’s our ¿rst concern.” District Attorney Josh Marquis responded in a mo- tion by pointing out that the defense counsel has repre- sented Smith for almost 18 months, yet has never raised an issue of their client’s com- petency to proceed until now. Both parties agreed that previous talks about a settle- Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Jessica Smith is led into the Clatsop County Courthouse for a hearing regarding her competency to assist in her own defense Thursday. Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Jessica Smith is led into the Clatsop County Courthouse for a hearing Thursday. ment conference will be put on hold until Smith is evalu- ated. A status hearing to address the results of Smith’s evalua- tion was set for late March. Harkless: ‘We just can’t picture the world without Kyle’ Legislation in 2014 forced the Board of Education to de- velop rules by January 2017 providing for an exception to the ban but still gave the board authority to reject individual native mascots. The board’s decision Thursday puts the de- cision into the hands of tribes. “Putting this decision back in the hands of the tribes to work on these issues and to move through these exceptions when it makes sense may be the most respectful act we can make as a board,” said Charles Martinez Jr., the school board’s co-vice chairman. In the past, the board had been resistant to relaxing the ban in light of research that suggested the mascots have a negative effect on native students’ self-esteem. Board members’ reluctance was ev- ident Thursday, and some still strongly opposed the change. Vice Chairman Angela Bowen, an American Indian, said the Legislature has “bul- lied” the board into acting against their consciences. “Honestly, I am offended at this point that we would be reduced to cartoon characters,” Bowen said. “I’m very unhap- py about the fact the Legisla- ture has pressured this board to make rules the board obviously in the past has not agreed with.” But support for the excep- tion from the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, which represents 27 tribes, tipped the scales. School board members voted 4-2 to pass the excep- tion Thursday with Bowen and board member Anthony Veliz opposing the measure. Worthy symbols Miranda Summer, the Paris Achen/EO Media Group Se-ah-dom Edmo, president of the Oregon Indian Associ- ation, speaks to the Oregon Board of Education Thursday to oppose an exception to the board’s ban on American Indian mascots. The board approved the exception 4-2. board chairwoman, and Veliz met with the Grand Ronde trib- al council earlier this month to discuss the issue. Many of the Indians, war- riors, braves and chiefs from history “are worthy of being honored as high school sym- bols of respect and integrity,” said Jack Giffen Jr., vice chair- man of the Grand Ronde tribal council. The Grand Ronde have used discussions with schools that want to keep their native mascots as a vehicle to intro- duce curriculum on Oregon’s tribes to some schools. Mollala River School Dis- trict, for instance, adopted a fourth-grade curriculum creat- ed by the tribe. The development begins to reverse a trend of schools ignoring or poorly describing native history and culture, Giff- en said. “The proposed rule allows the tribes to have the determi- nation when a mascot is cul- turally signi¿cant to the tribe,” Giffen said. “The Confederat- ed Tribes of the Grand Ronde, along with other Oregon tribes, support this solution because it allows the schools to keep their native mascots if they collabo- rate with the tribe on positive portrayals of native symbols and integrate native studies in school curriculum to combat stereotypes.” Some Indians fought exception The Grand Ronde’s position on the exception clashed with the Oregon Indian Education Association and some Ameri- can Indian organizations, such as the National Congress of American Indians, that have focused energy to abolishing native mascots. Se-ah-dom Edmo, presi- dent of Oregon Indian Educa- tion Association, said research indicates that native mascot promote discrimination. “Since 2012 what else has happened around the country?” Edmo said. “Well, we’ve also seen, and this is out of Ala- bama, a local school that had an Indian mascot and their ri- vals created a 20-foot banner, which said, ‘Hey Indians, get ready to leave on a Trail of Tears Round 2,’ so again, acts of discrimination happening within a school.” Edmo said the loophole the education board approved sent a message “that we are OK with the notion of negotiating acceptable levels of objecti¿- cation of native people in gen- eral.” She said American Indians who don’t belong to one of the federally recognized tribes have no of¿cial representation before the education board but that their voices should be con- sidered. She called the exception “a mistake” and said the Board of Education “would become complicit” in acts of objec- ti¿cation and discrimination against native students. The new rule requires the local school boards to hold a public hearing on the mascot and accept oral and written comments. A tribe also has the authority to revoke an agree- ment prior to its expiration date. Edward Stratton of The Daily Astorian contributed to this report. A Huge Continued from Page 1A ‘He was an Astorian’ Thank You Harkless was building his life in Warrenton. He married his high school sweetheart, Amanda, last June, and they had just moved into their new home in Warrenton. The couple was busy raising Logan and their 18-month-old daughter, McKenzie. Harkless was an Astoria native who graduated from As- toria High School in 2007. He was the sole provider for his family, working construction with his father, Duane Hark- less. “He was more than just a man in Warrenton,” Jordan said. “He was a very special person and well loved and liked. He was an Astorian.” to these contributors for the Coast Rehab Residents Party; Dec. 15, 2015 Miracle baby Jordan recalls the joy Kyle Harkless brought the family when he was born. He was con- sidered a “miracle baby” be- cause he was born prematurely at just over 2 pounds. He even- tually grew to over 6 feet tall. As he grew, Jordan watched Harkless become a young man with great character and work ethic. Jordan points to a time earli- er this year when Harkless and his father helped her move into a new apartment in Astoria. Not only did they move the belong- ings, but they took pictures of everything in the old apartment so it all could be set up the same Superintendent Mark Jef- fery, who traveled to Salem for the Board of Education’s vote, said the district still needs to review the proposed agreement with Grand Ronde and gath- er public input, adding it will be several months before any agreement would be brought to the Warrenton-Hammond School Board. The mascot ban, enacted in 2012, is due to take effect in July 2017. Submitted Photo Kyle Harkless was a proud father to his son, Logan, 7, and his daughter, McKenzie, 18 months. way in the new place, making it immediately feel like home for Jordan. She could not believe how they went above and beyond to help her. The family has shared sim- ilar stories about Harkless this week. Not only was he all about family, his mother said, but he was all about his dirt bikes and his Toyota truck. Anytime he could get in the mud, he would. “We just can’t picture the world without Kyle,” Jordan said. Astoria Mini Mart Astoria Warehousing Astoria-Warrenton Chamber of Commerce Bridgewater Bistro Cash & Carry COSTCO Englund Marine Fred Meyer Lower Columbia Bowl Main Street Market Safeway Silver Salmon Grille Sundial Travel Walgreens Bill Hunsinger Dave Bue & Neil Dick Landwehr Jerry Petersen Moose Lodge 408 Moose poker players Women of the Moose Chapter 422 Girl Scout & Brownie Troop 10086 Will Chapman Dan Reed Santa Claus We couldn’t have done it without your support! Jon Hissner & Trish Walters Co-Chairman
