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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2001)
JUNE 1, 2001 Smoke Signals 7 Wmm Wssm negro Emm s&g Wmm Local Hiig h School Ignores Movement to Change - the. Use off Indian Mascots Apathy, differing views on the subject leave Oregon behind as schools across the country try to right a wrong. By Peta Tinda and Justin Phillips At Amity High School the issue of Indian mas cots doesn't come up much. , . "In the six years I've been principal, no one has voiced concern over it," Henry Mam said. The school's mascot is the Amity Warrior, a Na tive American in traditional Native plains head dress, shown from profile. "Here at Amity, I don't think that's an issue," Mahi said on a recent morning at the high school. "Amity has had the warrior for ages, and we have no intention of using the mascot in a negative or derogatory manner." Amity High school is located about twenty miles east of the homelands of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; on an area that was once the Tribe's traditional land. The school's 290 kids are predominantly white and most are from the surrounding area. When asked what they thought about the idea of their mascot depicting an Indian, most seemed to like the idea. , , , . . , .. ..... . .. .. "For me, it's kind of inspirational," said Chad McCann, a senior. "You know, like warriors fight to the death and all." "I like it," said Chris Barber, also a senior. "But it's not really an issue," Other students hadn't really considered the mascot to be stereotypical. "I really don't care," said Jeremy Home. When a handful of students were asked if they ""V ' 3 VT""V i'-u- thought the mascot was racist, they unanimously said no. Mahi agreed.. "Do I think the mascot is racist? No. Definitely not," said Mahi. - " A half hour's drive away at the Chemawa In dian School the view is just the opposite. "Do I think it's racist? Yeah I think it's racist, especially the Cleveland Indians, with that big nose and cheap feather," said Jay Fry, a Chemawa stu dent from Omak Wash. "It's not right," "I think it's wrong the way they portray Indi ans," said Terry Keo, a Paiute from Reno Nevada. "If it's a Native school, then it's cool, but if it's (not) then. is no good,; sidrv,rp Olson, av Nakoda from Poplar, Montana. "It's like they're trying to say they're braves or warriors, but they're really not." Our own people here in Grand Ronde also have . differing points of view. "I have a problem with the Washington Redskins," said Ed Larsen, Tribal Council Vice Chairman. "The rest I feel that it's an honor with names as the Warriors and Braves. Along time Demeaning or an Honor? As schools across the country begin to change their Indian mascots in an effort to right a wrong, some schools refuse to budge on the issue. One local high school in Amity uses an Indian mascot for its logo and students and ad ministrators so no change is in their future plans. -.a .nun. ago they use to call Indians the redskins in a de meaning way, it's like the word squaw." "It doesn't bother me a bit," said Reyn Leno, Tribal Council. Leno said he didn't have a prob lem with the word redskins. . ' "I've been called a lot worse," said Leno. "I don't think they are doing it (mascots) to be against the Indians, that's my point." : . ;"For.me, it depends on what it is," said Cheryle Kennedy, Tribal Council. "If they are derogatory terms or not. If somebody picked a term that means "strength" or something, then that's okay." "I don't like the term redskin," said June Sell Sherer, Tribal Council. Kennedy agreed with Sell Sherer about the term "redskin." "It doesn't bother me," said Dustin Harmon, Youth Education Specialist, when asked if it he had any objection to the use of Indian mascots. District Can't Shake Indian Nickname Question BOICEVILLE, N.Y. (AP) - Onteora High School is the home of the Indians home of tomahawk chop cheers, the Tomahawk Queen and a snarl ing warrior painted on the gym wall. And this bucolic Catskill Mountain school dis trict is home to a lingering question over whether to retire an Indian nickname some see as insult ing. District voters will consider the Indian issue soon through a nonbinding referendum, weigh ing in on a question that has bedeviled schools all over4 with -sporting monikers like the Warriors, Braves or Red Raiders? ; The Question has new urgency in New York fol lowing a recommendation last month from the state's education commissioner that schools con sider dropping Indian mascots and nicknames. As schools across the state take a fresh look at the issue, the raucous history of the Onteora debate shows how hard change can come. "Native Americans live among us," said Donna Boundy, an Onteora district resident. "They're regular people, they're not all wearing loin cloths, they're not all wielding tomahawks." The Onteora Board of Education voted in Janu ary 2000 to phase out the Indian name after a mul tiracial group of parents that included Boundy com plained. A district resident with Indian heritage had complained in 1997, but no action was taken. The move last year angered others here who saw nothing wrong with the Indian name. Advocates of the change reported harassment and nails in. their tires. On the district's east end is the famous arts colony Woodstock, where you can pick up ajar of, autumn fruit chutney and an enlightenment aromatherapy candle. The artsy town can seem a world apart from the other rural towns compris ing most of the district. Emotional reactions are not uncommon in dis tricts looking to retire Indian names or mascots. . In the Mohawk Valley, voters were so upset that the Canajoharie school board dropped the nick name "Redskins," they decided last year to have no mascot. In Virginia recently, more than 100 students of Blacksburg High School walked out of school t6 protest the board's decision to retire its Indian mascot. '"'.''." Champions of the Indian in Onteora echo argu ments heard elsewhere as the issue gained steam through the 90s: They are honoring the Indian and upholding a local tradition that has been around for decades (in Onteora's case, since the 1950s.) "In this school district, everything here is named after Indians," he said. "The creek, the roads, the , mountains," said Board Trustee Joseph Vanacore. After the vote to phase out the Onteora Indian, three board candidates that ran in the May 2000 elections promised to -return it. They won. The Indian survived. The issue eventually faded into the background here, even as it remained on the radar of some powerful people, notably New York Education Com missioner Richard Mills. The commissioner had already been studying Indian mascots and nick names following a complaint in another district. Mills recently sent a letter to public school ad ministrators asking that local school boards end " ,the use of Indian mascots as soon as pfactical'A week later, the federal Commission on Civil Rights made a similar recommendation. Neither recommendation has the weight of law, but Mills noted concerns that Indian mascots and symbols could violate federal anti-discrimination laws.. He called for local "discussions" on Indian nicknames arid promised to revisit the issue next year. " :: v..;:-'. '".'"'."' Afton, a rural community northeast of Binghamton, voted to drop its Indian mascot and logo. In the Mohawk Valley, Fonda-Fultonville High School is considering whether to remain the home of the Braves. In Onteora, the school board voted to put a non binding referendum before the voters when the budget and two board slots are considered. The referendum asks whether the Onteora Indians nick name should remain. A buckskin-clad mascot who cheered at football games was retired years ago. Board president Martin Millman said the refer endum would have been placed on the ballot with or without Mills' recommendation. But he said the referendum will take "the pulse of the community." In the end, the Indian's survival in Onteora might hinge less upon self-proclaimed guardians on the board but on residents tuning the issue out. Even at the Onteora High School the center of the battle senior Erik Michaels-Ober said his fellow students seem more concerned this year about issues involving academics, parking spaces and nuisance smoking in the bathroom. "There are students who have strong feelings about it," fie said, "but compared to last year, it's ,less .of,a big deal.'', ,',7.7.7.'. . . , . , ' , I
