JUNE 1, 2001
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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
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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.'. . . , . , ' ,
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