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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (June 15, 2001)
JUNE 15, 2001 Smoke Signals 9 Wayajo'- Native Finishes 'the th Runiraing.-.'.olF.'theSndly- Crowd of 300,000 watches rookie driver finishes 19th after starting in 31st place. 50 By Brent Merrill Full-blooded Navajo Tribal member Cory Witherill recently at tempted to become the first Native American to win America's most prestigious car race the Indianapolis 500 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Witherill, who started his auto-racing career on off-road tracks, en tered the race (Sunday, May 27th) as a rookie and qualified in 31st place. Witherill, 29, drove his Regency Racing, Team Menard-pow-ered G-force Oldsmobile to finish in 19th place after starting in the final row. Witherill, who has never lived on the Navajo Reservation and lives in Santa Monica, is the first full-blooded Native American to partici pate in the world's largest race. Joie Chitwood, who is three fourths Native, finished in the top five three times at Indy. Fellow rookie Helio Castroneves, from Brazil, won this year's Indy 500 driving for Roger Penske. Castroneves' win gave Penske his 11th victory at the. Indianapolis Motor Speedway. RIDING THE WIND Navajo Tribal member Cory Witherill started this year's Indianapolis 500 in the last row after securing a spot in the race on the final day of qualifying. Witherill raced his way to a top twenty finish during his attempt to become the first full-blooded Native American to win at Indy. , ,w ' ., , jilted if ' a --vHr .. .: r-'i:!l Indian Activist Announces Bid for Governor FARMINGTON, N.M. (AP) -American Indian activist Russell Means has announced that he will run for New Mexico governor next year on the Libertarian ticket. Means, who lives in Santa Fe, made his announcement yester day in Farmington, New Mexico. He said his campaign theme is to get the federal government out of New Mexico. Means contends the New Mexico Constitution should govern the state. Means, who led a 1973 uprising at Wounded Knee, S.D., was one of about 140 protesters arrested for blocking Denver's Columbus Day parade last year, accusing Columbus of slave trading and genocide. Wakonda Schools Refuse to Change Mascot, Superintendent says WAKONDA, S.D. (AP) There is little interest in changing the War rior and Warriorette school mascot in Wakonda despite the threat of a law suit, Superintendent Ron Flynn said. The Minority Resource Center of Watertown wants school districts to stop using American Indian images as mascots, logos and the like, say ing those uses degrade Indians. The center has given districts until Au gust to change such names or be sued. But the Wakonda board has not scheduled any action on the subject, Flynn said. "I can't speak for our board, but I don't see an interest in changing the team mascot or name," he said. He said the name "Wakonda" itself is based on a Sioux word for holy or mysterious, and that "Wakonda" and "Warriors" go together nicely. Other schools the center is target ing are Iroquois, Castlewood, Wakpala, Sisseton, Estelline, Britton, Tulare, Wessington, Winner and Sioux Falls Washington. Iroquois, like Wakonda, has a school mascot with ties to its town's name, Flynn said. "You have the Iroquois Chiefs, which makes sense because Iroquois is based on an Indian name and the mascot goes with it," he said. The Woonsocket School Board de cided last week in a 3-2 vote to change the Redmen mascot effective in July. Woonsocket Superintendent Mike Elsberry told his board that mascots named after Indians violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Flynn said he would be interested in a meeting close to Wakonda to dis cuss the issue. Betty Ann Gross, Ex ecutive Director of the Minority Re source Center, said a meeting would be held in Huron in June. Repre sentatives of national civil-rights groups will attend it, Gross said. "We don't like to do this, but we feel like the American Indian has been put down for the last 75 years," Gross said. Not by the Wakonda School Dis trict, Flynn said. Wakonda has not used the Warrior name and image with anything but pride, he said. "The Wakonda School and its fans have not used the tomahawk chop, war whoops or other signs of disre spect for American Indians," Flynn said. Wakonda has not received com plaints from Indians, either, he said. Roger Risty, President of the Sioux Falls School Board, has said the Washington High School Warriors nickname is acceptable to Indian stu dents at the school. If schools have to change their names, Flynn said, so will many towns in the state that have Indian related names. Editor's note: Mr. Flynn, that's the point. Tribal Information Day at the State Capital t . 1 - - . ' f- v.. -. . H '1: if - , I " r i " nm i )i " UJ- " Hi i I i -immfMmmmu rmmu - Former Oregon Governor Vic Atiyeh (above) met with Tribal leaders from across the state at the Tribal Information Day at the State Capital. An impressive eight out of nine Tribal Chairs made the trip to Salem. At right: Tribal Legislative Affairs Assistant Nichole Holmes talks with Tribal Council Secretary Lauri Smith at the Tribe's infor mation booth. Photos by Justin Phillips 1 .i 4 t tl 'A 4 I I I tl ' it i t I H WW) Xi Vi M XI if ,vr Ait -vrr "v V .
