JUNE 15, 2001
Smoke Signals 9
Wayajo'- Native Finishes 'the
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Crowd of 300,000 watches rookie driver finishes 19th after starting in 31st place.
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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.
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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
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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
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