Mascot Review Offers Lessons In Sensitivity

At first, ninth-grader Ha Eun Chong couldn’t understand why her school was being asked to review its mascot - the Warriors.

To Chong, the head of an American Indian in a feathered war bonnet was a symbol of school spirit at Federal Way’s Sacajawea Junior High, a source of unity and pride.

Coaches and teachers used it to encourage the best out of their students. Kids used it like another school name, an identity.

“It seemed to be making a big deal about something so small,” she said.

But as she started to learn more about American Indian culture through a school project this year, her opinion began to change.

“There are religious symbols we don’t understand. To them (the Indians), it’s so sacred,” she said. “I learned there are so many things I don’t know about, that we think we know, but we don’t understand.”

It’s just this kind of epiphany the state Board of Education was hoping for when it passed a resolution in 1993 requesting that all school districts review building names, mascots, logos, and other symbols to make sure they were free from bias.

In response, schools from Colville to Cape Flattery initiated community debates about their mascots.

“We spent a lot of time studying Native American culture, and then we explored the issue of the mascot and how Native Americans felt about being used as a mascot,” said Charles James, a teacher at Federal Way’s Illahee Junior High.

But many of the students still wanted to keep their mascot. They felt it was an important part of Illahee’s tradition.

“The kids in favor of it came to the conclusion they enjoyed being a Brave, that there was a lot of pride that had gone into that,” he said. “We used to have a slogan, ‘Born a Brave, Die a Brave.’ … They enjoyed the fact that when they go from here they have a legacy. They felt that if the mascot were to change that would be lost.”

By September 1994, 134 school districts had responded to the board, according to a state report. The remaining 55 percent of the state’s districts chose not to respond.

Some, including schools in Enumclaw, Tacoma, and Clover Park, decided to change their mascots, the report said.

Others, like schools in Colville, Vancouver, and Issaquah, decided to keep theirs.

Still others by that time were just launching their efforts.

In some districts, the issue caused a painful confrontation that left some American Indians feeling frustrated and ignored, questioning whether the district or its students had learned anything.

Parent Janie Ankenbauer was bitterly disappointed that the Bethel School Board voted to allow Bethel High School to retain the Braves as its mascot, complete with a depiction of a Plains Indian with a feather in his hair.

“They want to keep the mascot for what it means to them,” said Ankenbauer, a Cherokee whose son attends Bethel. “This is a Native American tradition. It’s not their tradition.”

Ankenbauer said it’s disrespectful for the students to dress in American Indian regalia for their ceremonies, without understanding the cultural significance.

“They’ve had people dressing up in a headdress, dressed as a brave, running wild on the football fields,” she said. “Well excuse me, you do not do that. You do not take a culture and do what you’ve seen in Hollywood without even understanding what you’re doing.”

To American Indians, that type of ignorance and disregard for their culture is the crux of the issue, said Patsy Martin, Indian Education program supervisor for the Office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

“It’s disturbing to the Indian people that it’s a stereotype of all Indians,” said Martin, a member of the Yakama Nation Tribe. It’s disrespectful to have people depicting American Indian activities without bothering to learn about the culture or consult with the people they’re trying to represent, she said.

“I see these mascots and logos, and every time I see one, I want to say ‘you just don’t get it,”’ she said.

At some schools, some kids are becoming more aware.

At Federal Way’s Sacajawea, which decided to keep it’s mascot, a group of students, including Chong, suggested that a mat depicting the Warriors be removed from the floor in front of the library because they felt it was disrespectful for people to walk on the symbol.

Students also recommended the school consider eliminating disrespectful representations such as the caricature on a school volleyball uniform.

In Enumclaw, the junior high spent the year choosing a new mascot to replace the Chieftains after the school board rejected student recommendations to keep the American Indian symbol. The school mascot is now the Timberwolves.

Principal Lea Anna Portmann said the whole experience taught students a lot about the power of a mascot.

“We really revisited the whole concept of what you have a mascot for,” she said. “It’s to build a sense of identity, pride and community. You start asking the questions, is it positive or negative when people here about it?”

“I’m really glad this issue came up,” said Sacajawea student Chong. “It taught me something I would never have learned otherwise.”

But she and other Sacajawea students also learned that changing people’s attitudes is not easy, and it takes time.

“It’s sad that people in our society don’t know the whole picture and are so closed minded,” Chong said. “I hope people will want to look at it in a different way.”