North Central High School may be getting a new mascot

One way or another, North Central High School may get a new mascot.

On the agenda at Wednesday night’s meeting of the Spokane Public Schools board of directors is a proposal from administrators at North Central to begin the process of changing its mascot, the Indian.

That could happen anyway. A bill in the Washington state Legislature, already approved by the House, calls for a ban on Native American names, symbols or images as public school mascots, logos or team names.

Those discussions have been ongoing for years at NC, where Principal Steve Fisk led 16 separate meetings over 18 months before schools closed a year ago because of the pandemic.

The school reopened last week. With the return to seminormalcy, “This was the time to come back and engage this topic,” Fisk said.

The issue is especially poignant at North Central, where the Indian mascot is as old as the school itself. In 1999, following a vote by the student body, the school banished the dancing Indian – offensive to many – from athletic events.

However, the mascot and nickname remain, and the symbolism is everywhere in the main hallway at NC.

Student Ivey Pete, junior at NC and a member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, was moved enough to speak to legislators earlier this year after the bill was introduced.

“The picture we paint of these mascots is not of a real human, group of humans or culture,” Pete said. “It is a selection of preconceived notions and ideas that must be set straight.”

“It makes it extremely difficult to validate my own identity when I am constantly being shown images of what I should look like or how I should act,” Pete said.

The bill is now in the Senate, but its fate is unclear.

In the meantime, Fisk and other leaders at NC want to begin the process of engaging the community, including reluctant alumni.

“We have some people who are very prideful of our symbols, and we have to honor their words and hear their words and come together as a school-based community,” Fisk said on Tuesday.

But at the same time, Fisk made it clear that like Pete, many students are affected by the imagery and the messages they send.

As a school, Fisk said, NC should make it a priority not to harm.

“We have to understand that this is harming some kids and families,” he said.

Wednesday’s meeting was made possible by the board’s revision last year of district policies on the naming and renaming of schools and mascots.

Under the new policy, board President Jerrall Haynes and Superintendent Adam Swinyard placed the item on the agenda.

Following Wednesday’s presentation, the board has the option to schedule a public hearing to seek input from the public.

After that, the board would decide whether to grant the name-change request. If it does, more public input would follow during the process of choosing a new mascot.

“Last week I reached out to the board, and we are going to have the review,” Fisk said.