2003 “It’s rather upsetting because American Indians aren’t portrayed in their true historical perspective,”

Alumni getting used to ‘Hawks

By Karen Vance

2003 March 17, The News Messenger 

      Oxford – Franklin Shands will forever be a Redskin.

      It makes no difference to the 1948 graduate of Miami University in Oxford that the university dropped the Native American nickname in 1996 and adopted the RedHawks as its mascot and logo in 1997.

      “I thought it was the nuttiest thing I had ever heard of, especially for the athletes who have always been Redskins,” he said. “I just think (the universe) took it too far. I didn’t see the need for the name change. I didn’t like it then, but I have nothing against it now.” …. 

      Despite threats from many alumni that they would stop giving if the name was changed, the university claims they’ve seen little or no financial implications of the name change… Royalties the university has received for sales of Miami merchandise has been steady at between $100,000 to $120,000 before and after the mascot change, and donations to the university have risen from $15.4 million in 1996 to $19.9 million in 2002. …      

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Meanwhile…

Lakota Raiders and the Bellevue Raiders continue in – where else? – Ohio. 

“It’s a tradition,” said Lakota Athletic Director, Ginni Beaston, who has taught in the system for 25 years. “That’s always been the mascot here, and I’m not going to be the one who changes it. We’ve used the ‘L’ with a spear behind it instead of the Raider logo, but that’s only because things change from time to time and kids want something new.” 

Lakota athlete Gerald Christto-Baker agreed. “There haven’t been any problems,” said the senior… “But I can see it being problematic because a Raider isn’t actually an Indian. We’ve talked about it before, but it’s never been a major issue. Personally, I don’t think it’s derogatory. But I could see how someone could get offended by it.” 

Like Lakota, the Bellevue Redmen for as long as I’ve been here, and I’ve been here 33 years,” 

Bellevue Athletic Director John Rich said. “That’s just the way it’s always been. There’s never been any pressure to change the name. We changed the girls’ name a couple of years ago to Lady Red, and that’s because Lady Redmen didn’t sound right. It didn’t make sense, if you think about it.” 

Rich said Bellevue students take the usage of the Native American mascot as a reference to their school and nothing more. “I don’t think it’s derogatory at all. I think it goes to honor people that were fighters and had a never-give-up attitude,” he said. “I don’t see it as a problem, nor do I see it becoming an issue. Until you have your pro teams that get much more publicity like the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Blackhawks change their mascots, I don’t think people will care much about little old Bellevue High School. I think change starts at the top. When those teams start to change, then we’ll deal with the issue.”

Bellevue senior Ben Snyder admitted he hadn’t thought about the usage of his school’s mascot. He said it’s not portrayed negatively in the community. “Our Redmen logo is just a lot of pride and a lot of tradition at our school.” …

Dissenting voices have rarely been heard locally, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Washington Elementary School teacher Sue Badetscher, whose grandfather was a Cherokee Indian, said she feels differently. “It’s rather upsetting because American Indians aren’t portrayed in their true historical perspective,” she said. “We don’t do that with any other ethnic group other than the American Indians. They were such good people that cared about the soil and the land. They weren’t all blood-thirsty fighters they’re made out to be. I think there’s more to the American Indians than the Tomahawk Chop. I want our children to remember more than that.”   Badertscher works with groups on a national level to get Native American mascots dropped or at least portrayed in a more positive fashion…      2003 March 17, The News Messenger 

2003 March 17, The News Messenger 

2003 March 17, The News Messenger