Feb 29, 2004 - “I think it’s pretty clear they just don’t think Indians exist,” said Keith Pounds, a Native American activist

Native Americans want school mascots changed

Names, icons 'are insults to us'

By Ron Barnett

…. Robert Chastain [tries to make a point when speaking about racial stereotyping] – saying racial stereotyping of blacks has largely become a thing of the past, but putting on war paint and dancing around with a string of dyed turkey feathers around your head pretending to be an Indian at a high school football game is seen as just good fun.

      Paul Guy, president of the Greenville NAACP, explains it this way: “If you asked an African warrior (mascot), a Zulu or something like that, that would be offensive to Afro-Americans. And we have the political clout to get something changed,” he said. “But the Native Americans have no political clout.” 

      The numbers show why:

      Only 0.3 percent of South Carolina’s 4 million residents are American Indians or Alaska-Native persons, according to the U.S. Census Bureau – compared with 30 percent black and 67 percent white. Just 31 of the Greenville County School District’s 61,887 students are American Indian. 

      “I think it’s pretty clear they just don’t think Indians exist,” said Keith Pounds, a Native American activist who is part of a statewide effort to eliminate Indian mascots from South Carolina schools.

      By his count, 73 elementary, middle and high school teams in the state use Indian-related mascots. The names and icons include Braves, Chiefs, Indians, Mohawks, Papooses and Warriors. More than 40 are public schools, he said.

      Included are the Riverside Warriors of Greer – who play their games in a sports complex called the Reservation – and the West-Oak Warriors of Oconee County. 

      Pounds, a Choctaw who publishes an Internet newsletter for South Carolina’s Indian people called Redcopy, said he wrotesaid he wrote letters to all of those schools asking them to consider changing their mascots. 

      “I think I had two schools that even responded,” he said.

Teach Your Children

      The underlying problem, according to Chastain, is education – or lack thereof – about Native American culture in public schools. 

      “At best, it’s pitiful,” he said. 

      School officials say they don’t intend to demean anyone. Their mascots are regarded proudly and with respect, they say.

      But Jenny Elliot, principal of West-Oak High, said she doesn’t know whether the school’s Indian images – such as a mural on the cafeteria wall of an Indian village with tepees – are depictions of the Cherokees who once inhabited the area or not…. 

… “In the case of mascots, people refuse to see that these stereotypes are insults to us,” said Will Goins, chief executive officer for the Eastern Cherokee, Southern Iroquois and United Tribes of South Carolina.. 

Examples of Colleges Changing Mascots

Stanford University Indians – to Cardinal

Dickerson State (ND) Savages – to Blue Hawks 

Dartmouth College Indians – to Big Green

Eastern Michigan University Hurons – to Eagles

Marquette University Warriros – to Golden Eagles

St. John’s University Redmen – to Red Storm

Miami University (Ohio) Redskins – to RedHawks

Colgate University Red Raiders – to Raider 

1988 – The Minnesota State Board of Education adopts a resolution stating that the “use of mascots, emblems, or symbols depicting American Indian culture or race (is) unacceptable” and encourages all districts to immediately proceed to remove such mascots. 

1988 – The State of Wisconsin Department of public Instruction issues a directive “strongly urging” all schools to discontinue using American Indian mascots. To date, 32 of 52 schools have changed.

1998 – New York state education department encourages high schools to change nicknames and mascots that signal a racial stereotype.

 2002 – New Hampshire State Board of Education unanimously approves a resolution calling for local school districts to stop using American Indian sports mascots.

2004 Feb 29, The Greenville News