March 18, 2000 - "The educational values of our culture should not permit public schools to demean and misrepresent native peoples and their cultures, for the promotion of school athletics."
“I am three-fourths Iroquois and find it very upsetting to hear and see people use our Native American names and dress for things that are not theirs to use. They would not like the Native Americans to use their names, etc, so please, let us, the Native Americans, have our ways, as we were here first and it’s wrong to imitate us.” – Jean Red Wing Hill
“I agree with Chief Gibson that the mascots are demeaning and insulting. If a group of people are empowered enough to complain, then the school board should respect those concerns.
I and other members of the Keepers of the Circle (an Albany-based Native American organization that promotes native culture), met with members of the school board and local clergymen in Clifton Park a few years ago concerning the absolutely heinous mascot of the Shenendehowa School District. Some of the school community did not agree with us and tried to stop us, but we prevailed and that school district no longer has a native mascot.
The key word is respect, a virtue generally lacking in our American culture. Chief Gibson is correct when he states that we should start the millennium with respect for each of our cultures. Removing native mascots would be a nice start.” – Gloria Trofitneff
“I fully agree with the opinion expressed by Onondaga tribe member William Wassaja Gibson. The educational values of our culture should not permit public schools to demean and misrepresent native peoples and their cultures, for the promotion of school athletics. The stereotyping of Native Americans by the use of these mascots does nothing but irreparable harm to our children’s perceptions of race, society and culture. We should instead strive to provide a nurturing environment for our educational system that celebrates diversity and culture rather than inappropriate racial stereotypes.” – Jim Sofranko
“I agree with Chief Gibson that the mascots are demeaning and insulting. If a group of people are empowered enough to complain, then the school board should respect those concerns.
I and other members of the Keepers of the Circle (an Albany-based Native American organization that promotes native culture), met with members of the school board and local clergymen in Clifton Park a few years ago concerning the absolutely heinous mascot of the Shenendehowa School District. Some of the school community did not agree with us and tried to stop us, but we prevailed and that school district no longer has a native mascot.
The key word is respect, a virtue generally lacking in our American culture. Chief Gibson is correct when he states that we should start the millennium with respect for each of our cultures. Removing native mascots would be a nice start.” – Gloria Trofitneff
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| 2000 March 18, Poughkeepsie Journal |
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