Oregon school hopes for reversal in recommendation to eliminate American Indian mascots
Banks High School (BHS) in Banks, Oregon is hoping that the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) will reverse an advisory committee recommendation, made last summer, to eliminate mascots depicting American Indians at all publicly funded Oregon schools in two years. Assistant Principal Jim Smith said he was mystified by all the hoopla over Native American mascots, and is protective over the one that has represented the Banks community since 1923, when BHS became known as the Braves. BHS is one of 15 high schools in danger of losing their nicknames. The question of whether Native American mascots honor or degrade that demographic group’s history and culture hit the front burner in Oregon last December, when Che Butler, then a senior at Taft High School in Lincoln City, asked the ODE to consider nixing the mascots because he considered them racist. Che is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz. A draft recommendation from the ODE committee asked identified schools to choose new mascots and symbols by 2009 and to replace old logos—on football helmets, gym floors, letterhead, and uniforms—by September 2011. Only State Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo has the power to change that directive. She has said she’ll make a final decision on the issue by January.
Forest Grove News-Times By Nancy Townsley
[Editor’s Note: In 2003 a Washington state court upheld the Seattle School District’s ban on the use of Native American names as mascots or nicknames. In a novel argument, an alumni association claimed the policy singled out American Indians and Alaska Natives and prevented them to take pride in their heritage. See below.]
NSBA School Law pages on Seattle’s ban on Native American mascots