By: Jenna Beresheim News Editor
The Oregon Board of Education recently amended a previous ruling requiring 14 of Oregon’s public schools to pick non-Native American mascots.
Originally, all public schools with Native American mascots would have had to choose completely new, culturally-appropriate mascots by 2017.
Thursday, Jan. 21, the board approved a new amendment allowing schools to retain mascots under the condition that permission is given by one of Oregon’s nine tribes.
The original ruling, which occurred in 2012, threatened to remove state funding from schools that did not comply.
Before that, the Oregon Board of Education had spent years analyzing the state’s schools for discriminatory mascots after prompting from Native American leaders beginning in 2006.
The ruling requiring tribal consent had originally been considered in 2014, but was dismissed in a unanimous decision in May 2015.
Since then, state officials have spent time discussing the idea with each of Oregon’s nine tribes to create a middle ground where schools would be able to keep mascots while agreeing to teach students tribal histories and cultures, reported The Oregonian.
“The nine tribes don’t speak for every Native American person in Oregon or the students who have to go to these schools,” refuted Sam Sachs, the former chair of Portland’s Human Rights Commission for The Oregonian.
“The use of these names and mascots have a negative impact on students, especially their self esteem. There’s no research that says these mascots empower Native American people,” concluded Sachs.
In 2012, the list of 15 schools with Native American mascots were as follows: Amity Warriors, Banks Braves, Lebanon Warriors, Marcola Mohawk Indians, Molalla Indians, North Douglas Warriors, Oakridge Warriors, Philomath Warriors, Reedsport Braves, Rogue River Chieftains, Roseburg Indians, Scappoose Indians, Siletz Warriors, North Wasco County Eagle Indians, and Warrenton Warriors.
Nearly every mascot for these schools portrayed a Native American Brave in some shape or form, or the use of cultural symbols such as arrows and feathers.
Already a growing group of at least five Native American students plan to file a lawsuit against the Oregon Board of Education this upcoming spring, according to Sachs.
There are many conflicting thoughts in regards to the change.
“Proud to go to a game and holler, ‘Scappoose Indians!’” said Cliff Collins, a Scappoose resident for 40 years, to KATU.
“My kids went to school here, graduated here. It’s always been the Indians,” Collins continued.
On the other end of the spectrum, Barbara Bolster, who also lives in Scappoose, disagrees with Collins.
“It’s common sense in my opinion. Let’s be respectful of those people,” Bolster said to KATU.
Reyn Leno, a tribal council chair of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, will be a crucial player in making decisions for nearby school districts looking to change mascots.
“Now we’ll have the opportunity to say, ‘you change it or you get rid of it,’” Leno told KATU.
“We are native people. We’ve been here forever and hopefully we will be here forever in the time to come. We should be making these decisions,” finished Leno.
