Proposal to retire Native American mascots, logos in WI schools

(WXOW) - At a time of reckoning over racial injustice, big changes are happening on both a local and national scale.

Some Native Americans say that the names and figures meant to honor them are racially insensitive. They believe stereotypical representations, such as the Hiawatha Statue in La Crosse, overshadow real-life Native American role models.

"I grew up since childhood with this appropriation of identity. It was never Native American products or businesses using these images; it was always somebody else. There were no positive images of Native Americans. It was all the same everywhere, and it still is today. It's the 200-year-old chief with the feathered headdress and the buckskins. Always the stereotypes, but never modern," said UW-La Crosse lecturer and Ho-Chunk Member Kerchomani.

A resolution circulating around Wisconsin is aiming to retire Native American mascots and logos in public state schools. This follows a study by the American Psychological Association which found that seeing these mascots, images and symbols impacts the social identity development and self-esteem of Native American students. It also found that these mascots and logos harm non-Native American students because it causes them to witness perpetuation of derogatory stereotypes.

Tricia Zunker, a Ho-Chunk woman and author of the resolution, said that school districts need to focus on complying with Act 31. That is the law that requires all public school districts in Wisconsin to learn about the state's eleven federally-recognized American Indian nations and tribal communities. Zunker said many school districts in Wisconsin do not comply with this law.

"It is never good educational policy to stereotype against an entire race of people," said Zunker. She continues, "If we want to truly honor Native Americans in Wisconsin, let's start with that. Let's make sure that we truly and accurately not only teach history, but existence in modern day society."

The resolution will be brought back before the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) in September. If approved, the WASB can urge state lawmakers to enact legislation of this matter.

This is the second time Zunker is leading this effort. The WASB turned down the resolution in January, but Zunker is optimistic it will pass this time around.

"Since this conversation first began last July, three school districts did undertake to make a change: Auburndale, Menomonee Falls, and Elmwood. All of them, through this conversation, reevaluated what they were doing in their districts and made a change. That means thousands upon thousands of students won't forced to participate in interscholastic discrimination," said Zunker.

Right now, there are about 30 school districts that may have to change their mascot if the resolution passes. This includes the Prairie du Chien Area School District and the Seneca Area School District. We reached out to both of those school districts, but they did not respond for comment.

In 2010, the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau School District made the decision to change their nickname and logo in compliance with a proposed bill by former Wisconsin governor Jim Doyle that would have made it more difficult to keep American Indian mascots. The G-E-T School District has donned the Red Hawks moniker since that time.

G-E-T superintendent Michele Butler was not at the helm a decade ago. However, Butler said that she was a part of the wave of change at other Wisconsin schools.

"When I was teaching in Portage, they went through the very same thing. They are now the Warriors. They created original artwork, but here [at G-E-T] they did the same thing. Our Red Hawk here is an original design. It wasn't just something they took off clip art. They got something that was unique to this school, and you won't see it anywhere else. It's G-E-T's Red Hawk. They own this and we want to display that with pride," said Butler.

While Butler acknowledges that the process of changing a mascot is easier said than done, she thinks the outcome beats the initial outcry.

"There's always a few people who are upset possibly years later, but once most people grab on to that new logo, it becomes who they are," said Butler.