Subject: New Hampshire anti-mascot resolution and news

Board recommends ending Indian mascots

Thursday, August 22, 2002

By MIKE RECHT

http://www.concordmonitor.com/stories/news/state2002/0822_indian_mascots_2002.shtml

The state Board of Education stepped into the long-running dispute over Indian mascots yesterday, recommending that schools get rid of such nicknames.

With no discussion, the board passed a resolution, 6-0, "to encourage districts to examine this issue and to eliminate the use of (Indian) sports mascots."

Judith Reever, chairwoman of the board, noted the resolution is nonbinding and that any decision remains under local control.

But she said the board felt it necessary to weigh in on the matter.

She said advocates presented "some compelling information" last October. "We wouldn't do it to any other races," she said. "If it were a black or Jewish person, we wouldn't tolerate that.

"We realize there is an argument on the other side, but we as a nation protect our minorities. As a state, we are bound morally and need to say this is what we think," she said.

The resolution said the board knows that Native Americans find the mascots and symbols offensive, and that they have "a detrimental affect on the achievement, education, self-concept and self-esteem of American Indian students."

It said the board also feels such mascots send an "improper message to everyone of the true meaning and spirit of being of American Indian heritage."

The board meeting was open to the public, but not for comment. However, George Stryker, a Native American, attended. He has been a key figure in the debate over the use of the Sachem as the mascot for Laconia's public schools.

"Sachem," the Abenaki word for chief, came under fire as Laconia High School's mascot in 2000.

City school officials ditched the logo and redid the mascot, but kept the name.

Coe-Brown Northwood Academy voted last month to replace its Comanche mascot with the Bears. The school had been the Comanches since the 1960s.

Other schools have held onto their mascots. Merrimack Valley High School in Concord and Sanborn Regional High school in Kingston remain the Indians. Belmont High School remains the Red Raiders and Alton Central fields the Apaches.

Editorial
Sunday, August 25, 2002 E-mail This Article

Time to replace Indian mascots
http://www4.fosters.com/news2002/aug_02/aug25_02/comment/editorial_0825a.asp

Appropriately, the state Board of Education has taken the lead on the issue of Indian names and cultural symbols that are used as mascots for high schools in New Hampshire.

It's been a perennial issue and one that's fostered no small amount of acrimony and resentment over the years.

Now it's time to put the argument to rest - at least in New Hampshire.

The state board urged school districts last week to eliminate the use of Indian names and symbols to represent their athletic teams.

In the Seacoast and the Lakes Region, there are several districts that draw on Native American identities, among them the Spaulding High School Red Raiders in Rochester, the Alton Central Apaches and the Laconia High School Sachems.

Winnacunnet High School, Coe-Brown Northwood Academy and residents of Sanford, Maine, also have had this discussion.

Recently at Coe-Brown, residents ditched their Comanches mascot in favor of the Bears.

It's time for other districts in New Hampshire to follow Coe-Brown's example - and the state Board of Education's exhortation - and stop using Indian mascots altogether.

This is the 21st century. We believe an enlightened sensitivity toward all people of all races and religions in the United States has evolved since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. What worked 30 years ago can no longer be considered valid today.

Opponents have argued rightfully that other minority groups have not been subjected to the same treatment and that Native Americans shouldn't, either.

There is no shortage of other mascots available to represent schools in the light they choose to cast - without offending anyone.

In a nation of rich diversity among its people - a nation that has worked hard to promote equal opportunities and protect all minorities from discrimination and harassment - elimination of Indian mascots is the right thing to do.

NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the New Hampshire State Board of Education is aware that various Native American organizations, state and local officials, and private citizens, find the use of Native American mascots and symbols within our public schools to be offensive; and

WHEREAS, the use of Native American symbols as mascots, logos and sport team nicknames have, in the opinion of the Board, a detrimental affect on the achievement, education, self-concept and self-esteem of American Indian students and sends an improper message to everyone of the true meaning and spirit of being of American Indian heritage; and

WHEREAS, several schools in New Hampshire continue to have Indian sports mascots; and

WHEREAS, all heritages, cultures, races and religion have the right to be treated with dignity and respect; and

WHEREAS, it is important to be culturally sensitive and to educate everyone working within the New Hampshire School Education System, that no matter how well meaning their intentions, that their actions may be offensive and harmful to some and therefore, need to be eliminated; and

WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association, the Society of Indian Psychologists and the US Commission of Civil Rights, have all endorsed the elimination of the use of Indian sports mascots; and

WHEREAS, the State Board of Education recognizes this is a matter that is, and rightfully so, should be addressed at the local level of each separate school district.

NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that the New Hampshire Board of Education endorses the elimination of the use of Indian sports mascots and encourages all districts to examine this issue and to eliminate the use of sports mascots.