Mascot IssueFriday, January 17, 2003School debates longtime mascotNative Americans tell Loveland students why symbol is offensive By Coleman Cornelius Denver Post Northern Colorado Bureau Thursday, January 16, 2003 - LOVELAND - Loveland High School, founded in 1895, has nearly 1,500 students - and only 16 are Native Americans.  Post / Helen H. Richardson Francie Murry, a member of Coloradans Against Ethnic Stereotyping in Colorado Schools, addresses a forum at Loveland High School on Wednesday. Among those in attendance was Calvin Gardner, 16, who wore his Loveland Indians letter jacket, which features the school’s mascot. Yet for at least seven decades, the school's mascot has been the Indians, depicted by a caricature of an American Indian in a full war bonnet "It's odd," said Jessica Marie Eagle, 14, a member of the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Nation and a ninth-grader who is one of the school's few Native American students. "The mascot doesn't really represent the school." She was one of three Native Americans among about 100 students, including the school's student council and other leaders, who gathered Wednesday for more than an hour to discuss the school mascot with members of Coloradans Against Ethnic Stereotyping in Colorado Schools, a Greeley group urging about 40 schools statewide to drop their Native American mascots. The group formed as Native American activists nationwide have decried Indian mascots as racist stereotypes. The nicknames and caricatures often are historically inaccurate, misuse sacred American Indian symbols and demean native people, mascot foes have said. "When does something become offensive?" asked Francie Murry, a member of the Cherokee Nation and leader of the anti-stereotyping group, as she addressed Loveland students in the school library. "When someone says it is," one student responded. "Well, guess what?" said Murry, an associate professor of special education at the University of Northern Colorado. "There's a huge number of us saying that you using us as your sports mascot is offensive." Principal Doug Deason said some Loveland residents are pushing for change, so he invited the Greeley group to help the school examine its mascot and whether its use is appropriate. "We've been asked, 'Why do you think the mascot celebrates Native Americans?' That's a fair question," Deason said. "My purpose is to honor the concept of schools as learning institutions." The mascot question has surfaced before at Loveland High, which is one of the state's oldest and largest schools to question its Indian nickname and caricature. But for the first time, Deason said, he plans to lead the Front Range school in making a thoroughly reasoned decision about whether to keep or change the long-standing mascot. Students, staff and community members will be involved, he said. Eagle, the Native American student, said she has mixed feelings about the mascot. But some of the other Loveland students - echoing arguments around the country - said they stand by their Indians mascot because it was meant to honor Native Americans and has become an important part of tradition, signifying school pride and academic and athletic success. "It's the essence of what Native American people stand for," said Alex Patterson, 18, a senior who wore a school T-shirt with a caricature of a red-faced Indian. Agreed 16-year-old Jeff Widdows: "I don't think there's any reason the mascot is offensive to anyone. You can't please everyone in the world." But the Native American speakers sought to shine light on the cultural significance of images displayed around the school and on school clothing worn by many students in the largely Anglo audience. Aubrey Bright Star Nitzberg, a Southern Ute and UNC student, told Loveland students that the mascot troubles her because it co-opts images of eagle feathers, which are religious symbols that must be earned through work and spiritual contemplation in her tribe. One girl in the audience had an Indian caricature with eagle feathers on the seat of her sweat pants. "You don't understand what this symbol means, and yet you want it to represent you," Bright Star Nitzberg told the group. "If I'm saying it's hurting me, why am I being ignored if it's supposed to honor me?" posted by: Webmaster@ 10:58 AM
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