WISCONSIN INDIAN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION POSITION PAPER (ELIMINATION OF INDIAN MASCOTS AND LOGOS FROM WISCONSIN SCHOOLS )

Wisconsin Indian Education Association (WIEA) addresses Indian education issues at tribal, local, state, and national levels and advocates for Indian people in all aspects of education. Since its inception, WIEA has worked to eliminate the use of stereotypes of Native people in Wisconsin schools. To this end, we have written resolutions opposing use of Indian mascots and logos; given testimony at hearings; written letters of support for complainants in specific school districts; and provided education about this issue in elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools throughout the state.

  In July of 1994, we co-sponsored with Honor Our Neighbors Origins and Rights (HONOR), an educational forum for school board members from all Wisconsin public school districts that had Indian logos. Most recently, WIEA has created the Indian Mascot and Logo Task Force to explore innovative legal and educational solutions to the problem. The task force is currently creating curriculum units to address issues of discriminatory practices against Indian people, and trivialization of sacred and religious customs through the use of stereotypical Indian mascots, logos, and nicknames. Wisconsin Indian people are taxpaying constituents of this state, yet Indian children are alienated and discriminated against by Indian logo symbolism in schools their parents help to finance. WIEA calls for immediate elimination of Indian mascots, logos, and nicknames in all public and private schools in the State of Wisconsin. We will continue to work toward this end until these offensive, antiquated, and discriminatory symbols are no longer tolerated in any state-supported educational facility.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF WISCONSIN INDIAN EDUCATORS.

As educators, we want all children to receive a high quality education that prepares them for the challenges of adulthood. We want all children taught accurate and authentic history and given accurate contemporary information about their own cultures and those of other people. We want all children to fully participate in the educational process in Wisconsin schools. We oppose barriers to learning that create an intimidating or offensive school environment for any child. Stereotypical images of American Indians interfere with learning by creating, supporting and maintaining oversimplified, and inaccurate views of Indigenous peoples and their cultures. Along with other societal abuses and stereotypes Indian mascots and logos separate, marginalize, confuse, intimidate, and harm American Indian children, thereby creating a barrier to learning and making the school an inhospitable place. How welcome can any child feel in an environment that belittles the child's own rich, complex, and living culture?

What others may view as harmless pageantry, performed in an effort to raise team spirit, American Indian people experience as no less than the mockery of their cultures and religions. "We see symbols representing our people - "Indian" logos, and objects sacred to us - such as the drum and eagle feathers, being used, not in sacred ceremony, or in any cultural setting, but for entertainment in another culture's game. We see sports fans and cheerleaders pretending to be Indians, and in the process profaning what is sacred to us and behaving in ways that are highly inappropriate in our cultures." -Barbara E. Munson Oneida Nation

"How can you be honoring people while they are telling you that what you are doing is demeaning to them?"
-John T. Benson Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction April 1, 1994

If Wisconsin schools want to honor Indian people they can treat American Indian individuals, cultures and religions with respect by ceasing discriminatory practices against Indian children in the schools, including the use of stereotypical Indian logos; accurately teach about Wisconsin Indian history and cultures; acknowledge the contributions of Wisconsin Indian people to this country, past and present in war and in peace; teach about the sovereign rights of Indian Nations; listen to Indian perspectives on issues where there is cultural dissonance; and help Wisconsin Indian nations to protect and preserve the air, earth and waters of this State. Another good way to honor American Indians is to name a school, not a sports team, after a specific Indian person who has roots in the locale, i.e. the Electa Quinney Elementary School. (It is important to do this with the permission and involvement of that person's Tribe and family.) The inaccurate portrayal of American Indians in generic logo depictions distorts historical and contemporary perceptions about Indian people. Inauthentic, broadly generalized, distorted portrayals of groups of people is the stuff of stereotypes; and is precisely what the legislature intended to correct when it passed laws requiring all public schools to provide instruction on Wisconsin Indian history, culture, and tribal sovereignty, including Chippewa treaty rights. This legislation also required schools to provide instruction, using appropriate resources, in culture and value system differences and human relations. To this end, the legislature also required that all candidates for teacher certification receive instruction in the above areas. Accurate and specific information is a powerful antidote to ethnocentrism founded in bias and stereotype.

"How can we be promoting the understanding of tribal history, culture and sovereignty in the classroom while we are, at the same time, promoting Indian stereotypes on the football field, on the basketball court, in the school newspaper, on school stationery and in other areas?" -John T. Benson April 1, 1994

As educators we are concerned about how these distorted portrayals impact on the identity formation of American Indian and non-Indian students. Does identification with a human mascot/logo impact a child more than if the logo is an animal, bird, object or force of nature? Does a pseudo-Indian identity make it hard for some students and school board members to hear statements by real Indian people living in their community that the logos, mascots and pseudo-Indian trappings are hurtful? Is the reason some alumni and students find it so hard to give up Indian logos because they believe on some level that they are the Indians, not the Ho-Chunks, Stockbridge-Munsees, Chippewas, Brothertons, Menominees, Oneidas, and Potawatomies? When non-Indian students repeatedly shout "We are the Indians, Mighty, Mighty, Indians" does some of this creep into their belief systems and impact their sense of identity? Perhaps the most insidious aspect of this war-like portrayal of Indians is that it sets up American Indian school children as targets for harassment. Because they are attached by ethnicity to these logos, Indian children are often seen as fierce, stoic fighters to be physically challenged by their peers.

People in school districts without Indian logos are exposed to the same stereotypes and identity obfuscation when teams with Indian logos participate in interscholastic competitions. Far from being encouraged to develop understanding and respect for diverse cultures, Wisconsin school children are systematically receiving hands-on lessons about how to perpetrate and promote stereotypes of a people's ethnicity, religion, ancestry and race. When our schools condone such actions, they do injustice to our children by not preparing them to function well in an increasingly diverse society. Teaching children to look at others as less than human is deplorable in any circumstance, and is especially pernicious in our schools, where it is backed by governmental and religious institutions. When Indian stereotyping occurs in our schools, we, as adults, can not ignore the damage being done to our children. Schools must be places where all children, regardless of their religion, culture, abilities, ethnicity, or income level feel welcome to join in the learning. The use of Indian caricatures denies this inclusion to American Indian children, while at the same time teaching all Wisconsin school children to tolerate discrimination against Indian people, their heritage and cultures.
OUTCOME OF EFFORTS TO REMOVE INDIAN MASCOTS AND LOGOS