A dozen people plead for continued use of Yuma Indian mascot
The bill to ban the use of Indian mascots in Colorado public schools and public colleges and universities took a major step forward on May 20. That’s when the House Education Committee approved Senate Bill 116 and sent it to the full House for debate.
Senate Bill 116 requires any public school with an Indian mascot to end its use by June 1, 2022, or face a $25,000 per month fine.
The bill grants exceptions to schools that have agreements with Native American tribes that existed prior to June 30, 2021.
Rep. Adrienne Benavidez, D-Adams County, the bill sponsor, said the bill is long overdue. The rich culture and lives of Indian people should be honored and that is not through a depiction that makes them less than that, she told the committee.
Approximately 23 schools in Colorado still use an Indian mascot, including Yuma and Arickaree. Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs announced in January it was dropping its use of an Indian mascot.
Benavidez also noted that then-Gov. John Hickenlooper convened a task force in 2015, after a similar bill failed, to look at the use of Indian mascots.
The education committee listened to three hours of testimony on May 20. A dozen Yuma High School alumni, parents, students and community members pleaded with the committee to allow the school to continue its use of an Indian mascot.
Dan Ross, board president for the Yuma school district, told the committee that most school districts with Indian mascots use them in a proper and historic way. He pointed out that some school districts would not even be able to use the name of their town to associate with their school, including Yuma, Kiowa and Arickaree (although the bill does not ban a school from having a Native American name, only the use of a Native American mascot).
Ross also noted that none of the bill sponsors, including Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, ever reached out to his district to talk about the issue. And the bill will put a financial burden on the Yuma school district, Ross claimed, perhaps as much as $250,000 to change the mascot and logos.
Yuma senior and class president John Smith talked about pride, tradition and respect and some of the school’s traditions around its Indian mascot. The citizens of Yuma have shown only respect for the mascot, and they will continue to do so, he said. “Our name as the Yuma Indians brings us together.”
Teacher Rory Lynch said that in his 19 years, he has never seen disrespect for the American Indian in the school, which is more than half minority. “It works because we respect each other and work together. As a team, our cultures are celebrated and shared.”
The testimony of the Yuma residents was countered by Native Americans who talked of the hurt that mascots have caused, calling it dehumanizing.
Dallin Maybee is Northern Arapaho. He said he has been mocked throughout his life for his heritage. He said Smith was correct about pride, tradition and respect, which comes from the community in which one is raised, but a mascot does not provide those things. A mascot is a caricature that dehumanizes a culture rich with diversity.
Donald Ragona of the Matinecock nation of New York has been part of the effort to get rid of the mascot in Denver for 30 years. The intolerance and harm perpetrated by Indian sports mascots or logos or symbols have real consequences for Native people, rather than honoring them, he told the committee. The use of racist, native mascots “trivializes us, our histories, our cultures and our spirituality.”
Donna Chrisjohn and her brothers were athletes in school, but whenever they faced a school with an indigenous mascot, she and her brothers were taunted, mocked and even threatened by fans, parents and other athletes. “Even our own classmates would ‘war whoop’ towards us,” she said. “Our school should be safe for all children from all backgrounds.”
The committee did hear from several Native Americans who support the use of mascots.
Mascots are not meant to discourage or dishonor people; they’re meant to motivate and inspire, said Demetrius Marez, who is Dene (Navajo) and a 1993 graduate of Lamar High School, whose mascot, the Savage, has been a target for removal even from school alumni.
Marez described the Savage as a proud, honorable and noble Indian chief, with his head held high. Savage is not offensive, dishonorable, derogatory or demeaning. “In fact, it is quite the opposite. He’s a proud warrior with strength and integrity. Do we not have real issues to be concerned about?” he asked.
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