A state lawmaker wants high schools with American Indian mascots to get approval to continue using them from a state board.
Sen. Suzanne Williams, D-Aurora, who is one-quarter Comanche, said she doesn’t want to ban team names. But she said she’s concerned with American Indian mascots that are caricatures — “with a funny nose or something” — and wants communities to have a “healthy dialogue about their heritage.”
Williams introduced a bill this week that would require all public and charter high schools with Indian mascots to “either cease using the American Indian mascot or obtain approval for the continued use of the American Indian mascot or another American Indian mascot from the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs.”
Senate Bill 107 also includes a provision that schools would be fined $1,000 a month if they used Indian mascots past July 2013 without commission approval.
Williams praised Arapahoe High School’s handling of its mascot, a warrior logo designed by a Northern Arapaho artist 17 years ago, and said she would like to see other schools follow suit.
Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley, said he was outraged at the proposed fines and called the measure “a pathetic attempt at circumventing local control.”
“It’s such an overreach in a year when we are faced with budget challenges,” he said.
Williams estimated about a dozen schools in Colorado have Indian “mascots” — a term defined in the bill as “a name, symbol or image that depicts or refers to an American Indian tribe, individual custom or tradition.” Among them: Lamar High School, home of the Savages.
“There’s a lot of pride for being a Lamar Savage,” said Kirk Crespin, a Lamar city councilman. “Why should we have to go through the state to get a mascot approved that’s been around for decades?”
Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, sits on the Colorado High School Activities Association’s executive committee and co-sponsored the bill. Todd said she told Williams she would not support any measure that outlawed the mascots altogether because many have a long history in their communities.
Yuma High School used to be the Cornhuskers but became the Indians in the 1920s to honor American Indians, principal Dave Vondy said.
“We had a principal who knew a lot about American Indians and their history,” he said.
Montrose High School is also known as the Indians.
The Montrose Daily Press in January quoted two local tribal members who said they were OK with using the name Indians, but not the face paint at games or the school hallway labeled “warpath.”
“The community was apoplectic over it,” managing editor Billie Stanton said of her column.
Montrose resident Tom Bell fired off an indignant response. He proposed changing team names to “Whatever,” replacing team colors with colors of the rainbow and team songs with “We Are The World.”
At Eaton High School, home of the Reds, also known as the Fightin’ Reds, the mascot features an Indian with a misshapen nose, eagle feather and loincloth.
The name made national news in 2002 when a multiracial intramural team at the University of Northern Colorado lampooned it. The UNC crew called its team the Fightin’ Whities, which featured a caricature of a middle-aged white guy with the phrase “Everthang’s gonna be all white!”
Sen. Renfroe was a member of the Eaton school board at the time. He said the community was “100 percent” behind the school name and still is.
Some Colorado teams previously dropped their Indian monikers. Arvada High switched from Redskins to the Reds in 1993, and the school stopped using its Indian mascot and adopted a bulldog.
Arapahoe High School in Littleton kept its team name but 17 years ago developed a relationship with the Arapaho Nation on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.
In addition to the redesigned logo, the school gym in 1995 was renamed in honor of an Arapaho elder, according to information on the school’s website.
The students and the tribe annually participate in a ceremony renewing their relationship.
“It’s a very positive thing,” Williams said.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327 or lbartels@denverpost.com
