By: Jacob Kessler
A Resolution was put forward in the Ohio House of Representatives this month with the purpose of encouraging schools to retire the use of Native American mascots.
The resolution was put forward by Representatives Adam Miller (D-Columbus) and Jessica Miranda (D-Forest Park).
“School spirit is about the teachers, students, community, and even the building. Many schools with Native American mascots are stepping up, moving in the right direction, we need to all work together and make these mascots a thing of the past,” said Representative Miller.
Representative Miranda also commented with “We’re sending a message that hurtful stereotypes have no place in Ohio, this resolution is just one of many measures needed to address the injustices Native Americans have faced in this state.”
Response to the resolution online has been mixed with some in support of the resolution, and others not supporting it. Some have pointed out that in many cases, schools have chosen these mascots to represent their school with honor.
Individuals in the Native American community however do not see it that way, and view it as disrespectful, citing their ancestors who were pushed out of the land the schools now sit on.
The issue has even been brought up in Wauseon, who’s school is known to be the home of the Wauseon Indians. According to Wauseon Superintendent Troy Armstrong, he has been contacted by Native American tribes already, with the first contact going back to 2019.
“A couple Native American Groups have contacted the school about why they believe Native American mascots shouldn’t be used. Conversations were informative regarding the whys behind not using the Native Americans or their culture as the mascot,” said Mr. Armstrong.
The conversation in fall of 2019 took place with the Super League of 500 Nations. Mr. Armstrong also stated that an email was just recently received from the National Congress of American Indians with information regarding the use of mascots, a special message and informative links.
Mr. Armstrong also stated that with the current situations, and the change taking place with the Cleveland Indians to the Guardians, he sees the resolution passing.
“Passage or not, Wauseon is going to move forward and have conversations with the community in regard to the use of Indians and will have conversations with parents that have Native American descent,” said Mr. Armstrong.
He continued with, “It is not being seen as being respectful to the Native American culture but at the same time we have to listen to our community. That is why I am pulling the group of parents together to hear what they have to say.”
Senator Theresa Gavarone is the Senator for District 2 in Ohio. Her area includes the Wauseon School building. The Senators office declined to comment on the resolution due to it being so new and only in the House at this time.
Jacob can be reached at jacob@thevillagereporter.com
12 Comments
I believe that retiring the Native Mascot is a step in the wrong direction. The city of Wauseon was named after Wauseon, a Potawatomi Indian chief and the school pays tribute to that part of Ohio’s history.
not Potawatomi
was Waseon. no “u”
doesn’t pay tribute to anything but the forced removal of indigenous people
The city was named to HONOR the Potawatomi Indian chief. That mascot is a tribute to that name. To remove or rename would be a slap in the face. This country is just taking things too far. It’s become absurd. I pray we don’t bend to this.
I agree 100 percent with this
I grew up a Wauseon Indian and proud of it My child are now Native American actually members of the largest tribe in Oklahoma
Chickasaw Nation!!!! The Indian isn’t the problem
Washington RED SKINS. That was offensive.
But I’m a proud mother of Indian children and taking away the Indian is offensive and a huge slap in the face to our tribe!!
As an Alumni, I’ve been saying this for years but no one would listen. There are better ways to “honor” native people than using them as images for our benefit because we don’t want to do the work to change. Seeing a ton of high schoolers do the chop at football games and having a kid dressed up like an Indian didn’t feel like honor when I was there. Native people are not caricatures for our amusement or people from distant memory or history. We need to be humble and show honor by respecting their perspective and taking action.
Why don’t we instead spend some of this energy embracing the change and being excited about picking a new mascot? As long as we pick a better name than the Blue Streaks I think we’ll be fine 😉
Yes, Wauseon was named in honor of Chief Wauseon, but the term “indian” has been considered derogatory for decades. It is not up to white folks to decide if it harmful or not, it is up to the native community. Our native neighbors have made the plea that it is in fact harmful to them. They should make the call, not white people.
I do wonder if the rare concession could be made in renaming the school mascot the Chiefs, but only with native support.
I’m glad it’s at least being considered. I’ve spent most of my life believing the name was intended as an honor, but even the history page used to admit the city was named on the whim of the founder’s daughter. Though that page now is straightforward that Wauseon was forced off the land, even a year ago it described this as “moving south”, a euphemism for the Trail of Tears. I’ll feel strange if my hometown’s name changes, but I think it’s at least time to change the mascot.
Human mascots are weird anyway. I like animals.
Then we should change Ottokee and Winimeg??? Where does it end? Will THIS be enough for them? I doubt it!!
How this could possibly offend someone is beyond me. We are proud to be the Indians.
I feel it’s unfortunate that my kids attend a school with that team name and mascot. I have a child involved in sports and it’s definitely in your face all the time.
People commenting seem to not be able to differentiate between a proper noun and an outdated offensive term. Typical.
Growing up mixed heritage in Wauseon was not always pleasant. We can pretend all we want that things like racism and classism don’t exist here in our small town, but they do. A disembodied Native American’s head as my school mascot would never have been my choice. You all shout as loudly as you can that our town is named after a Chief. It was that part is true,but it was years after he and his people were forced off this land, and the spelling of his name was changed. Yall so proud of a piece of history you know very little about. I have no issue with our town name, it’s the offensive term Indian and the ridiculous mascot that needs to be changed. The times they are changing folks. What was “acceptable” 100, hell even 10, years ago is no longer. The minorities are becoming the majority and you cannot stiffle us with your outdated archaic ideals any longer.