Photo submitted by Amanda Cawthorn

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Article submitted by Amanda Cawthorn

Several weeks after the Indianola School District discussed the use of the name “the Indians” at their September school board meeting, I’m struggling with how to best communicate the key issues I hope people will understand. 

I’m Oneida. Most of our tribe lives in northern Wisconsin, so raising Oneida kids in central Iowa is a balancing act. Throw in the fact that their school uses an Indian mascot, and that balance becomes harder to maintain.

When my kids were younger, one of their teachers reached out and asked if I’d be willing to come in and help my child share a little about our family’s Native American history and culture. That first class visit started a dialogue between our family, the school, and the wider community. I hadn’t realized how little education there was available about Native cultures here in Iowa. We were invited back several times to various classrooms and a few events in the community.  I then met a friend who worked as an Ambassador for CultureALL and suggested this role may be a good opportunity for me as well. 

Through CultureALL, I have shown people in schools, libraries, and retirement communities that Native people have a rich history and are still here today. As Oneida, my family willingly fills in some missing pieces in order to bridge gaps in understanding. We have found that educating Iowans about present-day Native people is slowly but surely changing the conversation, but the gaps are much larger than we hoped to be at this point. 

Identifying the Gaps

• We’ve discovered that using Indians as a mascot does not seem like a problem to many people because they don’t think Indians  are still a current-day race of people. If Indians are a thing of the past, then there’s no harm in imitating or misrepresenting their way of life. 
• Many people rationalize the use of Indians as a mascot, saying it's a tribute of respect. They say, “Indians are strong, honorable, and proud. Indians are brave and loyal warriors and great fighters.” That’s true. Historical records depict brave and strong Indians who fought during Westward Expansion, battling to keep their homelands and protect their families. But the thing is—we lost those fights. The final insult was those who conquered us taking our identity and making us into their mascot. 
• People claim that Indian mascots are necessary as a reminder that Indians still survive. There is a phrase used that says “Educate, not Eradicate.” This argument popularized by a group dedicated to keeping Native mascots in place has spread nationwide and been picked up by school districts looking for support to keep their names and mascots.  The rallying cry implies that Native cultures will be eradicated and forgotten if Indian mascots are retired. 

But how does using Indian mascots enhance Native cultures in any way? We are perfectly capable of representing and preserving our own culture. After all, it’s ours. The idea that the survival of Native people depends on non-Native schools using us as mascots is insulting. Schools also have many alternative and more appropriate resources to educate their students about Native cultures. Such as CultureALL Ambassador workshops and Open Book story sharing events, where Native people like me become primary resources of information for students or classes wanting to learn more. 

Decades to Change

The conversation about Native mascots isn’t exclusive to Indianola or even to Iowa;  Tribal Nations across the country have been requesting this practice to stop for decades. Only eight states have passed laws restricting the use of Native American names and mascots. Others, like Iowa, continue to allow school districts to make those decisions for themselves. Indianola’s school board and administration have received requests from the Nations of Oneida, Meskwaki, and Ponca asking for the district to stop the use of our People for their entertainment. 

Even now, people ask me: Why? What harm is the Indian mascot doing? Why bother asking for this change?

A few years ago, our school sent out the themes for our homecoming dress-up days. The theme of one day was “Embrace your Inner Indian.” My kids were very confused. How could they go into their classrooms and explain the difference between actual Indians and an entire community who only calls themselves Indians? How could they “embrace their inner Indian" when every child in their district is taught to identify as Indian for the purpose of sport and school spirit? When non-Native kids are given this idea of who Indians are, it becomes very difficult to teach them actual Native history, respect, and relevance.  

There are over 500 federally recognized Sovereign Nations in the United States today. I am most familiar with my own, the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. As Oneidas, we are proud of our heritage, and we love to share our culture with those who are interested. We are dedicated to preserving our language and culture for future generations. We hope for a future when our children no longer need to explain that we’re still here, and that we are not anyone's mascots. 

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