To: Carter County School Board
Sunday 23, 2000

I have just read and signed the online petition: "ELIMINATE NATIVE AMERICAN MASCOTS" hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition service, at: http://www.petitiononline.com/2050/petition.html. I personally agree with what this petition says, and I think you might agree, too. If you can spare a moment, please take a look, and consider signing yourself.

Best wishes,            Robert Munson Bob@Munson.net

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- American Indian activists demanding the University of Illinois do away with its Chief Illiniwek symbol and mascot demonstrated outside Memorial Stadium Saturday, trying to persuade football fans filing in for the Homecoming game against Iowa to join their cause.

Some fans stopped to poke fun at the protesters while others tried to shout down their prayers.

The protest came three days before the university' s Board of Trustees expects to receive a report from a retired judge hired to examine the controversy surrounding the chief.

American Indians, as well as some professors and students, consider the Chief Illiniwek character portrayed by a university student as racist and demeaning. They want the university to do away with both the character and the nickname Fighting Illini.

Other students, alumni and top university officials maintain Chief Illiniwek honors the school' s tradition and the state' s native residents.

George Two Eagles drove 12 hours from Asheville, N.C., on Friday to dispel that notion. He said UI' s chief is the most offensive of the American Indian mascots used by colleges.

The mascot, a student dressed in authentic native garb, dances across the football field at halftime.

" The mascot is not the most serious issue facing us, but we' ve got to start with basic human dignity, " George Two Eagles said.

Jim Maasberg, a Columbia resident with two children studying at Illinois, said Saturday' s demonstration was rude and inappropriate.

" They' re doing more detriment to their own good, " Maasberg said. Asked whether he believed the chief was racist, Maasberg shook his head and said, " No, it' s an honor."

Vernon Bellecourt, executive director of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media in Minneapolis, said American Indians get to decide what' s an honor and what' s an insult.

Bellecourt' s group, which led similar demonstrations against professional teams such as baseball' s Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians, organized the Homecoming prayer and pipe ceremony.

" We' re here to remind you that we' re offended by racism in sports, " Bellecourt said. " We refuse to have our culture degraded for your fun and games."

The protesters have been here before, and the university is engaged in a yearlong discussion of the issue.

The board of trustees hired retired Cook County Judge Louis Garippo to gather information and report back to them. The school also invited people on all sides to write or otherwise share their views regarding the Chief.

The judge is expected to deliver his report to the trustees this week and then to present it at a public meeting next month. The report will be posted on UI' s web site as soon as trustees have received their copies.

Garippo has said he will not offer recommendations, but the activists outside Memorial Stadium said they believe the report is another step toward retiring the chief.

Several people at the protest were wearing T-shirts suggesting a replacement team name and symbol -- the Illinois Prairie Fire.

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) -- The Tomah School District' s Indian logo will no longer be displayed among conference mascots on a gymnasium wall of a La Crosse high school, the school board decided Monday night. The board voted unanimously to stop displaying all American Indian logos in its schools.

Some students had complained that the Tomah logo was racist and offensive to American Indians. The La Crosse Native American Student Association asked in August that the logo be removed from the display.

La Crosse high schools stopped using American Indian-related mascots several years ago, in one case replacing an Indian warrior with a knight in 1994 to portray Central High School' s Red Raiders. But the Tomah mascot continued to be displayed on the wall of Central High School' s gymnasium along with logos of all the other Mississippi Valley Conference schools.

Logan High School has a banner that lists only school names, not logos, Superintendent Tom Downs said. He said it will cost $1,500 to $2,000 to get a similar banner for Central.

Much of the debate centered on what type of policy the board should adopt to get rid of the logo. Downs recommended removing all logos so the issue didn't create animosity between the two districts.

Tomah School District officials have said they meet annually with local Ho-Chunk tribal elders who said they were not offended by the logo, so the district continues to use it.

May 24, 2000
From: john inman sharp ji-sharp@students.uiuc.edu

American Indian activists and supporters,

All of us that are concerned with Native American issues on our campus at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are actively involved in getting our administration to eliminate our Indian mascot, "Chief Illiniwek", and we need your help (see message below). Last year the University's accreditation process was held up because the mascot creates such a hostile learning environment for Native American students. Now the administration is being forced to finally deal with the issue and it's first step is to seek input from anyone who cares to comment on the issue.

Conservative groups on campus claim that the mascot enhances our appreciation of Native American culture yet there are only 4 Native Americans enrolled at the University of Illinois (out of 36,000 students) and the school refuses to create a Native American study's department or bring in a dean to oversee recruitment of Native American students and faculty (though they have often promised to do so). The environment has become so bad for Native American students on campus that a couple of years ago one of the more outspoken Native American students received a letter from a top administrator suggesting that he should transfer if he was so unhappy.

There are, of course, many good folks committed to ending this ridiculousness. The faculty has voted overwhelmingly to get rid of the "Chief" (about 90% favor getting rid of it). Letters to the Board of Trustees have been sent by more than 400 American Indian tribes (including the Peoria tribe, the only living descendants of the Illini nation). Yet the Board of Trustees doesn't think these groups matter as they are more concerned with the alumni and boosters who are threatening to withhold their donations. The situation has gotten so out of hand that the Illinois legislature introduced a bill a few years ago that would have mandated "Chief Illiniwek's" existence as a state law (luckily it was vetoed by the governor who supported the Chief' but realized what the implications would be academia).

So, the time is now to increase the pressure across the nation. There is so much support for the "Chief" mascot across the state of Illinois that the best chance to get rid of it is to make it a national issue (jump scales as they say in geography). That's why we need your help. The administration needs to realize that it's allegiance to a racist mascot not only creates a hostile learning environment and insults those it purports to honor, but it is increasingly undermining the academic integrity and reputation of an otherwise fine university (well, there are a few other problems, but we'll leave those for another day).

BEMIDJI, MINN. -- The mother of two American Indian students has filed a civil rights complaint over a high school pep rally that she says insulted Indians and degraded her children.

The rally was held March 17 at the Win-E-Mac High School in Erskine to get the students fired up for a sectional basketball game against the Red Lake Warriors, a team from the Red Lake Indian Reservation.

According to the complaint, filed April 24 with the U.S. Department of Education, as the lights dimmed in the school gymnasium, Win-E-Mac teachers dressed as "Indians" danced to a "tom-tom." They were followed by another teacher, dressed as a cowboy, who said in effect, "We're going to put Red Lake back on the reservation where they belong."

The woman who filed the complaint reported that her eighth-grade son, distraught by the skit, told some students he hoped Red Lake would beat Win-E-Mac. She said that her son was then kicked by another student and that others yelled racial slurs at both sons.

The two boys have since left the school and enrolled elsewhere.

Win-E-Mac is a consolidated district, which includes the communities of Erskine, McIntosh and Winger, all about 50 miles west of Bemidji.

The Pioneer of Bemidji reported last week that the district is conducting its own investigation, but as a result of the skit and other alleged incidents before and after March 17, the federal Education Department is considering sending investigators to Erskine, where the district's high school is located.

In three interviews with the Pioneer, Win-E-Mac Superintendent Gail Sells said she would not comment on the accusations or the pep fest. She confirmed that the March 17 rally was videotaped, but she declined to release the tape, citing state and federal privacy laws.

Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, DFL-Erskine, said that he contacted Win-E-Mac officials and that they dispute some of the allegations.

The newspaper interviewed the woman who filed the complaint but didn't publish her name. She is in the process of filing protection orders and criminal complaints with Polk County authorities.

Win-E-Mac administrators did allow the mother and two outside observers to view the videotape.

The observers, Bemidji State University students Bob Shimek and Dale Tolgoni, viewed the tape with the mother in a supporting and friendship role.

"It's sort of like that school district got stuck in time," Tolgoni said. "It's unbelievable that that sort of thing can go on today. Being a third-party observer of that tape, I couldn't imagine being a Native [American] child and having to observe it right there."

When most people think about school mascots, they picture lions, tigers, panthers, falcons and wildcats.

But a new local organization is concentrating on mascots with names such as Indians and Redskins, hoping to bring such titles to an end. "Native people are not honored by these symbols. It is not honorable to use images of sacred objects, such as the drum, eagle feathers, face painting, and traditional dress, in a game. . . . to promote school spirit. If school districts truly wish to honor their 'Indian' relatives, they can start by listening and respecting our wishes," said Christine Munson, co-chair of the Youth Indian Mascot and Logo Task Force.

The task force, a division of the Wisconsin Indian Education Association (WIEA), focuses on working politically and through other peaceful methods to bring about changes in Wisconsin schools.

Currently, 42 Wisconsin high schools have symbols the group sees as unfavorable school mascots. Recently, the group formed a Milwaukee-area chapter, hoping to target schools there.

The task force, headed by Barbara Munson, has worked to help politicians propose Senate Bill 217, which would assess a penalty on school districts that have schools with mascots for which complaints have been filed. Through its efforts, several Wisconsin high schools already have changed their mascots.

In 1998, a youth branch of the task force was formed. This group of more than 70 statewide members (mostly teens) works locally to inform and raise awareness among high school students, as well as aid in minimizing hostility and community division.

The youth task force utilizes newsletters, public forums, and various other forms of publicity (fliers, signs, etc.) to make the high schools aware that changes are needed.

Munson and Alicia Gibb, a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, have been working to bring about more awareness of the problem throughout the state.

It is often argued that the mascots being debated were intended to honor Native-Americans, but the youth task force disagrees.

"These schools have mascots like 'the Indians' competing against all sorts of wild animals . . . what kind of message is that sending?" Gibb asked.

Munson and Gibb attended high schools whose mascots made their time as students both uncomfortable and often left them feeling insulted. Their efforts have been embraced by many Native American tribes and organizations and their mission continues to gain steam, particularly in southeastern Wisconsin, where the problem has gone on largely unchanged, they said.

One school at the center of much controversy is Wauwatosa East High School, where the Red Raiders mascot has led to much deliberation and peaceful protests among the student body.

The groups hope that calling attention to the problems at the high school level will lead to consideration by colleges and even professional teams to change the mascots.

"Once we get them (offensive mascots) out of high schools, we hope people will see that and recognize that changes need to be made," Gibb said.

For more information, contact the Youth Indian Mascot and Logo Task Force, 4104 N. 6th St., Wausau, WI 54403; or go to pages.prodigy.net/munson/index.htm on the Internet; or e-mail Christine Munson at crmunson@prodigy.net or Alicia Gibb at dancer27@hotmail.com

Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on May 1, 2000.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/apr00/mascot01043000a.asp

URBANA - From middle school students to tribal elders, American Indians came to the University of Illinois on Friday to demand the school stop using the Chief Illiniwek character as its symbol, arguing the mascot is racist, inaccurate and dehumanizing. Their passion was met, however, by those that believe the chief is a dignified symbol of the school and should remain. The university's Board of Trustees listened to more than six hours of testimony Friday, mostly arguments that have been aired over and over again for more than 10 years.

"This session should bring closure to this issue," said Mike Drish, a leader of Students for Chief Illiniwek, which he said has about 4,000 members. "A strong stand should be made by the university and the issue should never be brought up again for discussion."

The crowd at the forum, which grew to more than 700 people by mid-afternoon, seemed bitterly divided about which stand the trustees should take. The lingering division itself was among the reasons given for the trustees to pick a new, less controversial mascot.

"Does this look like unity to you?" asked professor Jay Rosenstien. "A symbol of a university is supposed to bring people together. But Chief Illiniwek is the most divisive symbol in all of America's colleges."

Anti-chief speakers complained, as they have frequently in the past, that the university's portrayal is not authentic. The chief's performance, although more subdued than ones by other schools' mascots, gives people a clown-like image of clothing and customs that have sacred meaning to American Indians, they said.

"It hurts," said 12-year old Wayne Crue, a middle school student in Urbana who said he endures endless teasing from misinformed classmates whose only exposure to his culture is via Chief Illiniwek.

Opponents say the cumulative impact is that more academic organizations will boycott U of I, and gifted American Indian students and professors will take their talents elsewhere.

Jayne Waupanook Blacker, 20, whose family descends from the Menominee and Potawatomi tribes, did not apply to go to college here because of Chief Illiniwek.

"The mascot puts up an unwelcome sign. The only way I could feel welcome here is to hide my native culture," she said. "... Who is supposed to be honored by a white guy wearing Lakota clothing pretending to be the leader of the Illini tribes?"

Three of those guys, current and former students who portrayed Chief Illiniwek, were among those imploring the trustees not to change course.

"Great care has been taken to make sure the chief and its portrayal is dignified. ... There's nothing like the chief. That's because we do it right," said Rick Legue, a 1968 alum from Barrington and a spokesman for former chiefs.

Proponents say the chief exposes people to American Indian issues. They say the chief is not meant to be a historically perfect portrayal, but instead personifies university ideals of pride, honor and dignity.

Michael Haney, executive director of the American Indian Arbitration Institute, said the people being honored ought to have a say. About 750 tribes have adopted resolutions against the chief and he said tribe leaders want the university to return the authentic Sioux headdress the character dons at ballgames.

"A complete headdress symbolizes a whole life of servitude to your people," Haney said. "That's what is offensive to me, is to see the chief, that clown, wearing our religious symbol."

However, whether they do away with the chief or not, Haney called on the trustees to create a Native American studies program and fund scholarships using money made off U of I merchandise.

Those efforts could draw more American Indians to campus and better educate people about native issues, he said. Once that happens, Haney said public opinion will turn in favor of retiring the chief.

The trustees' call for renewed "dialogue" on the issue also generated more than 10,000 letters and e-mails. Former Cook County Judge Louis Garippo was hired to sift through the written and oral comments. His report to the trustees is due by August.

• http://www.news-gazette.com/story.cfm?Number=6975 Forum on Chief Illiniwek lets voices be heard. Today's forum just one step in evaluating issue
  By SARAH RILEY, News-Gazette Staff Writer
  Today's forum on Chief Illiniwek is only one of many steps in the plan to address the issue - the rest of the process will take months.

• http://www.news-gazette.com/story.cfm?Number=6970 Another UI department says Chief should retire

  URBANA - The University of Illinois English department wants an American Indian literature class, but says the presence of Chief Illiniwek makes it impossible to recruit a professor.

  The department issued a statement Wednesday calling for the Chief's retirement, becoming the third and largest UI department to do so.

  With a "substantial majority" of 55 faculty members and widespread support among graduate assistants, department head Dennis Baron said, the statement is "a clear message that the department wants to see the Chief retired."

  A final head count will be tallied no earlier than this afternoon.

• [POLL HERE also].. http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/chicago/article/0,2669,ART-44304,FF.html
  Associated Press, April 14, 2000

  URBANA -- American Indian tribal leaders today demanded that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign stop using the Chief Illiniwek character as its symbol and return to them the authentic native headdress the mascot dons at ballgames.

• Also what looks to be the same article is in the Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw10467_20000414.htm

WAUWATOSA, Feb. 29, 2000 - A group of high school students staged a protest Tuesday at Wauwatosa East High School. The students are upset over an old mural in the school containing their old mascot symbol: a Native American.

'It's a racist character. It's something that if it wasn't a Native American, if it was an African American or Asian American depiction, it would not be up there. It would come down right away.' -BEN CHANDLER Senior

STUDENTS AT WAUWATOSA EAST are known as the Red Raiders. For decades, their mascot was a caricature of a Native American Indian. But in 1992, the principal got rid of that caricature. However, one mural still remains in the basement of the school, and that's what is prompting some students to protest.

Approximately 50 students wore t-shirts to school Tuesday that said, "ERASE RACISM." The students believe the old mural is offensive to Native Americans, and they want it to come down. But 80 percent of the students voted just two weeks ago to keep the picture, saying it's part of the rich history of the school.

Opinions on both sides of the issue are strong.

"It's a racist character. It's something that if it wasn't a Native American, if it was an African American or Asian American depiction, it would not be up there. It would come down right away," said senior Ben Chandler.

The shirts the students wore during the protest display the old mascot. "Well, it's tradition, and I think it has a long history at the school. And I don't think it's really offending anybody, and I think it should stay," said freshman Tom Flatley.

The principal of the school said he would like the picture to come down but is honoring the vote that students took two weeks ago to keep the mural up.

School nickname and mascot controversies have been debated at other Wisconsin schools. Some Marquette University fans are still unhappy about the switch from Warriors to Golden Eagles. And in the Rock County community of Milton, a switch from Redmen to Red Hawks led to a recall attempt against three members of the Milton School Board. Those board members survived the recall vote in January.

American Indian Sports Team Mascots http://www.geocities.com/~earnestman/1indexpage.htm