NVTV - We are People, Not Your Mascots!
Channel: Native Voice TV
Date: 2015-04-02

Cihuapilli Rose Amador LeBeau interviews Antonio Gonzales, Comca’ Ac/Chicano, (West - American Indian Movement, President) and Dr. Melinda Micco, Seminole/Creek/Choctaw, (Professor, Mills College) explore the origins of Native American mascots, the messages they convey, and the reasons for their persistence into the twenty-first century on Native Voice TV.

Don’t reopen mascot issue
Senate passes bill easing ban on Native names

By voting to loosen a state policy that bars public schools from using Native American mascots, the Oregon Senate has unwisely reopened the door to protracted debate over a divisive issue that appeared to have been resolved. That happened when the Oregon Board of Education voted last year to impose a statewide ban on Native American mascots, giving schools such as the Oakridge Warriors and the Roseburg Indians until mid-2017 to change mascots
or risk losing state funding.

Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, introduced Senate Bill 215 to correct what he argues was an administrative overreach by the board. While the board determined that the mascots perpetuate stereotypes, Kruse believes they honor Native American history and that it should be up to the tribes to decide if a mascot is discriminatory.