More Than Mascots

A Resource Guide for Ensuring Native Youth Experience 

Safe and Welcoming School Environments

U.S. Department of Education

White House Initiative on American Indian and 

Alaska Native Education

More Than Mascots

A Resource Guide for Ensuring Native Youth 

Experience Safe and Welcoming School Environments

September 2016

U.S. Department of Education

White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education
The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. 

The U.S. Department of Education does not mandate or prescribe particular curricula, lesson plans, or other 

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U.S. Department of Education

John B. King, Jr.

Secretary

White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education

William Mendoza

Executive Director

September 2016

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iii

Contents

Voices From Native Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

More Than Mascots: Part One

Understanding the Effects of Native-Themed Mascots, Imagery, 

Team Names, and Customs on Student Learning Environments. . . . . . . . . . . . 2

History and Context of Native-themed Mascots, Imagery, Team Names, 

and Customs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

The Impact of Schools’ Native-themed MITC on All Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Examples of Schools That Have Changed Their Native–themed Mascots, 

Imagery, Team Names, and Customs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

More Than Mascots: Part Two

Engaging Tribal Leaders, Parents, Educators, and Community Members 

to Improve Learning Environments for Native Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Engaging Community and Local Partners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Engaging Tribal Governments’ Leaders and Elders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Student Access to Culturally Appropriate Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Proactively Addressing Bullying. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Funding Resources for Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

More Than Mascots: Part Three

A Non-Discriminatory School Environment: Considering Federal Civil 

Rights Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Ensuring a Non-Discriminatory School Environment for Native Students. . . . . . . 23

Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
iv

Voices From Native Youth

“Growing up I moved around plenty of times and had a hard time 

finding my place in the world. I had lived in a white man’s world and 

wasn’t accepted due to my ethnicity. I lived on my own land and wasn’t 

accepted because I was too “whitewashed.” It’s not always easy being 

young and Native. In the sixth grade I lived in a suburban area in Denver, 

Colorado. Being the new kid on the block wasn’t easy, especially when 

you’re the only Native American and it’s the first time students are 

interacting with a Native. I witnessed harassment and bullying due to 

my background. One moment I will never forget is when I went to my 

locker to grab a book, and I heard chanting behind me. There were five 

boys hollering and chanting Native calls, jumping up and down, while 

I walked to my next class. This moment left me devastated, confused, 

and for once in my life not making me feel proud of my skin color or 

race. 

Recently I saw that mascot changes were happening in Denver, 

Colorado. This brightened up my day because I know change is coming. 

If a school has a Native-themed mascot I feel it shows a certain image 

to those who are not educated about Native culture and who are 

oblivious to Native Americans living in a modern society. What others 

don’t understand is that indigenous citizens across the world are more 

than feathers, powwows, traditional style, tipis, moccasins, songs, 

and piercings. Natives are doctors, scientists, politicians, parents, and 

neighbors just like everyone else.”

—Taylor Cook

college student
v

“We are unique, wonderful, and alive. All 567 federally recognized tribes 

across the nation, and countless urban Native Americans are very much 

alive. Eliminating these race-based mascots is not about being offended, 

it is about protecting students and offering an equal education to 

all. Many of us (including me) have experienced anxiety and fear of 

attending school events where we know we’ll be exposed to negative 

images of our race. These mascots create a false sense of who we are 

and what our traditions consist of. They allow others to mock our culture 

and misappropriate our regalia, customs, and religion.”

—Dahkota Kicking Bear Brown,

college student 

“Trying to fit in caused me to hide the strong voice I’ve acquired through 

my involvement in conferences such as NCAI [National Congress of 

American Indians] and UNITY [United National Indian Tribal Youth]. 

My high school mascot is a “brave,” a stereotypical caricatured Indian. 

Though the name itself is not derogatory as “redskins,” the portrayal and 

impact are the same. ...By having an Indian mascot at my school, it has 

forced me to see my culture misrepresented and mocked daily. I began 

to feel embarrassed to be Lakota because of the images my peers had 

due to stereotypes. I began to feel like just another number and belittled 

when they’d bring up many common statistics to insult me. ...I led a 

student effort to replace the mascot with something more appropriate. 

Mascots should not be race-based, simple as that. I’ve recently come to 

a point where I have a higher self-esteem and am confident enough to 

use my voice to create change when needed.”

— Cielo Garcia,

high school student
vi
1

Introduction

In October 2015, the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native 

Education (WHIAIANE) released a first-of-its-kind report on school climate issues 

facing Native American students (http://sites.ed.gov/whiaiane/files/2015/12/81326-

SchoolEnvir.-394-260.pdf). This report is the product of listening sessions held in nine 

cities around the country in 2014 with more than 1,000 participants.1

 Many people testified 

during those sessions about how Native-themed school mascots, imagery, team names, 

and customs (Native-themed MITC) harm all students, especially Native2 students, by 

perpetuating negative stereotypes, encouraging bullying and teasing, interfering with selfidentity, and creating unhealthy learning environments.3 Among its recommendations, the 

report called on the U.S. Department of Education (Department) to consider providing 

information about the potential such mascots and team names have to create a divisive 

environment for Native students.

Consistently, Native youths and community leaders have shared stories of how historical 

trauma is perpetuated by the use of Native-themed MITCs in our country’s school 

systems. Native rituals and customs, or more typically the stereotypes associated with 

them, continue in the actions of the fans who intend to cheer on friends and community 

members. The stereotypes are present in quads, playgrounds, hallways, and homecomings 

where students tease and bully students, including Native youths, with stereotypical 

jokes, comments, and actions. The concern is more than mascots; it’s the unhealthy and 

divisive environment that is often created by Native-themed MITC. Native students should 

be supported through positive representations of their cultural identity that exemplify 

appropriate, contemporary, and accurate displays to the public. This serves as both a 

support to Native students and as recognition of their achievements.

In response to what we heard in our listening sessions, consultations, and constant 

interactions with tribal leaders, youths, and Native-serving support organizations, the 

WHIAIANE and the Department are releasing this resource guide. It presents information 

and best practices from the field to illuminate and address issues raised by Native-themed 

MITC. The guide also provides advice to school leaders on how to promote the creation of 

positive learning environments for all of their students and colleagues with the involvement 

and support of tribal leaders, community members, support staff, parents, and educators.

“They [Native 

Americans] are more 

than mascots. More 

than stereotypes. 

More than Hollywood 

Indians. They are 

brilliant and beautiful. 

They are survivors.”

—Professor Adrienne 

Keene

Brown University

Cherokee Nation

May 19, 2016
2

More Than Mascots: Part One

Understanding the Effects of Native-themed Mascots, Imagery, Team 

Names, and Customs on Student Learning Environments 
3

History and Context of Native-themed Mascots, Imagery, Team Names, 

and Customs 

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, non-Native athletic teams began to use 

Native-themed MITC based on longstanding stereotypes of Native Americans to 

highlight the fierceness of their players.4 These were times when Native people 

themselves were not empowered to decide their own representation and harkened 

back to a time of great struggle and heartache for Native communities. Despite 

significant diversity among Native populations, many schools adopted names 

associated with images of a nomadic, red-faced, Northern Plains warrior in a 

headdress, even in areas where Native communities were primarily agrarian or 

coastal in lifestyle and did not wear such regalia.5 Some Native-themed mascots 

and team names, like Redskins, Savages, and Squaws, are often viewed and 

experienced as racial slurs. These terms are rooted in a history of mistreatment 

and xenophobic public policies that have had a profound and negative impact on 

tribal nations.6 Tribes and Native American organizations overwhelmingly oppose 

these practices as harmful and demeaning.7

Thanks to advocacy and action by many Native and non-Native organizations, 

athletic associations, state and local government entities, and educational 

institutions, the number of schools8 with Native-themed mascots and team names 

has dropped significantly in recent years.9 More than 40 colleges have retired 

their Native-themed team names and mascots; many did so after the National 

Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) adopted a policy in 2005 prohibiting its 

members from postseason play if they used hostile or abusive race-based mascots, 

nicknames, or imagery.10 Similarly, seven states or their boards of education 

have prohibited Native-themed mascots and team names, as have several of the 

country’s largest school districts.11 By one estimate, U.S. schools have retired 

more than 2,000 Native mascots since the 1970s.12 In addition, more than 100 

organizations have adopted policies or resolutions calling for an end to Nativethemed MITC, including civil rights groups, educational institutions, and religious 

organizations.13

The use of Native 

American imagery not 

only harms [Native] 

students, but contributes 

to the enhanced ... selfimage of non-Native 

students. This ... results 

in the widening of the 

opportunity gap. It is 

only those who have 

the power — those in 

the majority — [who] 

have the ability to 

caricaturize, symbolize, 

or create a mascot of 

another group of people. 

Hence, the equality gap. 

... It is not about what is 

offensive or who finds 

something offensive, 

but how the presence 

of that ‘something’ 

impacts the learning 

environment, alters the 

climate, and negatively 

influences how a student 

can participate in it and 

benefit from it.” 

-Native American 

Liaison, Michigan 

Department of Civil 

Rights, Lansing 

Listening Session
4

The Impact of Schools’ Native-themed Mascots, Imagery, Team Names, and 

Customs on All Students

According to various sources, approximately 2,400 schools in the United States use 

Native-themed MITC for their school or their sports teams, making Native Americans 

the most common reference for mascots in U.S. sports, and the only race referenced 

among the 100 most common team names.

14 Native-themed mascots are found 

across the country in both majority Native and majority non-Native areas.

Some schools name their teams after American Indian tribes, such as the 

Blackhawks or Mohawks, while many more use Native-themed names, like braves, 

chiefs, Indians,15 or terms that are often defined and viewed as racial slurs including 

redskins, savages, or squaws.16 For example, the term “redskin” is defined in many 

dictionaries as an offensive slur.17 It is “a very demeaning term for Indians that 

hails back to the days when Indian people were hunted” and the “bloody skins of 

Native[s] were exchanged for bounty and traded like animal hides.”18 Likewise, 

the term “squaw" is an offensive and disparaging reference to an American Indian 

woman and “a vulgarism for [an Indian] woman [’s genitalia] in certain Iroquoian 

and Algonquian languages.”19

Schools with various types of Native-themed mascots use traditional Native 

imagery, such as headdresses, tomahawks, feathers, and arrowheads, and 

depict American Indians in caricatured ways that do not accurately reflect or 

honor the culture or diversity of Native communities.20 Many schools have also 

institutionalized rituals that reinforce stereotypes of Native people and cultures. 

Students have often dressed up as Native Americans or as Indian chiefs, for 

example, with headdresses, war bonnets, war paint, and buckskin pants.21 At some 

schools, students have also performed fake or caricaturized Indian war dances, 

chants, and tomahawk chops, held powwows, smoked “peace pipes,” ridden on 

horseback wearing face paint, thrust spears into the turf, and collected fake scalps 

to represent other teams’ mascots.22

Research suggests that schools’ Native-themed MITC can have negative effects on 

Native and non-Native students in the following ways: (1) creating unwelcoming 

and divisive learning environments that perpetuate stereotypes and racism 

against Native Americans; (2) lowering the self-esteem, mental health, academic 

achievement, and sense of community of Native youths; (3) misappropriating and 

demeaning Native imagery, rituals, objects, and identity; and (4) damaging the 

“In high school, my 

mascot was the 

‘Redskins’ and I had to 

watch my classmates 

make posters saying 

we are going to ‘skin’ 

our sports opponents. 

The other teams would 

make posters that said 

they are going to send 

us home on a ‘trail of 

tears.’ I’m now in college, 

and . . . had a classmate 

say that Natives don’t 

exist anymore, so no one 

should be upset by the 

mascot issue. I asked, 

‘Well, am I real?’ He 

said, ‘You don’t live in a 

teepee, so no.’ It’s still 

a slap in the face every 

time. I thought I had 

moved on, but it still hurts 

every time.”

—College Student, 

Oklahoma City 

Listening Session
5

ability of Native Americans to portray their culture and diversity positively and 

accurately.23

Native-themed MITC can create an unnecessary educational barrier for Native 

youths.24 These mascots and team names are often accompanied by imagery that 

bears the school’s stamp of approval and permeates school facilities — displayed on 

the walls of school buildings, classrooms, lockers, calendars, and athletic facilities, 

and worn by teachers, staff, and students on uniforms, jerseys, and other school 

paraphernalia.25 In these situations, Native American students perceive their 

school as endorsing racial stereotypes, which marginalizes those students and 

can undermine a school’s credibility and capacity to appropriately address racial 

harassment,26 making students feel like they have no recourse.27 Additionally, 

research shows that when students are reminded of negative stereotypes about 

their demographic, it can result in a wide range of negative educational effects. 

These include lower academic achievement, more limited academic interests, and 

decreased academic engagement.28

Nationwide, in a majority of school districts, Native students are fewer than 10 

percent of the student body, and in many schools Native Americans are only 1 

percent of the student population.29 As a result, Native students harmed by Nativethemed MITC often feel isolated from other Native youths and American Indian and 

Alaska Native support networks, making it harder for them to raise their concerns 

with peers, teachers, or others in their school. In addition, educators have also 

reported that Native-themed MITC undermine efforts to recruit Native students and 

staff to teach about and research Native communities or to engage with nearby 

tribes.30

Many tribes consider the use of certain feathers, regalia, and ceremonial dances 

to be sacred. As a result, tribes have found it deeply inappropriate for non-Native 

people to possess or mimic such items and engage in these practices apart from 

Native American ceremonies. The use of feathers, regalia, and dances outside of 

their appropriate use, especially when they are mocked or desecrated, reinforces 

stereotypes and misrepresents Native American culture.31

Native-themed MITC can also adversely impact non-Native students,32 regardless 

of the racial makeup of the school.33 Indeed, the continual presence of stereotypes 

in schools psychologically damages the students who are exposed to them, as 

well as the students who feel targeted by those stereotypes.34 This was also a 

School mascots 

represent bullying at 

its worst because it is 

done openly ... and our 

youth, who face some 

difficult challenges 

and often struggle to 

find a reason not to 

exit this world by their 

own hand, see that 

an entire school, an 

entire community, an 

entire nation, allows 

it. How is a ... Native 

child supposed to feel 

safe in a world where 

a term once used 

to offer monetary 

rewards for the bloody 

scalps of children is so 

acceptable?”

 – Parent, Oklahoma 

Listening Session
6

common concern echoed by students, teachers, and parents during WHIAIANE 

listening sessions.35 Use of stereotypes denies non-Native youths a holistic and 

multidimensional understanding of all people, which can lower their levels of 

empathy, increase implicit biases, and hinder cross-cultural communication skills.36

According to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Native-themed mascots and team 

names can also negatively impact schools, increasing their vulnerability to charges 

of racism, challenges to their institutional standing, litigation risks, and diversion 

of resources from their core goals.37 Retiring Native-themed MITC removes an 

educational barrier for Native youths, and it benefits the school community as a 

whole.

Examples of Schools That Have Changed Their Native–themed Mascots, 

Imagery, Team Names, and Customs

Many schools, tribes, and urban Indian communities already institute practices 

to improve educational experiences for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/

AN) students. For schools and communities looking to make similar changes, the 

practices described below serve as examples to learn from and scale.

Lancaster Central School District — Lancaster High School; Lancaster, New York 38

Lancaster High School made the decision to retire its Redskins mascot and team 

name in 2015 after the New York State Education Department called for an end 

to the use of Native-themed mascots. The school’s staff and administration felt 

it was time to reevaluate. The school brought Native American scholars in to the 

district to educate the school community on Native imagery and mascots. After 

the Lancaster Board of Education decided to retire the Redskins mascot, student 

leaders organized a vote to decide on a new one. Three months later, the board of 

education approved the new mascot, The Legends.

North Wasco County School District 21 — The Dalles High School; Dalles, Oregon39

The Dalles High School transitioned from its Indians mascot in 2014 after the Oregon 

Department of Education required that all Native mascots be changed by 2017, 

unless schools received approval from local tribes. The school’s administration 

created a committee that included staff, students, school board members, and 

parents. The committee held meetings, conducted surveys, and created a poll to 

vote on submitted ideas and artwork for a new mascot. The students and athletes 

were actively engaged in the process as they held rallies and fundraisers to change 

I’m a sixth-grader 

at [a local] middle 

school. We were 

playing ‘lightning,’ and, 

basically, people call 

me ‘Big Brown.’ When 

I’m playing football, 

basketball, or baseball, 

I usually beat them, 

and then they are 

mean to me. They call 

me a ‘Redskin,’ ‘Brown 

Head,’ ‘Black Head,’ 

and I really don’t like 

it. On the playground, 

while playing kickball, 

the other team is 

all white, and they 

wanted our team to 

be the Redskins. . 

. . When the white 

team would get us 

out, they would say, 

‘Cowboys attacked 

the Redskins!’ I don’t 

like how they came 

up with names like 

Redskins. I don’t like 

that. It’s mean.” 

-Student, Wisconsin 

Listening Session
7

uniforms and logos around the school. The school community has embraced its new 

Riverhawks mascot.

School Administrative District # 27 — Fort Kent Community High School; Fort Kent, 

Maine40

Fort Kent Community High School kept its former “Warriors” as a mascot but 

replaced all of the Native-themed imagery with Spartan imagery. To accomplish 

this goal, school administrators designed a contest for students to submit ideas 

for keeping the “Warriors” theme without using any Native-themed imagery. 

The students voted and decided on a new Spartan logo, which the district board 

approved in 2015. The student design was then sent to a graphic artist and applied 

to stationary, magnets, and other memorabilia at the school. Since Fort Kent 

had been using the Warriors mascot for nearly a decade, this gave the school an 

opportunity to brand itself with a non-offensive mascot. Using a student-driven 

design initiative helped both the school and community to enthusiastically embrace 

the change.

Port Townsend High School — Port Townsend High School; Port Townsend, 

Washington41

Port Townsend High School recently revisited the issue of its Native mascot when a 

father wrote a letter to the school board expressing how offended and embarrassed 

he was by the Redskins mascot. As a result, the school board conducted a yearlong, eight-member study group, which found the name was offensive to Native 

Americans. Following the group’s recommendation, the Port Townsend School 

Board unanimously voted in 2013 to retire the mascot. After the decision, the school 

allowed students to submit designs, and a student-led committee was charged with 

narrowing down the choices. After 16 weekly meetings, students voted to select 

Redhawks as Port Townsend’s new mascot. 
8

More Than Mascots: Part Two

Engaging Tribal Leaders, Parents, Educators, and Community Members to 

Improve Learning Environments for Native Students
9

Introduction

The WHIAIANE has heard through extensive listening sessions, consultations, and 

meetings that many educational leaders are interested in ensuring American Indian 

and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students receive an education that is supportive and 

positive. This section provides best practices, strategies, and resources42 that can 

help communities replace Native-themed MITC and establish safe and welcoming 

school environments. Community partners and tribal leaders and elders can serve 

as important resources as educational leaders work to reduce bullying, foster better 

school climates, and encourage strong educational outcomes for Native American 

youths and their non-Native peers.

Engaging Community and Local Partners

Community partners can play a critical role in supporting schools to replace Nativethemed MITC with more inclusive choices. Some schools have found it helpful to 

hold listening sessions with a broad array of constituencies (including students, 

parents, staff, alumni, and local Indian tribes and Native American groups) both to 

discuss the potential harm of Native-themed MITC, and to include these key groups 

in selecting new choices.43

However, the issues that Native students face go beyond Native-themed MITC — 

having a welcoming environment for learning and development is also a concern. 

Community involvement, especially in areas with high populations of Native 

students, can benefit students, the school, and the community. Many states, 

districts, and schools struggle with how to execute partnerships and cultivate and 

sustain positive relationships with underserved and underrepresented families and 

communities.44 School district-level administrators, school leaders, educators, and 

parents should take care to reach out to tribal communities when addressing issues 

of Native-themed MITC, as well as when improving the learning environment, to 

foster Native students’ expression of their cultural identity. 

Schools that wish to create partnerships should focus on developing the capacity 

of the school staffs and its stakeholders to build effective local and community 

partners that will support students. This can be accomplished through engagement 

activities with educators, parents, and community members provided within 

varying settings, including (1) pre- and in-service professional development for 

educators; (2) family academies, workshops, and seminars; and/or (3) parentteacher organizational meetings. When effectively implemented, such opportunities 

build and enhance the skills, knowledge, and dispositions of stakeholders to engage 

in effective partnerships that support student achievement and well-being. 

I work at an 

elementary school 

with five Native 

students. One of the 

things I feel is a big 

issue with school 

discipline is we don’t 

have Native identity 

in the schools. They 

don’t see successful 

Natives where they 

are. ... When we talk 

about Native history, 

I always dress ... in 

my traditional dress, 

and for my Native 

students, that’s 

always their highlight 

because they are 

represented.”

-Teacher, Oklahoma 

City Listening 

Session
10

Resources46

◆ U.S. Department of Education’s School Climate Surveys

(https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/edscls): Measuring school climate is 

critical for its improvement. High-quality school climate data allows educators to 

(1) better understand the perceptions of the students, staff, and parents in the 

school and district; (2) monitor progress; (3) make data-driven decisions; (4) 

involve stakeholders; and (5) adapt to shifting needs related to school climate. 

The voluntary ED School Climate Surveys’ web-based administration platform, 

including a suite of school climate surveys for middle and high school students, 

instructional staff, non-instructional staff, and parents and guardians, can now 

be downloaded free of charge (https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/edscls/

administration).

◆ U.S. Department of Education’s Parent and Community Engagement Website

(http://www.ed.gov/family-and-community-engagement): The Department 

provides resources for building greater support and capacity in schools, homes, 

and communities, so all students have the chance to succeed. This site includes 

ideas for how to bring your passion, talents, and energy to help students and to 

make your neighborhood schools stronger.

◆ U.S. Department of Education’s Parent Checklist (http://www2.ed.gov/

documents/family-community/parent-checklist.pdf): Because a child’s education 

begins at home, the Department developed this tool to provide parents with 

a set of questions to ask, and important issues to consider, when approaching 

teachers, principals, and counselors about their child’s development. As a parent 

or caregiver, it can be hard to know how to support your child’s learning, but 

asking educators the right questions is a good place to start.

◆ The Dual Capacity Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships 

(http://www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/partnership-frameworks.

pdf): Developed through a contract with the Southwest Educational 

Development Laboratory (SEDL) and subsequently released by the Department 

in 2014, this framework spurred states, districts, and schools to design 

initiatives that focus on building the capacity of educators and families to work 

collaboratively. States, local districts, and schools can leverage these efforts to 

work with families as essential partners in supporting positive outcomes for all 

students.
11

◆ Equity Assistance Centers (http://www2.ed.gov/programs/equitycenters/index.

html): Regional equity assistance centers provide technical assistance and training, 

upon request, in the areas of race, sex, national origin, and religion to public school 

districts and other responsible governmental agencies to promote equitable 

education opportunities. The centers work in the areas of civil rights, equity, and 

school reform.

◆ University of North Carolina’s American Indian Center Community Engagement 

Brief (http://americanindiancenter.unc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/AICCommunity-Engagement-Brief-fnl.pdf): Developing an engaged partnership with 

Native nations requires patience, nuance, and humility. This document contains 

examples of helpful practices for engaging with Native nations. These best practices 

are consistent with the values of the American Indian Center and are commonly 

found across many tribal communities.

◆ The Handbook on Family and Community Engagement (http://www.

schoolcommunitynetwork.org/downloads/FACEHandbook.pdf): The handbook, 

issued by the School Community Network, is intended to provide educators, 

community leaders, and parents with a succinct survey of the best research and 

practice on family and community engagement accumulated over the years. More 

important, the handbook offers a pathway for all students’ academic, personal, 

social, and emotional development.

Engaging Tribal Governments’ Leaders and Elders

It is crucial to engage tribes when working to address the issues Native youths face in 

our schools systems, especially when those issues are related to culture, heritage, or 

language.47 These issues could include addressing historical trauma, reviewing Native 

student data, providing bullying prevention strategies, and incorporating accurate 

depictions of Native culture into classrooms. In 2011, only 56 percent of AI/AN students 

in grade four reported knowing some or a lot about their tribe or group’s history or 

traditions. Additionally, only 43 percent of students in grade eight reported having some 

or a lot of knowledge of current issues important to AI/AN people.48 These numbers 

illustrate that there is much room for improvement in encouraging cultural pride and 

knowledge among students.

When engaging with tribes, it is particularly important that their sovereignty and their 

officials be treated respectfully. For instance, a meeting with a tribal official is akin to a 

meeting or engagement with an elected official, such as a federal or state senior official 

or a foreign dignitary.49 In such instances, consideration for preplanning and follow 

through will be essential in order to ensure that the meeting is designed and executed 

with mutual respect.50

When I was in first 

grade, we were doing 

a Thanksgiving project, 

and we had to decorate 

war bonnets, and I was 

told mine was wrong 

when I did it based on 

my Native culture.”

-Planner and Grant 

Writer, Los Angeles 

Listening Session 
12

Considerations of etiquette are especially important for engagement with tribes, 

given the diversity among the 567 federally recognized tribes51 whose members 

speak more than 300 distinct languages.52 Today, many tribes’ customs and 

protocols are undocumented, which warrants further engagement with tribes and 

their executive staffs to gain better understanding of the appropriate customs and 

etiquette. Many tribes have offices or centers of culture and heritage that can assist 

in identifying and understanding protocol and etiquette.53 Additionally, most tribes 

have executive support staffs that can also help school districts identify, understand, 

and navigate proper protocol, etiquette, and processes. Good faith intent, practice, 

etiquette, and an efficient protocol can make meaningful engagement and dialogue 

between tribal and school leadership easy.

Other considerations for educators and school system leaders when working with 

tribes include the following:54

◆ Learn about past and current involvement with the tribe in question to add a 

historic understanding of its goals and to avoid duplication or misunderstanding 

of the context in which the relationship will take place. The history of the 

relationship between a school system and the tribal nation or leadership is 

important.

◆ Work to understand the history and the impact that schools have had on tribes 

and their children. Earn trust by educating school leaders and staffs about how 

tribal governments operate. This requires (1) demonstrating respect for tribal 

values, (2) having a proactive interest in tribal goals for education, and (3) 

following through on commitments. Be transparent, informative, consistent, and 

credible.

◆ Know and communicate expectations and be transparent about gaps in 

knowledge or understanding — exercise humility. Agenda and expectations may 

be different than the tribes’, and it will take time to identify and address these 

differences in a way that builds trust and mutual understanding.

◆ Tribes value consultation and meetings that are transparent and deliberative, and 

decisions that grow out of consensus. Elected tribal leaders, like other elected 

officials, have many constituencies to whom they are accountable including 

but not limited to elders, spiritual leaders, and traditional tribal leaders. School 

officials must respect these layers of formal and informal leadership.

◆ Simply recording views of tribal leaders or any other tribal stakeholders is not 

considered meaningful engagement. Be sure to share with tribal leaders and 
13

stakeholders how you have incorporated feedback or insight gained from 

meetings.

◆ Recognize that tribal governments must deal with the entire welfare of the 

community, and these governments may have varying capacities for dealing 

with education issues. Different tribes will be in different places when it comes 

to awareness of school funding, law, and pedagogy.

◆ Like most governments, tribes experience a multitude of competing priorities 

with changing political tribal administrations. Work to understand change cycles 

and build relationships within multiple layers of leadership within tribes to 

ensure continuity of shared values, understandings, and work.

◆ Do not promise things you cannot deliver. If a proposed action requires 

acceptance or approval from someone else other than the representatives 

present, explain in detail the process and time line you will take to secure 

approval.

◆ Consider collaboration with other partners, members of the community, or 

businesses as a way to use additional resources and relationships that can help 

to advance actions you could not accomplish alone.

Resources55

◆ REL Central’s Profiles of Partnerships between Tribal Education Departments 

and Local Education Agencies (http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/

central/pdf/REL_2012137_sum.pdf): This study from the Regional Educational 

Laboratory Central examines nine voluntary working relationships or 

partnerships between tribal education departments and local education 

agencies supporting American Indian students. Individual profiles describe how 

each partnership works, focusing primarily on collaborative activities intended to 

improve education outcomes for American Indian students.

◆ Working Effectively with Tribal Governments (https://tribal.golearnportal.

org/): This online training course, provided by GoLearn.gov, is available at no 

charge. It is based on the principle that a well-informed workforce is better 

equipped to achieve positive results with Indian tribes, and more likely to avoid 

missteps or costly litigation. Therefore the staffs and volunteers working with 

Indian tribes must know the key concepts, concerns, historical background, 

and the legal and cultural frameworks that shape the unique relationship the 

federal government has with Indian tribes. This course provides that critical 

[Early elementary 

school years] are very 

formative years in our 

education system. They 

lay the foundation for 

all the knowledge that is 

gained later in life. [As 

a future teacher,] I am 

already contemplating 

how I’m going to handle 

in-class discussion 

about topics such as 

Thanksgiving. While it 

wouldn’t be appropriate 

for me to discuss how 

the first Thanksgiving 

was really a celebration 

of the massacre of 700 

Pequot men, women, 

and children by a colonial 

war party with a group 

of kindergarteners, I also 

don’t want to ‘reenact’ 

a ‘first Thanksgiving’ 

by having half the class 

dress as pilgrims and the 

other half dress as Indians 

wearing war bonnets. The 

tribes in that area didn’t 

even wear war bonnets.”

-College Student, 

Oklahoma City Listening 

Session
14

information in an engaging and accessible format, and contains valuable tips for 

cross-cultural communication. It also explains fundamental principles and laws 

relevant to working with tribal nations on a government-to-government basis. 

States, districts, or schools could integrate this training program into all training 

programs for staff and volunteers working with Indian tribes, tribal organizations, 

and nonprofits serving Native American communities. 

◆ A Guide to Build Cultural Awareness (http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content/

SMA08-4354/SMA08-4354.pdf): This guide, developed by an ad hoc group 

of U.S. Public Health Service commissioned officers, AI/AN professionals, and 

family advocates working together from 2006-2007, is intended to serve as a 

general briefing to enhance cultural competence while providing services to 

AI/AN communities. (Cultural competence is defined as the ability to function 

effectively in the context of cultural differences.) A more specific orientation or 

training should be provided by a member of the particular AI/AN community.

◆ NCAI’s Tribal Nations & the United States: An Introduction (http://www.ncai.

org/about-tribes): This guide, developed by the NCAI, seeks to provide a basic 

overview of the history and underlying principles of tribal governance and gives 

introductory information about tribal governments and AI/AN people today. 

The purpose of the guide is to ensure that policy decision makers at the local, 

state, and federal level understand their relationship to tribal governments as 

part of the American family of governments. Additionally, this guide provides 

the information necessary for members of the public at large to understand and 

engage effectively with contemporary Indian nations.

◆ National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) Education Offices 

(http://nmai.si.edu/explore/foreducatorsstudents/): The NMAI has developed 

instructional materials and programs in collaboration with indigenous 

communities in order to advance the knowledge and understanding of 

indigenous cultures. Visit their website for a selection of free classroom resource 

materials, including teaching posters, guides, and online resources.

◆ Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian 

Nations (http://nmai.si.edu/explore/exhibitions/item/?id=934): The NMAI 

provides comprehensive resources for teachers through this exhibit in order 

for them to develop a better understanding of the relationship between the 

United States and Indian nations. From symposia and seminars to online treaty 

accessibility and videos, educators are equipped with a complete guide to 

understanding U.S.-American Indian treaties.
15

◆ Governor’s Commission to Study American Indian Representation in Public 

Schools (https://www.colorado.gov/governor/news/gov-hickenloopercommission-release-report-study-american-indian-representions-publicschools): Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado released a final report on the 

use of mascots and imagery in his state’s public schools. After five months of 

community meetings and discussion, the commission established four guiding 

principles that can be taken on by local communities, educational institutions, 

state agencies, and organizations.

Student Access to Culturally Appropriate Instruction

Approximately a quarter of AI/AN students in grades four and eight received 

instruction from teachers who had acquired knowledge “to a large extent” from 

living and working in an AI/AN community.56 Further, only 30 percent of school 

administrators serving AI/AN fourth-graders reported having AI/AN community 

members visit the school to share tribal nation history and traditions more than 

three or more times a year in 2011.57 As demonstrated by numerous listening 

session testimonies dealing with culturally insensitive teachers, formal training on 

working with AI/AN students could help improve teachers’ cultural knowledge and 

sensitivity.

Research shows that unhealthy school environments are known to damage 

Native and non-Native students’ self-esteem.58 For Native youths in particular, an 

unhealthy environment makes them feel unsafe in the classroom, decreasing their 

likelihood of success.59 During the listening sessions, WHIAIANE heard that many 

students experience what they perceive as hostile or discriminatory behavior from 

teachers, school administrators, or classmates. 

While some students reported positive views when discussing their teachers 

and what they learn in school, many Native parents and youths reflected on 

struggles with teachers, fellow students, or both. Many students experienced low 

expectations or unfair disciplinary actions from educators. Native students also 

shared numerous instances of being bullied or isolated by their classmates on the 

basis of their heritage.60

Attitudes and actions of teachers and school administrators sometimes contribute 

to students’ discomfort or frustration about their learning environments. Some 

students in listening sessions reported that teachers or other school staff made 

unfair assumptions about Native Americans, resulting in low expectations or 

creating an environment of subtle racism that students may endure and internalize.61
16

Whether unintentional or deliberate, such assumptions are multifaceted and their 

consequences create uncomfortable or unhealthy situations for Native students.

It is crucial to understand the cultural implications and context of negative messages 

that teachers and education leaders may send. Structural social injustice — for 

example, massacres, forced relocations, prohibition of spiritual/cultural policies, 

and especially the removal of children through boarding school policies — has had 

enduring consequences. Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart defines historical trauma 

as the “cumulative emotional and psychological wounding across generations, 

including the lifespan, which emanates from massive group trauma.” The pervasive 

nature of historical trauma entwines individual trauma with multigenerational impact 

through the disruption of community and cultural infrastructures.62 

Enhancing cultural competence is critical in the process of protecting and uplifting 

Native youths and their families.63 In order to be effective, cultural awareness, 

sensitivity, empathy, and understanding need to be integrated into the school 

climate. Ultimately, incorporating culturally responsive engagement in schools will 

help create safe, stable, and nurturing environments; by doing so Native youths will 

have the support necessary to achieve their fullest potential. 

The following list of recommended actions has been adapted from the National 

Child Traumatic Stress Network:64

1. Improve access to trauma-informed care and guidance counseling — for example, 

by increasing the number of services for traumatized youths in schools and 

providing higher quality training to faculty;

2. Assist students who may be struggling with guilt, shame, or discrimination to 

overcome their hesitancies to seek help;

3. Develop and evaluate culturally responsive school services with effective 

community and tribal engagement;

4. Address the factor of social adversity — poverty, violence, discrimination, racism 

— to strengthen and build upon existing supports to families; and

5. Encourage and embrace positive ethnic identity.

Resources65

◆ NIEA’s Culture-Based Education Repository 

(http://www.niea-resourcerepository.org/index.php): This project of the NIEA is 

designed to house culture-based education curriculum. The repository serves as a 
17

clearinghouse for curriculum respectful of cultural and traditional knowledge and 

uses innovative instructional strategies to ensure Native students succeed.

◆ NIEA’s Native Education 101 (http://www.niea.org/our-story/history/native-101/): To 

better understand how the current Native education system was established, NIEA 

has created Native Nations and American Schools: The History of Natives in the 

American Education System to share information about the historical context and 

current status of Native education. NIEA hopes this document can serve as a guide 

for educators to use responsive education strategies and understand their Native 

students.

◆ National Board of Professional Teaching Standards’ HEART Initiative (http://www.

nbpts.org/contact-us): The HEART initiative brings together programs and partners 

with research-proven results to empower teachers with the knowledge, skills, and 

resources they need to make lasting changes for Native youths. Designed as a multiyear project, the HEART initiative offers a series of professional and holistic growth 

experiences, which are unparalleled in their ability to give teachers the skills and 

resources they need to help Native students thrive. Contact the National Board for 

more information.

◆ Center for Native American Youth’s (CNAY) Publications on Native Youth (http://

www.cnay.org/CNAY_Publications.html): This resource offers publications produced 

by CNAY. These documents share information about important issues for Native 

youths throughout the country.

◆ National Education Association Diversity Toolkit (http://www.nea.org/tools/

diversity-toolkit.html): This online tool kit provides an introduction to the multiple 

facets of diversity. It offers basic information, a short list of strategies and tools, and 

suggestions for how to find out more. Neither the short list of topics in this tool 

kit nor the content within each topic is meant to be exhaustive. For more in-depth 

information, visit the web links listed under each topic.

◆ American Federation of Teachers’ Racial Equity Report (http://www.aft.org/

sites/default/files/racial_equity_taskforce_10-8-15.pdf): Reclaiming the Promise of 

Racial Equity in Education, Economics and Our Criminal Justice System provides 

a framework for the development of policy in national and state legislation, at the 

school board level and inside the federation itself.

◆ The Oceti Sakowin Project (http://indianeducation.sd.gov/ocetisakowin.aspx): The 

2007 South Dakota Indian Education Act mandated the development of course 

content for curriculum and coursework in South Dakota American Indian history 
18

and culture. As a result of this mandate, the South Dakota Office of Indian Education 

pursued funding in order to begin the development of materials. In 2008, the Indian 

Land Tenure Foundation awarded a grant to the South Dakota Office of Indian 

Education to begin the Oceti Sakowin Project. The project was completed in July 

2011, and approved by the South Dakota Board of Education.

◆ Evaluating American Indian Materials and Resources for the Classroom 

(http://opi.mt.gov/pdf/IndianEd/Resources/EvalAmIndianMaterials.pdf): This 

resource, prepared by the Indian Education Division of the Montana Office of 

Public Instruction, is intended to help educators determine whether resources 

such as books, videos, and images are appropriate for the classroom. It outlines 

the ways in which classroom resources can contain bias, and provides evaluative 

criteria that educators may use to avoid using biased resources.

◆ Native American Rights Fund (http://www.narf.org/contact-us/): Graduation 

season is an especially busy time for the Native American Rights Fund (NARF). 

Every year, NARF is contacted by Native American students from across 

the country who are prohibited from wearing eagle feathers at graduation 

ceremonies due to narrow graduation dress codes. By and large, once those 

schools come to understand the religious and cultural significance of eagle 

feathers, they make accommodations and exceptions for Native American 

students. NARF advocates for these graduates so they can celebrate their great 

successes without sacrificing their tribal identity.

Proactively Addressing Bullying 

Bullying fosters a climate of fear and disrespect that can seriously impair the 

physical and psychological health of its victims. It also creates conditions 

that negatively affect learning, undermining the ability of students to achieve 

their full potential.66 Some bullying may qualify as harassment under federal 

antidiscrimination laws enforced by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for 

Civil Rights (OCR) (see Part Three of this report).

A 2013 research article by Professors Evelyn M. Campbell and Susan E. Smalling 

reported that 54 percent of American Indian students participating in the 2010 

Minnesota Student Survey experienced some form of bullying. Of those students, 

29.3 percent experienced threats, 47.5 percent experienced physical violence, 

and 23.5 percent experienced both.67 In this study, American Indian students 

experienced a higher rate of being threatened than any other group of students, 

except those in the mixed race category. Other students in other regions may be 
19

struggling with bullying as well. In several states with particular regions of high 

Native student populations, including New York, Vermont, North Dakota, South 

Dakota, Oklahoma, and Maryland, AI/AN students were the most likely or second 

most likely to be bullied of any racial or ethnic group.68 Campbell and Smalling’s 

study demonstrated that “these high levels of victimization and potential bullying 

experienced may lead to several issues for students, including not feeling safe in 

school, problems with academics, and potentially dropping out.”69

Among AI/ANs aged 10 to 34 years, suicide is the second leading cause of death.70

A 2011 study linked bullying as a contributing factor to the rising suicide rate among 

AI/AN youths, reiterating the sense of urgency around bullying that the listening 

sessions highlighted. The study advises that “culturally responsive educators teach 

skills related to empathy and compassion, and establish social norms and rules that 

respect all students.” The study continues, “AI/AN students attending culturally 

responsive and inclusive schools will feel connected, empowered, and better 

prepared to address discriminatory bullying and harassment.”71

During the listening sessions, many speakers shared stories of bullying that ranged 

from name-calling to physical attacks.72 Parents and students also conveyed that 

many of these instances and behaviors stem from stereotypes related to Native 

Americans. WHIAIANE heard from students that they experience distress due to 

being isolated from others at school, and that they receive inadequate counseling 

and behavioral health support to address their needs. Specifically, WHIAIANE 

heard that teachers and school staff commonly ignored the bullying of AI/AN 

students, and that those who respond to racial affronts are often punished as the 

instigators of misconduct.73

States and local school districts should promote training for all school staff so 

they can fairly and effectively recognize and respond to incidents of bullying. In 

addition, schools should (1) provide counseling and support to victims of bullying, 

(2) publicly affirm that incidents of misconduct are unacceptable, (3) implement 

policies that promptly and effectively address bullying (and include a mechanism 

for Native students, teachers, and staff to provide feedback on a school’s efforts), 

(4) offer age-appropriate programs that promote acceptance, (5) educate 

students and families about how to report bullying, and (6) institute school climate 

assessments that address these issues and that are more inclusive of AI/AN 

students.74

I have been working 

with Native American 

services in Oklahoma 

City, and I was able 

to get advice from a 

lot of the people here 

to talk about the land 

run reenactments... 

It’s worth talking 

about again because 

it’s something we can 

change. They changed it 

in Norman, so they can 

change it here. We can’t 

just bring complaints; we 

have to bring solutions.”

-Parent, Oklahoma City 

Listening Session
20

Resources75

◆ StopBullying.gov (http://www.stopbullying.gov/): This website, managed by the U.S. 

Department of Health and Human Services, serves as a clearinghouse for all federal 

anti-bullying resources and information about state laws and model policies to stop 

bullying and protect children.

◆ Understanding Bullying (http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying_

factsheet.pdf): This resource from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)provides a 

working definition of bullying, reviews its status as a public health issue, and addresses 

the effect bullying has on mental health. It also provides prevention tips, CDC’s 

approach to bullying prevention, and related resources.

◆ Analysis of State Bullying Laws and Policies (http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/

bullying/state-bullying-laws/state-bullying-laws.pdf): This resource reviews states' 

bullying laws and model bullying policies, and school districts' bullying policies, using 

the Department’s guidance document, "Anti-Bullying Policies: Examples of Provisions 

in State Laws," as an organizing framework for the review. 

◆ Tribal Health Reaching Out InVolves Everyone (THRIVE) Media Campaign (http://

youth.gov/federal-links/thrive-media-campaign-prevent-suicide-and-bullying-amongamerican-indianalaska-native): The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ 

Indian Health Service, in partnership with the Northwest Portland Area Indian 

Health Board, have created THRIVE, which is a suicide prevention and anti-bullying 

prevention campaign for American Indian/Alaska Native youths.

◆ Community Action Toolkit (http://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/in-thecommunity/community-action-planning/community-action-toolkit.pdf): This resource 

is posted on stopbullying.gov. It includes materials to create a community event 

using the research, ideas, and bullying prevention and response strategies provided 

in a training module. Information includes a bullying assessment, event agendas, 

community engagement tool kits, and action planning matrix and tips for working 

with the media.

◆ Cyberbullying: Understanding and Addressing Online Cruelty (http://www.adl.org/

education-outreach/lesson-plans/c/cyberbullying-understanding-and-addressing.

html?referrer=http://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/results?utf8=%E2%9C%93&qry

=training&commit=Search&sort=&direction=%20-%20.V5fOc_krJhE#.V9hEPk3r3q4):

This resource from the Anti-Defamation League offers comprehensive curriculum 

lessons for elementary, middle, and high school students to educate youths about 

cyberbullying.
21

◆ Measuring Bullying Victimization, Perpetration and Bystander Experiences (http://

www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/pdf/BullyCompendium-a.pdf): This compendium 

from the Centers for Disease Control provides researchers, prevention specialists, and 

health educators with tools to measure and assess a range of bullying experiences. 

These include perpetration, victimization, bully-victim experiences, and bystander 

experiences. This compendium represents a starting point from which researchers and 

schools can consider a set of sound measures for assessing self-reported incidence and 

prevalence of bullying experiences.

Funding Resources for Change

Because changing a school’s Native-themed MITC can involve expenses such as repainting 

logos on school walls, purchasing new team uniforms, or training school personnel, some 

schools have engaged booster clubs or other local organizations to raise funds for this purpose. Some school districts like the Houston Independent School District76 have funded efforts to change their schools’ mascots, and Adidas Corp77 has offered funding and design 

resources to schools to change harmful or offensive mascots. Some tribal governments, like 

the Oneida Indian Nation,78 have also offered funds to change Native-themed MITC. Lastly, 

some federal grant funds under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

(ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), may be used to replace a 

Native-themed mascot or team name consistent with program requirements

A school district that receives Impact Aid funds, for example, may generally use those 

funds in whatever manner the recipient school district chooses, in accordance with state 

and local requirements (except that Impact Aid funds for children with disabilities and construction must be spent for those specific purposes).79 In addition, a district that receives 

Indian Education formula grants may use the funds to improve educational outcomes for 

Indian students, for example for professional development on culturally-appropriate teaching, if described in the district’s annual application.80 Similarly, a district may use ESEA Title 

II-A funds and, consistent with their school-wide program plans, Title I-A funds in schools 

operating a school-wide program, to carry out in-service training for school personnel on 

issues related to conditions that impede student learning, which may include creating an inclusive, non-discriminatory learning environment.81 Finally, Title I-A funds may be used by a 

Title I school operating a school-wide program for minor repairs that are related to improving the culture of the school, such as repainting over a Native-themed logo.82 At the state 

level, a state education agency (SEA) may use Title II-A funds for supporting professional 

development on cultural sensitivity or creating an inclusive, non-discriminatory learning environment to improve the quality and effectiveness of teachers, principals, and other school 

leaders.83

“Eighty-seven 

percent of the 

representations of 

Native Americans 

in the curriculum 

today in the 

United States are 

pre-1900. That’s 

ridiculous in 2014.” 

-Anthropologist, 

Seattle Listening 

Session
22

More Than Mascots: Part Three

A Non-Discriminatory School Environment: Considering Federal Civil Rights 

Laws
23

Ensuring a Non-Discriminatory School Environment for Native Students 

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces federal 

civil rights laws that prohibit schools, colleges, and universities receiving federal 

funds from discriminating against students in any of their programs or activities 

based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age. These laws protect all 

students, including Native American students, from unlawful discrimination. For example, elementary and secondary schools are required to provide Native American 

students with the following:

◆ Equal access to educational opportunities without regard to race, color, or 

national origin. This includes high-quality courses, academic programs, and 

extracurricular activities; strong teachers, school leaders, and support staff; 

safe school facilities conducive to learning; and appropriate technology and 

instructional materials.

◆ Special education or related services to those with a disability. This must include 

a free, appropriate, public education, with regular or special education and 

related aids, and services designed to meet their individual educational needs as 

adequately as the needs of students without disabilities are met.

◆ An educationally sound language assistance program to students who are not 

proficient in English because it is not their primary language. This program must 

provide a qualified staff and sufficient resources, as well as equitable access to 

school programs and activities. 

Unlawful discrimination can take many forms, which include (1) treating a Native 

student differently from similarly situated students of other races without a legitimate non-discriminatory reason; (2) selectively enforcing a school policy only 

against Native students; and (3) acting on racially discriminatory motives towards 

Native students. A school policy or practice, moreover, can also violate the law if it 

disproportionately affects Native students and is either not educationally necessary 

or there is a less discriminatory comparably effective alternative.84
24

In addition, as discussed briefly in Part Two, harassment of a student for being 

Native American is a form of discrimination that may violate the laws OCR enforces 

if (1) it is sufficiently serious that it interferes with the student’s ability to participate 

in school activities, and (2) the school fails to respond to it appropriately. A 

school that knows or reasonably should know of possible racial harassment must 

immediately and appropriately investigate what happened in a prompt, thorough, 

and impartial manner. If a school’s investigation reveals that racial harassment 

was sufficiently serious that it limited or denied a student’s ability to participate in 

or benefit from school services, activities, or opportunities (i.e., created a hostile 

environment), the school must (1) take prompt and effective steps reasonably 

calculated to end the harassment, (2) eliminate the hostile environment, (3) prevent 

it from recurring, and, as appropriate, (4) remedy its effects. See the OCR Dear 

Colleague Letter: Harassment and Bullying (Oct. 26, 2010) (http://www2.ed.gov/

about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201010.pdf) for more information.

Some examples of situations that could raise civil rights concerns85 include when 

students, teachers, or school staff

◆ depict Native people in threatening, dehumanizing, or demeaning ways in school 

facilities, on school paraphernalia, or at school events such as pep rallies or 

sporting events;

◆ require Native students to play the part of Indians in school activities, such as 

dressing up as a Native-themed mascot, playing “cowboys versus Indians,” or 

reenacting Thanksgiving;

◆ subject Native students to caricaturized or stereotyped “Indian” war whoops, 

tomahawk chops, chants, dances, attire, or associated customs at school 

activities or events; or

◆ retaliate against Native students or parents for opposing a school’s Nativethemed mascot, team name, logo, or associated customs.
25

How to File a Civil Rights Complaint

◆ Anyone who has concerns about possible discrimination based on race, color, 

national origin, sex, disability, or age, at a school, college, or university may 

file a complaint of discrimination with OCR within 180 days of the alleged 

discrimination.

◆ The person or organization filing the complaint does not need to be a victim 

of the alleged discrimination, but may complain on behalf of another person or 

group (such as a parent or teacher filing a complaint on behalf of a student).

◆ A complaint may be filed with OCR by mail, fax, e-mail, or online. For more 

details, please visit www.ed.gov/ocr/complaintintro.html or contact OCR 

by phone (800) 421-3481 or by e-mail ocr@ed.gov for more information or 

questions.

◆ You are not required by law to use a school’s grievance process before filing a 

complaint with OCR, but you may want to consider that process to have the 

complaint resolved.

Additional Resources

More information about OCR and the laws it enforces are available at the following 

web pages:

✺ OCR’s website: www.ed.gov/ocr

✺ Race discrimination: www.ed.gov/ocr/frontpage/pro-students/race-origin-pr.

html 

✺ Sex discrimination: www.ed.gov/ocr/frontpage/pro-students/sex-pr.html 

✺ Disability discrimination: www.ed.gov/policy/rights/guid/ocr/disability.html

✺ Harassment and bullying: www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/

colleague-201010.pdf

✺ Civil Rights Data Collection: http://ocrdata.ed.gov 
26

Contact Information for Groups or Individuals Who Want More Information

WHIAIANE is always interested in hearing from students, parents, schools, educators, communities, and organizations working to create positive and successful learning environments. The initiative also endeavors to share and amplify the 

success of those who are already engaged in these efforts. Please contact the 

WHIAIANE staff if there are any resources, supports, stories, or guidance that you 

would like to provide.

U.S. Department of Education

White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education

400 Maryland Ave., SW

Room 4W118

Washington, DC 20002

Phone: (202) 453-6600

Fax: (202) 453-5635

WHIAIANE@ed.gov

http://sites.ed.gov/whiaiane/contact-us/
27

Endnotes

1

See White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, School Environment Listening 

Sessions Final Report, (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2015), 1-5, http://sites.ed.gov/whiaiane/

files/2015/12/81326-SchoolEnvir.-394-260.pdf. 2The terms “Native American” and “Native” are used in this document to refer to all the indigenous peoples of the 

United States, (who are American Indian, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian), regardless of their membership in a 

tribe.

3See White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, 39-44.

4See C. Richard King, ed., Native American Mascot Controversy: A Handbook, (Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press 

Inc., 2015), 19, 24, 41, 67, 147-48.

5For more on the origins of Native team names, mascots, and associated imagery selected by schools and sports 

teams see the following: (1) Philip J. Deloria, “Mascots and Other Public Appropriations of Indians and Indian 

Culture by Whites,” Encyclopedia of North American Indians, (Frederick Hoxie ed., Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1996), 

359-61, (“During the 1920s, many college and professional teams . . . adopted Indian names. The practice filtered 

down to thousands of high schools and junior high schools seeking institutional identities. ...Indian chiefs and braves 

represented the aggressiveness and fighting spirit that was supposed to characterize good athletic teams.”); (2) J. 

Gordon Hylton, “Before the Redskins Were the Redskins: The Use of Native American Team Names in the Formative 

Era of American Sports, 1857-1933,” 86 North Dakota Law Review, (2010), 879, 891, (“Reinforced by powerful 

images of exotic, warlike Plains Indians in Hollywood films and a new widely-adopted practice of associating team 

names with the ferociousness or guile of the players, Native American team names and logos ... became a source of 

crowd-pleasing pageantry.”); (3) C. Richard King, 19, 24-25, 41, 50, 70, 86, 147-48, 217.

6See (1) U.S. Senate hearing before the Committee on Indian Affairs, 112th Congress, May 5, 2011, “Stolen Identities: 

the Impact of Racist Stereotypes on Indigenous People,” 15, 53, 64, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG112shrg66994/pdf/CHRG-112shrg66994.pdf; and (2) Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse, 2015 WL 4096277, at *24 

(E.D. Va. July 8, 2015), appeal filed, No. 15-1874 (4th Cir. Aug. 6, 2015) (citing eleven dictionaries from 1898 to 1989 

defining Redskin as offensive as evidence that Redskins’ trademarks may disparage a substantial composite of 

Native Americans).

7See (1) U.S. Senate hearing, May 5, 2011, statement of Indigenous Peoples Working People, 64, (“All the major 

Native American organizations have called for the end of the modern commodification of their peoples and 

symbols in sports and in popular culture generally[.])”; (2) C. Richard King, 3, 64, 121, 184.

8The term “schools” refers to elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as to colleges and universities.

9See (1) National Congress of American Indians, Ending the Legacy of Racism in Sports and the Era of Harmful 

“Indian” Sports Mascots, (October, 2013), http://www.ncai.org/resources/ncai-publications/Ending_the_Legacy_

of_Racism.pdf; (2) Erik Stegman and Victoria Phillips for the Center for American Progress, “Missing the Point: 

The Real Impact of Native Mascots and Team Names on American Indian and Alaska Native Youth,” (July 2014), 

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/report/2014/07/22/94214/missing-the-point/. 10See (1) C. Richard King, 127, 137-39, 259-63; (2) Center for American Progress, 15-16.

11To date, states or their boards of education have adopted such policies in California, Michigan, Minnesota, New 

Hampshire, New York, Oregon, and Washington, and a number of school districts have implemented similar 

restrictions, including Los Angeles and Houston. See (1) C. Richard King, 255-57, (lists associations, educational 

institutions, civil rights groups, religious organizations, and other entities that have adopted policies or resolutions 

calling for the rejection of Native mascots); (2) Center for American Progress, 16.

12U.S. Senate hearing , May 5, 2011, statement of Suzan Shown Harjo, 7, 12.

13See (1) National Congress of American Indians; (2) Center for American Progress, 1, 4, 9-16, 23-26; (3) C. Richard 

King, 255-57. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has called for Native American mascots to be replaced, the U.S. 

Patent and Trademark Office has cancelled several of the Washington Redskins’ trademarks as disparaging to 

Native Americans, and media outlets across the country have stopped printing and using the team’s name.
28

14See (1) White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, 39-44, (“approximately 2,400 

public schools”); (2) C. Richard King, xiii, 71, 94, 147, (citing various sources that estimate “[m]ore than 2,100 teams, 

franchises, and schools,” “more than 2500 schools,” “2,000-2,500 schools,” and “more than 2,500 elementary, 

secondary, and postsecondary schools” with Native-themed mascots or team names); (3) MascotDB, “100 Most 

Frequently Used Team Names,” http://www.mascotdb.com/lists.php?id=5; (4) Center for American Progress, 15-16. 15MascotDB, “Native American Related Mascots,” http://mascotdb.com/lists.php?id=23. 16U.S. Senate hearing, May 5, 2011, 11-16, 53, 64, (explaining the terms “redskins” and “squaws”).

17See, for example, (1) Ibid., 15, 53, 64; (2) Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse, 2015 WL 4096277, at *24 (E.D. Va. July 8, 

2015), appeal filed, No. 15-1874 (4th Cir. Aug. 6, 2015), (citing eleven dictionaries from 1898 to 1989 defining Redskin 

as an offensive slur as evidence that the Washington Redskins’ trademarks may disparage a substantial composite 

of Native Americans).

18U.S. Senate hearing, May 5, 2011, 15, 53, 64.

19Ibid., 11.

20See (1) White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, 39-40; (2) C. Richard King, 7-25, 

68-94, 146-50, 187-234.

21See (1) U.S. Senate hearing, May 5, 2011, 47; (2) Center for American Progress, 15-16; (3) Sarah Sunshine Manning, 

“Youth Continue Their Battle Against Sisseton ‘Redmen’,” (Sept. 2, 2015), http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.

com/2015/09/02/manning-youth-continue-their-battle-against-sisseton-redmen-161605. 22(1) U.S. Senate hearing, May 5, 2011, statements of Suzan Shown Harjo and Charlene Teters, 11, 19-20; (2) C. Richard 

King, 5-47, 187-234.

23See(1) White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, 39-40; (2) U.S. Senate hearing, 

May 5, 2011, statements of Hon. Tex G. Hall, Suzan Shown Harjo, Charlene Teters, Stephanie A. Fryberg, Hon. Ben 

Nighthorse Campbell, David M. Gipp, Jesse A. Steinfeldt, 3-6, 10-16, 19-20, 27-31, 53-54, 57-63, 68-69, 82-92; (3) 

American Psychological Association, “Resolution Recommending the Immediate Retirement of American Indian 

Mascots, Symbols, Images, and Personalities by Schools, Colleges, Universities, Athletic Teams, and Organizations” 

(Aug. 21, 2005); (4) John Chaney et al., “Do American Indian Mascots = American Indian People? Examining Implicit 

Bias Towards American Indian People and American Indian Mascots,” American Indian and Alaska Native Mental 

Health Research, 2011, 42-62; (5) A.R. LaRocque et al., “Indian Sports Nicknames/Logos: Affective Differences 

Between American Indian and Non-Indian College Students,” American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health 

Research, 2011, 1-7; (6) S. Freng & C. Willis-Esqueda, “A Question of Honor: Chief Wahoo and American Indian 

Stereotype Activation Among a University Based Sample,” The Journal of Social Psychology, (2011), 151, 577-91; 

(7) C. Kim-Prieto, “Effect of Exposure to an American Indian Mascot on the Tendency to Stereotype a Different 

Minority Group,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 40, (2011), 534-53; (8) S.A. Fryberg et al., “Of Warrior Chiefs 

and Indian Princesses: The Psychological Consequences of American Indian Mascots,” Basic and Applied Social 

Psychology, 30, (2008), 208-18 ; (9) National Congress of American Indians, 5. Also, see generally C. Richard King 

for reprinted articles, research, and resolutions documenting the harms of Native mascots and team names.

24U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, “Statement on the Use of Native American Images and Nicknames as Sports 

Symbols,” (2001), http://www.usccr.gov/press/archives/2001/041601st.htm. 25See Lawrence R. Baca, “Native Images in Schools and the Racially Hostile Environment,” Journal of Sport & Social 

Issues, 28, (2004), 71-78.

26For further discussion of civil rights implications, please see Part Three of this resource guide.

27See the U.S. Commission on Civil rights statement, or more generally the American Psychological Association’s 

resolution.

28See www.reducingstereotypethreat.org, created by two social psychologists as a resource for faculty, teachers, 

students, and the general public interested in the phenomenon of stereotype threat. For a definition, see “What 

is stereotype threat?” www.reducingstereotypethreat.org/definition.html. For more general information about 
29

stereotype threat, see Claude M. Steele & Joshua Aronson, “Stereotype Threat and the Intellectual Test Performance 

of African Americans,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, (1995), 797-811. 29U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “District Enrollments 

by Race/Ethnicity 2012–13,” compiled from the Elementary/Secondary Information System, 

https://nces.ed.gov/ccd/elsi/tableGenerator.aspx. 30See C. Richard King, 49-53.

31Ibid., 5-14, 25, 33, 68, 121, 191, 195, 217, 234.

32See Michael A. Friedman, The Harmful Psychological Effects of the Washington Football Mascot, (2013), 11-13, 

http://www.changethemascot.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DrFriedmanReport.pdf. 33See (1) the American Psychological Association resolution; (2) C. Kim-Prieto; (3) S.A. Fryberg et al., “Of Warrior 

Chiefs and Indian Princesses: The Psychological Consequences of American Indian Mascots of American Indians,” 

Basic and Applied Psychology, 30, (2008), 208-18; (4) Friedman. 34See (1) White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, 39; (2) American Psychological 

Association; (3) C. Kim-Prieto; (4) S.A. Fryberg et al., “Of Warrior Chiefs and Indian Princesses: The Psychological 

Consequences of American Indian Mascots.”

35White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, 6, 28, 30, 39, 41-44.

36Friedman and the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, 39-44.

37U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

38See (1) Lancaster Central School District, Lancaster, NY, “Redskins Mascot,” http://lancasterschools.org/mascot; 

(2) Helen Norton, “U.S. Civil Rights Commission, New York Department of Education Call for End to Native 

American Mascots,” (May 1, 2001), http://www.civilrights.org/indigenous/stereotypes/u-s-civil-rights-commissionnew-york-department-of-education-call-for-end-to-native-american-mascots.html. 39Jerry Ulmer, “The Dalles Becomes the Latest Oregon School to Drop Native American Mascot,” Oregonian, (Aug. 

30, 2014), http://highschoolsports.oregonlive.com/news/article/-3668039736778055308/the-dalles-becomeslatest-oregon-school-to-drop-native-american-mascot/. 40Julia Bayly, “SAD 27’s new ‘Spartan’ Warriors logo to help end use of offensive Native American imagery,” Bangor 

Daily News, (Jan., 8, 2015), http://bangordailynews.com/2015/01/08/news/aroostook/sad-27s-new-spartanwarriors-logo-to-help-end-use-of-offensive-native-american-imagery/. 41Charlie Bermant, “Port Townsend pick Red Hawks as high school’s new mascot,” Peninsula Daily News, (April 9, 

2014), http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20140409/NEWS/304099983; Indian Country Today Media 

Network Staff, “Washington High School Drops Redskins Mascot,” Indian Country Today Media Network, (June 

25, 2013), http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/06/25/washington-high-school-drops-redskinsmascot-150094.

42Disclaimer: The U.S. Department of Education does not mandate or prescribe particular curricula, lesson plans, 

or other instruments in this document. This document contains examples of, and links to resources created and 

maintained by other public and private organizations. These additional resources and information are provided for 

the reader’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, 

or completeness of these outside resources. Further, the inclusion of links to these resources items is not intended 

and should not be construed as an endorsement of any views expressed, or products, services, or other materials 

provided.

43See, for example, David C. Wahlberg, “Strategies for Making Team Identity Change,” in C. Richard King, 115, 123.

44U.S. Department of Education, The Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships, 

http://www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/partnership-frameworks.pdf. 45Ibid.
30

46Disclaimer: The U.S. Department of Education does not mandate or prescribe particular curricula, lesson plans, 

or other instruments in this document. This document contains examples of, and links to resources created and 

maintained by other public and private organizations. This information is provided for the reader’s convenience. 

The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, or completeness of this 

outside information. Further, the inclusion of links to items is not intended to endorse any views expressed, or 

materials provided.

47Center for Native American Youth, Voices of Native Youth Report, Volume 1, (November 2011), 9, 

https://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/files/content/upload/Youth_Report_Center.pdf. 48U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Indian Education Study 2011: The 

Educational Experiences of American Indian and Alaska Native Students at Grades 4 and 8, (Washington, DC: U.S. 

Department of Education, 2012). http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/studies/2012466.pdf. 49National Congress of American Indians, An Introduction to Indian Nations in the United States, 9-12, 18 

http://www.ncai.org/about-tribes/indians_101.pdf. 50Bureau of Reclamation, Native American and International Affairs Office, Protocol Guidelines: Consulting with 

Indian Tribal Governments, (Sept. 21, 2012),18-29, http://www.tribalconsultation.arizona.edu/docs/BOR/BOR%20

Consultation%20Policy,%202012.pdf. 51U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, “Who We Are,” http://www.bia.gov/WhoWeAre/. 52U.S. Department of Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, http://www.bia.gov/FAQs/. 53See generally National Congress of American Indians.

54These tips are adapted from guides available to federal government officials in addressing the unique position of 

schools, communities, education, and local leaders in interacting with federal tribes. See U.S. Department of Energy, 

Working with Indian Tribal Nations, (December 2000), 8-10, http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/DOE%20Guide%20

to%20Working%20with%20Tribal%20Nations.pdf. 55 Disclaimer: The U.S. Department of Education does not mandate or prescribe particular curricula, lesson plans, 

or other instruments in this document. This document contains examples of, and links to resources created and 

maintained by other public and private organizations. This information is provided for the reader’s convenience. 

The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guaranteed the accuracy, relevance, or completeness of 

this outside information. Further, the inclusion of links to items is not intended to endorse any views expressed, or 

materials provided.

56Terris Ross, et al., Higher Education: Gaps in Access and Persistence Study, for National 

Center on Education Statistics. (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education , August 2012), 

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED534691.pdf. 57Ibid.

58See generally Center for American Progress. 

59See generally White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, 24-25.

60Ibid., 22-26.

61Ibid., 24-26.

62Kathleen Brown-Rice, “Examining the Theory of Historical Trauma Among Native Americans,” The Professional 

Counselor, http://tpcjournal.nbcc.org/examining-the-theory-of-historical-trauma-among-native-americans/. 63White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, 22-27.

64National Child and Traumatic Stress Network, “Culture and Trauma,” 

http://www.nctsn.org/resources/topics/culture-and-trauma. 65Disclaimer: The U.S. Department of Education does not mandate or prescribe particular curricula, lesson plans, 

or other instruments in this document. This document contains examples of, and links to resources created and 

maintained by other public and private organizations. This information is provided for the reader’s convenience. 

The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, or completeness of this 

outside information. Further, the inclusion of links to items is not intended to endorse any views expressed, or 

materials provided.
31

66U.S. Department of Education, Office of Family and Community Engagement, The Dual Capacity Building 

Framework for Family-School Partnerships, 

http://www2.ed.gov/documents/family-community/partnership-frameworks.pdf. 67Evelyn M. Campbell and Susan E. Smalling, “American Indians and Bullying in Schools,” Journal of Indigenous 

Social Development, 2, 1, (September 2013),

http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/29815/v2i1_03campbell.pdf?sequence=1. 68Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Youth Online,” web feature, Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, 

https://nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/App/Default.aspx.

69Campbell and Smalling.

70Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Health Data Interactive, http://

www.healthdata.gov/dataset/health-data-interactive-hdi. 71National Education Association, “Bullying Emerges as a Contributing Factor: The Scourge of Suicides among 

American Indian and Alaska Native Youth,” Focus on American Indians and Alaska Natives, (September 2011), 

http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/aianfocus2011-2012.pdf. 72See White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, 27-31.

73Ibid.

74See White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education, 28.

75Disclaimer: The U.S. Department of Education does not mandate or prescribe particular curricula, lesson plans, 

or other instruments in this document. This document contains examples of, and links to resources created and 

maintained by other public and private organizations. This information is provided for the reader’s convenience. 

The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guaranteed the accuracy, relevance, or completeness of 

this outside information. Further, the inclusion of links to items is not intended to endorse any views expressed, or 

materials provided.

76Dan Solomon, “Houston ISD Is Spending $250,000 to Change Culturally Insensitive Mascot Names,” Texas Monthly 

(April 16, 2014), http://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/houston-isd-is-spending-250000-to-changeculturally-insensitive-mascot-names/. 77adidas News Stream, “adidas Announces Support for Mascot Name Change Ahead of White House Tribal Nations 

Conference,” (Nov. 5, 2015) , http://news.adidas.com/us/Latest-News/adidas-announces-support-for-mascotname-changes-ahead-of-white-house-tribal-nations-conference/s/7197ec89-d0fe-4557-b737-cd27dc76aba1. 78Tony Wage, “Changing an Offensive Mascot Can Be Tricky — and Expensive,” Marketplace, http://www.

marketplace.org/2015/11/12/education/changing-offensive-mascot-can-be-tricky-%E2%80%93-and-expensive. 79Impact Aid funds are provided under Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the 

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). 80Indian Education Formula grants are provided under Title VI, Part A, Subpart 1 of the ESEA, as amended by the 

ESSA. ESSA §§ 6001-06. 81ESSA §§ 2001-2104 (Title II-A), §§ 1001-1127 (Title I-A). 82ESSA §§ 1000-17 (Title I-A). 83ESSA §§ 2001-02 (Title II-A). 84See (1) 42 U.S.C. § 2000(d): 34 C.F.R. § 100.3(a)-(b); (2) “OCR 2010 Harassment Guidance,” 

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201010.html; (3) “OCR 1994 Racial Harassment 

Guidance,” http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/race394.html 85OCR makes case-specific determinations about whether the civil rights laws it enforces have been violated, such 

as whether a school subjected a Native student to unlawful different treatment or failed to remedy a racially hostile 

environment. The laws OCR enforces are not violated merely because a school uses a mascot, team name, or 

imagery that someone finds personally offensive.




White House Initiative on American Indian 

and Alaska Native Education

U.S. Department of Education

www.ed.gov