Say, "No" to Mascots

No matter what "percentage" of indigenous ancestry, if you haven't grown up with the negative repercussions for practicing your culture or realized there are/were laws against practicing language, traditions, celebrations, songs, and dances; or felt resistance for speaking the truth about history, resistance, and contributions; or been harassed or discriminated against because of appearing Native American possibly resulting in low tracking in school, loss of work, reliance on government housing or food; then you really don't know what's it like for many of us who are indigenous people in this country.

I don't want to hear about how "mascots don't affect you."
Claudia Fox Tree (6/3/17 Facebook Post)

To: Committee on Education (for Hearing at the MA State House on June 6, 2017)
Re: S.291 End Race-Based Mascots in Massachusetts Schools

I am a mother of five, a public speaker and presenter, an educator of both children and adults, on the board of Native American organizations, and a woman of Arawak descent.

If you have never heard about the Arawak, you are not alone.  If you have heard of Christopher Columbus, but not the Arawak, my point has already been made.

Author, Chimamanda Adiche, says, “The single story creates stereotypes and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.”  For far too long, the dominant culture has been telling our First Nations stories from its own perspective in the way IT wants to view US, just like the Columbus legend which views us as generic "Indians," and not as the specific and varied tribes and nations we actually are.  We have been denied a voice in our own narrative.  The problem with "mascots" is that it often includes songs, gestures, costuming, and the like - an entire culture of racism based on a single image that is supposed to represent us.

Self-creation of one's identity is commonly experienced in the United States and other Western societies during the period of adolescence. Though the foundation of identity is laid in the experiences of childhood, younger children lack the physical and cognitive development needed to reflect on the self in this abstract way and ask questions, such as: Who am I now? Who was I before? Who will I become? One problem with stereotypes is that more people see stereotypes instead of actual, real, authentic images. Stereotypes misrepresent Native American history and cultures.

One single image can be assigned to all indigenous people with little regard to individual differences. Images like these affect all children. They model what Native Americans are supposed to look like, act like, and do based on a European ideology. Songs, dances, art, and stories that are “taught” are not our true songs, dances, art, and stories. Stereotypes, by their negative nature, do not focus on contributions, role-models, or resistance. 

Matika Wilbur researched the 5,868 blockbuster films between 1990 and 2000. 12 included Native Americans, all showed us as spiritual or in tune with nature, 10 showed us as impoverished or beaten by down by society, and 10 depicted us continually in conflict with whites.

John Sanchez from Pennsylvania State University did an extensive study between 1990 and 1999 of the “big three” television networks – ABC, CBS, and NBC.  During that time frame, the 3 networks produced 175,889 news reports. Of those, a combined total of 98 reports were about Native Americans or Native American issues. The majority of these stories framed by stereotypical 18th century imagery, such as Native Americans in buckskin clothing riding horses and wearing traditional headdresses.  The least common type of story was those representing 21st century Native Americans in a positive light. Most Americans believe that Native Americans are either assimilated, or extinct – that we don’t exist anymore.

Sarah Shear (and others) at Pennsylvania State University in Altoona analyzed the U.S. and state history standards from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Based on results, Shear says, students are graduating from high school without even basic knowledge of contemporary Native American challenges or culture.  Across all the states, 87% of references to Natives portray them prior to 1900, with no clear vision of what happened after that. In half of the states, no individual Native Americans or specific nations are named. The most commonly named people are Sacagawea, Squanto, Sequoyah, and Sitting Bull. Only 62 Nations are named in standards (there are 562).  One nation, the Iroquois, is mentioned in six states and only 4 states (AZ, WA, OK, and KS) include boarding schools.  Washington is the only state to use the word “genocide” in relation to Native People (in the standards for 5th grade U.S. history). Nebraska textbooks portray Natives as lazy, drunk or criminal. 90% of all manuscripts written about Native people are authored by non-Native writers. There is nothing about treaties, land rights, or water rights, nor the fact that tribes are still fighting to be recognized and determine sovereignty.  All 50 states lack any content about current Native events or challenges.

If we were represented in all subjects at all grade levels K-12, had a mega movie industry portraying our various histories and cultures, and had best-selling books, then MAYBE a stereotype wouldn't be a "big deal," next to a continuum of accurate, self-representation.  But we do not have those things in our own country, or anywhere else in the world, so a stereotype carries much, much more weight for us, our developing indigenous children, and all children who are subjected to the misinformation created by stereotypes.

I need to take a moment to discuss the Native American boarding schools that were established in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to educate Native American children and youths according to European-American standards. Children were immersed in Euro-American culture through appearance changes with haircuts, were forbidden to speak their native languages, and traditional names were replaced by new Euro-American names to both "civilize" and "Christianize."  The experience of the schools was often harsh, especially for the younger children who were separated from their families. In numerous ways, indigenous people were encouraged or forced to abandon their identities and cultures. Investigations of the later 20th century have revealed many documented cases of sexual, physical, and mental abuse occurring at such schools. 

Why do I point out boarding schools? Because the, "Kill the Indian and save the man" mentality is the historical treatment we have received.  Boarding schools illustrate the problem with mascots and other forms of cultural appropriation.  Why has it been okay to mock, mimic, and pretend to be "Indian," but it is not okay to actually BE “Indian”?

This is a Civil Rights issue, not an individual school system or town issue.  This models what we want ALL children to know and be aware of, not just indigenous children.  When you keep seeing “Native Americans” behaving a certain way, even when it is inaccurate, you begin to BELIEVE that is the way ALL Native Americans behave.  Mascots, and associated antics, are not who we are, not part of our story, and not the way we want to be seen, treated, or represented.  It's a form of harassment, bullying, and all the worst things schools have to offer and are "supposedly" fighting against.  Schools did not want to “integrate” either.  Legislation and the National Guard had to be used to help schools do the right thing.  I hope the Massachusetts legislation is able to see the future more clearly than Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas and the William Frantz Elementary School in Tylertown, Mississippi

Respectfully Submitted,

Claudia Fox Tree

Stereotoypes, Mascots, and Absence of Broad, Diverse, Accurate Images

To put it all in one place - What's it like to live in your own country and never see yourself accurately represented?

News Stories - John Sanchez, Pennsylvania State University Study.
An extensive study between 1990 and 1999 of the “big three” television networks – ABC, CBS, and NBC. 

• —During that timeframe, the 3 networks produced 175,889 news reports.  Of those, a combined total of 98 reports were about Native Americans or Native American issues.  

• —The majority of these stories were framed by stereotypical 18th century imagery, such as Native Americans in buckskin clothing riding horses and wearing traditional headdresses. 

• —The least common type of story were those representing 21st century Native Americans in a positive light.

• —Most Americans believe that Native Americans are either assimilated, or extinct – that we don’t exist anymore.

 

Movies - Matika Wilbur, photographer. 
—A photographic documentary of Native Americans called Project 562.  Matika states that between 1990 and 2000, there were 5,868 blockbuster released films. 

• —12 included Native Americans.

• —All showed NA’s as spiritual or in tune with nature.

• —10 showed NA’s impoverished or beaten by down by society.

• —10 depicted NA’s continually in conflict with whites. 

 

Textbooks - Sarah Shear, Pennsylvania State University in Altoon
—An analysis of the states’ academic standards, including names of important people, dates, events and concepts.

• —Across all the states, 87 percent of references to Natives portray them prior to 1900, with no clear vision of what happened after that.

• —In half of the states, no individual Natives or specific tribes are named.

• —The most commonly named are Sacagawea, Squanto, Sequoyah and Sitting Bull.

• —Only 62 Nations are named in standards; most mentioned by only one state. 

• —One nation, the Iroquois, is mentioned in six states.

• —4 states (AZ, WA, OK, and KS) include boarding schools.

• —New Mexico is the only state to mention, by name, a member of AIM.

• —Washington is the only state to use the word “genocide” in relation to Natives.  That word is used in the standards for fifth grade U.S. history.

• —Nebraska textbooks portray Natives as lazy, drunk or criminal.

• —90% of all manuscripts written about Native people are authored by non-Native writers.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Anti-Defamation and Mascots
http://www.ncai.org/policy-issues/community-and-culture/anti-defamation-mascots
In general, NCAI strongly opposes the use of derogatory Native sports mascots. However, in the case where mascots refer to a particular Native nation or nations, NCAI respects the right of individual tribal nations to work with universities and athletic programs to decide how to protect and celebrate their respective tribal heritage.

National Congress of American Indians - Resolutions
NCAI is pleased that tribal advocates have succeeded in eliminating over two-thirds of derogatory Indian sports mascots and logos over the past 50 years. Today, there are fewer than 1,000 of these mascots left. In 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the governing body of college athletics, formally condemned the use of disparaging mascots and banned the use of Indian names, logos, and mascots during its championship tournaments.
National Congress of the American Indian Resolutions
http://www.ncai.org/policy-issues/community-and-culture/anti-defamation-mascots/resolutions 

"Praying Indian" Towns is not something to be proud of
http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/tag/Praying%20Towns 
Waban, the Massachusetts leader who had requested the foundation of Natick, was less than enthusiastic about Christianity. However, he was afraid that the English would kill him if he didn’t pretend to embrace their religion. In addition, the English provided him with good food.

While the Indians in the praying towns were doing their best to shed their Indian-ness and to become English, the English colonists did not trust them. When King Philip’s War broke out in 1675, the praying villages declared their neutrality. The English colonists confined all of the “friendly” Indians to a few of the eastern praying towns, The colonists then confiscated the crops and tools in the praying towns of Wamesit, Hassanamisset, Magunkaquag, and Chabanakongkomun. The Indians were confined to the village limits on penalty of death.  

In spite of the pledges of neutrality and declarations of their friendly feelings toward the English, the colonists continued to accuse the Christian Indians of supporting King Philip. The residents of Okommakamesit were arrested and marched to jail in Boston. The Natick were forced from their homes and interred on Deer Island in Boston Harbor. Deer Island was a windswept rock with little fuel and little shelter from the cold sea wind. In spite of the English hostility, the Christian Indians continued to declare their loyalty to the English and about 100 Indian men enlisted in the colonial army as scouts.

All "Indians" are Dead - The Worst Lesson That is Still Taught

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A staggering 87 percent of references to American Indians in all 50 states’ academic standards portray them in a pre-1900 context.  That means students are graduating from high school without even basic knowledge of contemporary Native challenges or culture, said Sarah Shear, associate professor of social studies education at Pennsylvania State University in Altoona.

Shear, who this year earned a PhD in learning, teaching and curriculum from the University of Missouri, spent two years examining state-mandated U.S. history standards, coding each state six times in an effort to understand what students are learning about Natives.  The project began when Shear was teaching an undergraduate class in multi-cultural education. When she asked what students knew about America’s indigenous people, hands shot into the air.  “What they told me is that they learned about Thanksgiving and Columbus Day,” she said. “Every once in a while a student would mention something about the Trail of Tears. It was incredibly frustrating. They were coming to college believing that all Indians are dead.”

Shear partnered with other researchers to analyze states’ academic standards, lengthy documents that dictate what topics teachers should emphasize, including names of important people, dates, events and concepts. Textbook authors often tailor materials to meet those standards.  The study revealed a shameful lack of meaningful Native content, Shear said.  “All of the states are teaching that there were civil ways to end problems and that the Indian problem was dealt with nicely,” she said. “They’re teaching that this is what needed to happen in order for the United States to become the United States.”

The study also revealed that all 50 states lack any content about current Native events or challenges. “Nothing about treaties, land rights, water rights,” Shear said. “Nothing about the fact that tribes are still fighting to be recognized and determine sovereignty.”  In some states, politics plays a huge role in determining academic standards, Shear said. Politicians, not educators, decide the “grand story” that teachers will tell students. In other states, standards may be simply—and shockingly—out of date. Either way, Shear said, the effect is a white-washing of history, a focus on the Euro-American story that is so narrow there’s no room for an indigenous narrative. 

Shear’s research is being published in an upcoming issue of Theory and Research in Social Education. Meanwhile, here’s a snapshot of her findings:

• Across all the states, 87 percent of references to Natives portray them prior to 1900, with no clear vision of what happened after that.
• In half of the states, no individual Natives or specific tribes are named.
• Of the Natives named in standards, the most common are Sacagawea, Squanto, Sequoyah and Sitting Bill.
• Only 62 Native nations are named in standards; most are mentioned by only one state. 
• One nation, the Iroquois, is mentioned in six states.
• Only four states—Arizona, Washington, Oklahoma and Kansas—include content about Indian boarding schools.
• New Mexico is the only state to mention, by name, a member of the American Indian Movement.
• Washington is the only state to use the word “genocide” in relation to Natives. That word is used in the standards for fifth grade U.S. history.
• Nebraska textbooks portray Natives as lazy, drunk or criminal.
• Ninety-percent of all manuscripts written about Native people are authored by non-Native writers.

Read more at http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/11/17/all-indians-are-dead-least-thats-what-most-schools-teach-children-157822