Mascot removal is ‘more radical’ than need be

By Layla Kalinen
Eagle Times Staff
If You Go What: Green Mountain Unified School District Board meeting Where: Green Mountain Union High School Library, 716 VT-103, Chester, VT. Online: https://trsu.zoom.us/j/88449272142 When: 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 19

CHESTER, VT — In a letter dated Oct. 12, the Native American Guardians Association reached out to the Green Mountain Unified School District school board and Windsor community to express dismay toward the tentative removal of the Chieftain moniker, stating that the name change erases the existence of Indigenous heritage from history.

“My name is Eunice Davidson, and I am a full blood Dakota Sioux and an enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Tribe of North Dakota. For many years I have been fighting the education system, composed mostly of whites, in their quest to exterminate the American Indian from public view,” Davidson wrote.

The letter states that while some mascots are culturally inappropriate, the groups that challenge these brands are more radical than their heritage and now, they are in offense to the indigenous world by attempting to erase the existence of Indigenous heritage from historical monuments to school sports mascots.

In Windsor, three out the official four official grievances filed are not basing claims on any Indigenous heritage and have not testified that they showed any interest in what the Indigenous community thinks of removing the name Chieftain from the district’s sports mascot.

“My community members on our reservation led a campaign to preserve the cherished Fighting Sioux name and symbol at the University of North Dakota culminating in the only vote of a tribe on this issue, resulting in an overwhelming super majority support among enrolled Indians to preserve it,” Davidson wrote. “This, only to have mostly racist whites in the education system take it away.”

Davidson said the controversy fielded by non-Indigenous people is a socialized sterilization of her people and the Guardians believe that the NAACP has no place involving their organization in the mascot debacle.

“The whites have taken our lands and now they are taking away our very identity in the form of sports team names/imagery, Native themed companies, monuments, state flags, and the list goes on. It is disgusting to hear in your area an educational system radical exerting her white privilege to further this cultural genocide. Equally vile is the willingness of the NAACP to join in,” Davidson wrote. “African Americans have BET, national holidays, huge presence in the sports and entertainment industries to remain culturally seen and relevant in modern society. What does the American Indian have? What little we do have is being taken away. Many times, I have encountered white people in big cities, many with surprise that we still exist.”

The attempt to rebrand sports teams without any consultation from the Indigenous nation, even though well intended, dovetails the disappearance of Indigenous historical statues and monuments.

“Conversely, NAGA may be the only national Native organization fighting for our cultural preservation, and that does not negate the fact that we represent 90 percent of Native opinion on this issue. These statistics are backed up by over two decades of surveys of Native Americans conducted by independent, professional research organizations,” Davidson wrote. “We ask your board to stand with the Indian people to preserve our public identity and reject the genocidal efforts of these powerful elites seeking to wipe us out.”

For more information visit nagaeducation.org.