Mat with Redskins mascot in front of the main entrance at Teton High School.
By LACEY WHELAN
Sho-Ban News
FORT HALL — During a recent meeting at Teton High School in Driggs regarding keeping the school’s Redskin mascot, Jessica James and Dr. La Nada War jack, were among a group who attended to listen.
James was invited from the office of Public Affairs and she attended as a tribal member after work. She was highly encouraged to bring her mother along, Dr. La Nada War jack and they all knew it was a long trip to the school. When they arrived they found out about a group who was in support of keeping the school’s mascot the Teton Redskins, she thought it would be interesting to see what they had to say.
James says she thinks the name needs to be changed, she believes the use of the name is inappropriate and was not appropriate in the way it was first used. She gives the definition of what it was used for a long time ago. The term redskins was pretty much the bounties on natives on their heads, that’s what the terminology goes back to, our people were killed for personal interest and personal gain. That is what that name means to her, and she believes it needs to be changed and that it is not honoring our people and she does get offended when she hears it. She further says it is outdated and the school needs to change the name.
The meeting was for the community to talk about the mascot and whether the school should keep the name. The school itself brought an outside group called NAGA- Native American Guardians Association. They were an outside advocacy group who support the school in keeping the “Redskins” mascot name. The group was there on the panel and made their presentation. There was no one from the Shoshone Bannock Tribes who was asked to present. After the panel there was a time for anyone to say a comment, which there was a couple of tribal members who said their comment, but at this time there was no one who had been documenting what everyone had to say.
James said the whole meeting was not facilitated well. She also said there were parents of the students and they said their only reasoning for keeping the name had been there for generations and that they were proud to be called Redskins. James thinks the whole thing is just an identity thing. She added, it seems as if the community is willing to be open and honest to learning more about Native Americans, and if they do like the identity then they need to learn more about what it’s about.
She said Ladd Edmo presented the official Shoshone Bannock Tribes statement and their opposition of the mascot name being used.
James also said when she arrived at the school that there was a mat that says Teton Redskins and has a face under the name. She herself didn’t like the fact that everyone who walks into the school is basically walking all over the name/face and in a way is walking on our people which she thought was very disrespectful.
Dr. War Jack said she heard about the meeting and didn’t know what to expect so she wanted to see it all for herself. When they arrived there was an auditorium of their own local people and basically they wanted some Indians to get up there and tell them that it was okay to call themselves Redskins.
They invited the out of town group based out of either Pennsylvania or somewhere on the east coast, and it was just so they could feel good about using the name or facilitate that for them. She said she was shocked and it was in poor taste. She was surprised the school hadn’t acknowledged the tribes who are the people of the land and hadn’t followed protocol. That particular area the school is on is the territory of the Shoshone Bannock Tribes. In other places whomever the native people are in that particular area are always acknowledged.
She didn’t herself didn’t say anything at the time and just wanted to attend to see what was going on and what she could see was that they were dealing with colonized western frontier mentality. Her first thought was how can you educate them in one evening? She knew their minds were already closed because that is why they had the group from back east there. They didn’t want to hear from the local tribal members. She said it was good at least put forth their position opposing the use of the name.
War Jack said, “calling us redskins, is not honoring or respecting us.” They need to be educated and for them to be an institution of education and a high school is very shocking. She is very shocked that an institution of higher education is not acknowledging the truth. “They are just showing that frontier mentality and we all know what that is.” War Jack said at one time Adolf Hitler, learned from the United States and he was into the psychology of dehumanizing through characterization of people and Hitler and the Nazi’s did that to the Jewish people and displayed that same kind of psychology by calling them names and it would make it easier to commit genocide so that people don’t come back on them as well. So it is all part of the dehumanizing characterization process that he adopted from the United States.
“Here we are in this day and age, still doing the same thing,” she continued. She is still shocked from it all, and for people to be displaying the same things and showing such an ignorant mentality. War Jack said the tribes were taking a position of look what you did to us, you’ve committed genocide on us, you’ve killed us, you’ve had bounties and called us redskins and you expect us to think that your respecting and honoring us? She said she felt like they were ignoring the truth and to ignore the truth is ignorance. They all displayed great ignorance and she couldn’t comment to that and that’s why she chose not to say anything. The whole thing was too appalling. It is going to take a huge amount of education to make them understand why they shouldn’t use the name as a mascot, among other things.
James is in full support of sending the issue to the governor and maybe he can possibly make a change. Both James and War Jack both said that there has been other school’s that had to change their mascot names by the decision of other governors. They know of many who made the change and also made it so no other native mascot names could be used at any schools. They know the governors are taking a very proactive approach to disbanding the mascots that characterize Native Americans.
James also said in this day and age and with the proper education many should know that it’s not appropriate anymore.
War Jack concluded by saying she knows they are calling the issue community control, but because of their ignorance they can’t understand that it’s protocol to acknowledge and recognize the people of the land. The people of the land are the Shoshones and the Bannocks who lived there. Even though they killed tribal people and we don’t live there now, and we got put on reservations it doesn’t mean that they can just ignore us.
“We are the people that are being impacted and we definitely have a voice in that and which they chose to ignore,” she said.