Indiana high schools not acting on potentially offensive mascots

Playing "cowboys and Indians" as children with plastic toy guns and feather headdresses might not have raised any concerns with the neighborhood watch for being politically incorrect. But at the collegiate level, students dressing as American Indians with war paint and leather chaps are catching heat from the NCAA for offending certain cultures at championship events.\nThe NCAA singled out 18 schools, two of which have appealed, ruling their logos are now banned from appearances in post-season tournaments, according to Associated Press reports.\nIndiana high schools sport the same mascots as many colleges -- a list of more than 40 high schools use American Indian-themed mascots ranging from Braves to Cherokees to Redskins to Warriors. However, the Indiana High School Athletic Association is not making movements to ban what is deemed inappropriate mascots at the championship level of competition, and has no plans to encourage the change, said IHSAA Commissioner Blake Ress.\nRess said the authority of the IHSAA stops short of those responsibilities.\n"I don't feel like our bylaws give us authority to dictate or impact the nicknames a school may choose to use," Ress said. "Students look up to their mascots with a great deal of pride ... sometimes (administrators) are so concerned with being politically correct it's sometimes taken to an extreme."\nRess said, in Indiana, most high schools have no problem with offensive representation of mascots at games, or inappropriate behavior toward opponents. The schools are working hard to act appropriately, he said.\nJohn Scanlan, professor of sports law at IU, said despite Indiana's name, the state doesn't support a large American Indian population to put pressure on school systems for change.\n"Schools who are members of the IHSAA aren't exerting much pressure on the IHSAA because they aren't getting it from citizens of Indiana," Scanlan said.\nScanlan said American Indians approach the problem when there is a sense of disrespect and stereotyping, such as using a tomahawk in a chopping motion which can be interpreted as referring to Indians as savages.\n"Certainly (American Indians) don't like to see themselves represented in a demeaning way," Scanlan said.\nRecently, the NCAA Executive Committee made an exception for the Florida State Seminoles, citing their close relationship with tribe members and accurate representations of the historic tribe, according to the NCAA Web site, www.ncaa.org.\nThese exceptions, Ress said, strip the committee of credibility.\n"The NCAA is making exceptions," Ress said. "Some Braves are OK, some aren't. The committee must have some concerns or they wouldn't be making exceptions,"\nConcerned area residents approached the administration of Terre Haute South Vigo High School in Terre Haute nine years ago about the portrayal of its Indian mascot, the Braves, said current Principal James Freese.\nThe administration compromised and agreed to remove an American Indian painted on the street outside the school, remove an American Indian statue standing in the front office and eliminate the students dressed as American Indian mascots at games.\nDespite the changes, the name Braves is still in place, and Freese said there hasn't been a problem in the last seven years.\n"I can see where some people would think (American Indian mascots) would be an issue, but we treat it with a great deal of respect," said Freese.\nLake Central High School in St. John, Ind., which uses Indians as its mascot, made compromises with the community by writing a "high school symbol policy," said Superintendent Dr. Janet Emerick. \nThe policy says the school system realizes not all American Indians are offended, and they sometimes support the reference of the word "Indian" in a public school. Lake Central administrators also said they feel changing the symbol would be "disconcerting to Lake Central students" and would "disrupt the learning process."\nAlso, as of the 2001-2002 school year, the Lake Central School Corporation implemented a curriculum for fourth-graders to learn about the history of American Indians, mentioning the roles of women and children and teaching about American Indian male roles other than warriors.\nThe Lake Central student handbook also includes a special section about racism, describing the dangers and identifying behaviors of racism.\nFor now, the administration of each school is handling individual issues, and until the IHSAA feels there is a problem that needs to be addressed, it will remain idle.\n"There is no upside in getting involved with this issue," Ress said. "I don't know what it is solving at this time"