From Redskins to Red Wolves.
Efforts in the Colorado legislature this year to force schools with American Indian mascots to get tribal approval or face steep fines failed, but one Oklahoma City high school changed its mascot.
The Capitol Hill High School, known for 88 years as the Redskins, . The school board voted in December to ban the mascot after some American Indians said they found the term offensive and harmful.
were made at Denver’s state Capitol. “I am not your mascot,” 7-year-old LacyJay Left Hand Bull told one committee.
The Colorado measure barely passed the Democrat-controlled House and . The idea of fining schools that the state still has not fully funded didn’t set well with some state legislators. Others argued it was up the community and not the state to make the decision.
In Lamar in southeastern Colorado, , American Indian and community members embrace the name. Stunning Indian art made by students graces much of the high school. State Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton, thought that name was especially harmful.
Th mascot change is expected to cost the Oklahoma City school district around $230,000. At a rally one week ago, the new mascot was announced. Not everyone was cheering.
“A generation ushered in a new tradition that left many fighting back tears inside an aging field house full of references to the past,” the Daily Oklahoman reported.
