Mom Of Teen Athlete On Changing Skowhegan's Team Name: Let's Move Forward...For The Sake Of The Kids

Skowhegan High School alumna Tamarleigh Grenfell stood outside a school board meeting in 2015 calling for change.

I am pleased to share this guest post by Julie Cooke, Skowhegan Area High School booster, based on her remarks to the school board on November 15, 2018. I added the visuals.

I think my daughter was in middle school when I remember first hearing about the requests from some Native people to change the Indian mascot. I regret that I didn't take the time to think too much about it, but there was a lot of material swirling about on social media and I did participate in sharing my thoughts. I remember it started with words that were something like "I don't really care a whole lot about this issue but…".

Ugh. (*slaps self in the forehead). I went on to say that my overall gut feeling was that

if Native people were stepping forward to express being hurt by this, then I did not want to be one of the people doing the offending.

At that time I didn't really understand why they were hurt by it. It didn't matter to me. I didn't need a reason. It was as simple as that. After all, being a former three sport athlete and graduate from Skowhegan High School, I reflected back on some of my experiences at that time and fighting against sexism in athletics. I was fortunate to have, in my opinion, strong ethical activists in my family who weren't afraid of fighting for what is right. (*heart swells).

No pretendians in this archived news clipping about Mark Savage and the undefeated, untied
Skowhegan football team of 1951. So much for tradition and heritage claims.

I could go into all the political and civil reasons that I learned to understand about this issue - how it is an example of dehumanization and oppression. Instead, I thought I would share a little about the experience of a student athlete, attending high school in the middle of it all. My daughter entered the Skowhegan High School about a year after this Indian mascot issue surfaced. By that time I had had several conversations with my mother and others, read articles, observed other communities all over the country changing their mascot and was getting a better understanding of the depths of the issue. My daughter was well aware of it as well. She had the same reaction as I, not liking the idea of hurting others. She did have a strong presence of people who stood on the other side of the issue, but this was her own, instinctive reaction.

That being said, being a 14 year old girl just entering high school after coming from a much smaller school and even some years of homeschooling, she was focused on more personal anxieties. Shortly after school started, she went out for the soccer team and was placed on the varsity team! At this point, the votes had been taken and the school board's decision was to keep the mascot. This was, I suppose, all well and good, but that didn't mean that the people to whom it referred would stop being hurt by it.

A few weeks into the season, it was Homecoming week and "Spirit Day" approached. I personally had attended the booster meeting that discussed ordering T-shirts for the girls to wear to school as a team. At that meeting, I raised my hand and offered that I would prefer that we left the word "Indian" and Indian imagery off the shirt.

Portland High School mascot Kamron King poses with a fan at a basketball game. Photo: Portland Press Herald

A few days later I received a text message from my daughter sounding a little panicked and concerned. The T-shirts had come in and the words "Indian pride", (I believe), and some imagery were present on the shirt. She said that the whole team was supposed to wear the shirt the next day and asked what she should do? She was not comfortable, at this point so early in high school, making bold statements or standing out, excluding herself from the rest of the team...all older girls from whom she sought acceptance.

She was also not comfortable wearing a shirt that went against what she and her family believed to be ethically wrong. I told her to do whatever felt right in her gut. She said she didn't want to wear it.

I was proud, but angry! Mama bear took over. I fired off an aggressive message on the soccer team's Facebook page (which in turn taught me a lesson in itself). I said she would not be wearing it, nor would I be donating it. The shirt was going in our garbage can! The team decided not to wear the t-shirts that day and instead wore a travel jacket that didn't offend ANYONE! There was some backlash and people decided they weren't going to be as friendly to us as they had been , but we, and she, survived!

Gardiner (Maine) High School mascot in action at a football game. Photo from Kennebec Journal by Michael M. Seamens

She is a senior now. She is a three sport varsity athlete. She has been voted by her coaches and teammates as captain multiple times. She has been recognized by her coaches, other town's coaches, referees, and the newspapers, for her sportsmanship and hard work. She has been acknowledged for her leadership in sports as well as in school. She didn't know she was a leader growing up. There were times, in fact, when she was put in those positions that it made her very uncomfortable, but she chose to rise to them and I am extremely proud. Over the course of her 3+ years, we have had many, MANY instances of discomfort regarding the Indian mascot name.

She has chosen to be more of a silent protester. She is not afraid to say what she thinks among her friends and coaches, but she has chosen not to be loud about it. She doesn't participate in any type of activity that she finds offensive despite what others do. She has a softball helmet that her uncle purchased for her 16th birthday which is slightly different than the rest in that it excludes the word "Indians" written across the front. She does not cheer "Indians" in the huddle when the rest of the team does. She specifically chooses merchandise that does not display any imagery. Her friends are sensitive and considerate. Her coaches don't discuss, push, or judge her based on her stand, but still it makes her uncomfortable, knowing she is bringing conflict to light.

She cringes a little every time her team is announced, especially at away games, as the Skowhegan Indians. It hasn't been easy, but she handles it with grace. Meanwhile, I don't share many sports articles that celebrate her success because the papers are littered with the usage of the word Indian, despite their published editorial that the mascot should change.

I have resisted sharing interviews she has done because the interviewer has described her as a Skowhegan Indian.

I don't buy her the things the other kids might buy. I seldom share certain fundraising events that could potentially earn her team more money because the names of the fundraisers, in my opinion, contain racist language that I can't ethically support.

Lisa Savage holding a sign at school board meeting May, 2015 in Skowhegan Photo: CentralMaine.com

In the end, I just can't help but wonder, who would have been uncomfortable if all of this had been resolved years ago? Would anybody have had to go through high school offended or embarrassed or uncomfortable if the mascot were changed to something about which everybody could feel good? What is the sense in perpetuating extra drama that the kids don't need? If this issue, causes discomfort and conflict for my child -- a confident, beautiful, well-liked blonde, white girl -- I can only imagine the struggle it might be for a native child who feels targeted and offended by this.

Let's move forward, once and for all, with empathy and understanding and support...for the sake of the kids.

-- Julie Cooke, Skowhegan