Time For Some Leadership Against Racism #Skowhegan #mepolitics

Screenshot of an exchange between a Skowhegan Area High School coach and a school board member. The depicted item is a vintage artifact of the celebration of genocide against Native people. As historians know, scalping was instituted by white settlers as a way of terrorizing the local Native people and of proving that a bounty was due for their murderers. In case you can't see the image on the towel clearly, it is of a hand clutching a crumpled up scalp with hair on it.

This morning I used my school email account to send a message to the Superintendent in Maine School Administrative District #54. I work in a neighboring district but own a home in Skowhegan near the high school that will eventually step into the 21st century by retiring its racist "Indian" mascot for its sports teams.

My father played football for the high school and I'll wear his vintage letter sweater to the board meeting tonight. There is no Indian on it, and claims of "tradition" and "heritage" supporting this racist mascot are bullshit. My family has paid taxes for several generations to support this school system, an otherwise admirable system that does not deserve this blot on its reputation. 

A young member of my family played freshman football this year for Skowhegan and was good enough to be called up to practice with the varsity squad after the freshman season ended. He was told by coaches that the Indian is not the team mascot. Clearly, the school knows that continuing to identify as "Indians" is unsustainable and unpopular with youth. 

The biggest question is whether the professional educators like Superintendent Colbry will lead the way or if they will continue to acquiesce as white supremacists disrespect and threaten Native women and children with  violence.

To: bcolbry@msad54.org

Dear Superintendent Colbry,

I will be at the board of directors meeting for SAD#54 tonight to deliver a message whose time has come. In particular, I will be calling on you as an educational leader to take a stand and work toward retiring the remnants of SAHS's racist mascot, the "Indian" -- or as some Native people refer to it, the "pretendian."

Here are images I will offer tonight as evidence of the viciously racist nature of the "Indian" brand. This evidence may help you and the board understand the urgency of righting this historical wrong.

These images may help you understand why the American Psychological Association found that the use of American Indian mascots HARMS ALL CHILDREN exposed to them, including those seeing their culture misrepresented. In 2005 the APA called on schools to retire the use of such mascots. That was 13 years ago. 

Penobscot Tribal Ambassador Maulian Dana has received threats to rape her and to do harm to her two school aged daughters because of her vocal opposition to the "Indian" mascot. That's the side you're on. I urge you to find the courage to do the right thing.

Lisa Savage

Skowhegan homeowner and taxpayer