Let The Healing Begin #NotYourMascot

Students peruse a handout prepared by Allison Dorko on policies governing school board ethics during an executive session for the board to receive legal advice. (My photo)

In weighted voting representing the populations of each town in MSAD 54, the school board agreed to retire the Indian mascot for all the schools in the district last night in Skowhegan.

Here's the roll call:

YEA -- total 558
Sarah Bunker (who made the motion to "respectfully retire" the mascot), Mercer, 16 votes
Maryellen Charles, Mercer, 16 votes
Jeannie Conley, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Derek Ellis, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Haley Fleming, Norridgewock, 46 votes
Theresa Howard, Cornville, 30 votes
Christy Johnson, Smithfield, 27 votes
Desiree Libby, Norridgewock, 46 votes
Peggy Lovejoy, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Brandy Morgan, Norridgewock, 46 votes
Dixie Ring, Canaan, 43 votes
Amy Rouse, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Darcy Surette, Cornville, 30 votes
Kathy Wilder, Norridewock, 46 votes

NAY -- total 441
Mark Bedard, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Harold Bigelow, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Jean Franklin, Canaan, 43 votes
Goff French, Smithfield, 27 votes
Richard Irwin, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Jennifer Poirier, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Lynda Quinn, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Karen Smith, Skowhegan, 53 votes
Todd Smith, Skowhegan, 53 votes

Using a tightly organized meeting format, the board began with an executive session to confer with their attorney (again). Then they reconvened in public and each member had an opportunity to express an opinion on the issue. Board members were limited to three minutes, could not cede their time to another member, and could not debate with one another under their own rules for the evening.

Board members Irwin, Morgan and Surette passed on the opportunity to speak.

Some highlights of other board members' remarks:

Bunker observed that, whether one liked the name "Indians" or not, it was clear that "it's divisive...the name does not benefit our community." She expressed a hope to "not do further harm" and, like many on the board, cited the resources consumed by the mascot controversy.

Libby also mentioned resources and the need to model "the same relational skills that I teach my kids...We must do better, and we must move on." She also noted of an idea floated by Todd Smith that deferring the mascot decision to a referendum "feels cowardly."

Mr. Smith also said "this is not a taxpayer issue. If you don't live in this district, you don't get a vote."

His wife, Karen Smith, shared her misguided opinion that "being offended...is a personal belief" (my note: a common misconception engendered by white privilege) and asked, "Why are we being bullied to change?"

Howard said that she believed the board ought to "lead by example" by being "kind and respectful to others." She wanted to "provide our children with a controversy-free mascot."

(My photo)

Bedard said that he was "appalled at the anger this issue has created in the community" and, in a spectacularly tone deaf choice of words, finished with "Skowhegan is my reservation."

Newest member Wilder said "today's kids deserve to have a mascot not based on race."

Chair Ring indicated she would "vote for all the kids" and noted they "have the right to come to school and be safe." She also noted of the mascot controversy that "I feel very bullied," but  she did not elaborate on who or what she had in mind.

Rouse noted that she often travels with the high school speech team (state champs this year, and not for the first time). At these events "the majority of educators who talk to me say 'Why can't your board change?' The kids hear it...[and it] affects how they think about themselves."

Lovejoy said "I believe there are good people on both sides of this issue" and observed that even if the mascot was "okay in 1924 [when it was first adopted], it's not okay now."

Board members Quinn and Bigelow both spoke in an aggressive (and aggrieved) tone, and were cheered and applauded by SIP supporters despite board chair Dixie Ring's admonition that there be no responses from the audience. 

Bigelow complained loudly that "people from away come in here to stir up trouble" and claimed that Native students receive "free tuition" while his own son struggles to pay his college bills. (This is probably a misunderstanding of the land grant used to establish the University of Maine at Orono, which was ceded by the Penobscot Nation in 1865 in exchange for educational opportunities.)

Quinn offended LBGTQ students in attendance by mispronouncing the word "homosexual" with drawn out emphasis on the first two syllables. The point she was making by mentioning a long list of groups was obscure; I will have to listen again to her comments once Somerset Community TV 11 posts a full video of the meeting.

Poirier made the most ironic remarks of the evening as she only recently invited national pro-mascot group NAGA to Skowhegan. They are about as away as you can get. Poirier read aloud a letter from alumna Christine Keller and also added that she had personally"spoken to 78 tribal members" locally "and they're not offended."

Pretty much the only thing I will miss about the campaign to retire the "Indian" is pre-board meeting dinners at M. Thai restaurant in downtown Skowtown. (My photos)

Ellis spoke of some of the harassment he experienced during the controversy. He also noted, "Pride lives within each and every one of us. That can't be taken away."

Emotions were running high as the vote was tallied. Five police officers, including the chief, patrolled the central aisle between a large number of Skowhegan "Indian Pride" supporters and changers.

But the crowd reaction to the voting results was fairly muted. Mild applause and some grumbling were all it amounted to. Several changers teared up and hugged one another after years of working for the mascot's retirement.

As I was getting into my car a large blonde woman called out, "Lisa, make sure to say in your blog that this isn't over." I responded, "Thanks for reading my blog," and I'm including her opinion here as a courtesy to a regular reader.

But I believe she was wrong.

The struggle to retire the mascot is over, at long last.

I look forward to seeing what new identity Skowhegan teams will be forging in the year to come.