Below is the letter I sent to the superintendent and board chair in charge of Skowhegan Area High School's racist mascot, the "Indian." Native leader Penobscot Chief Barry Dana is the dad referred to, and his teen daughter grew up to be the Penobscot Tribal Ambassador Maulian Dana. Both will be at the board meeting this Thursday, December 6 at 7pm at the Skowhegan Area Middle School cafeteria.
TO: Brent Colbry
Dixie Ring
Dear Superintendent Colbry and Board Chair Ring,
The following post to the group Skowhegan Pride on Facebook by an MSAD#54 board member who is the group's administrator is circulating on social media.
This post may very well go on to be used by college professors teaching about white supremacy and the blindness it engenders. "Dark perspective" is an interesting choice of words. It is troubling to think that Ms. Poirier has learned so little from serving as a director of your schools. Dictating how targeted groups should feel, and then giving parenting advice about how they should talk to their targeted children -- wow. Has Ms. Poirier read the American Psychological Association's 2005 report on how Native mascots adversely affect all students in schools still using them?
The mascot issue is not going away; that much must be clear by now. Please do the right thing and put your high school's discriminatory practice to rest.
Respectfully yours,
Lisa Savage
Skowhegan taxpayer
Later, I sent these educational leaders news about an educational opportunity for us all.
The documentary DAWNLAND will be livestreamed Wed., Dec. 5 free on the YouTube channel of the Upstander Project at 5pm. The film documents the removal of Native children from their families in Maine, and the work of the Maine-Wabanaki Child Welfare Truth & Reconciliation Commission toward healing.
