– Letter to the Editor –

– Letter to the Editor –

Letter to the Editor:

Schools’ Indian logos need revision.

I am writing this letter to the editor, in regard to the Cornell Chiefs log/mascot change. About a year ago, in your “Tales of Our Beginnings,” you explained the bounties that Chippewa County paid for pelts of nuisance animals. Authorities required the pelt as evidence of the kill.

Being raised on a farm near Cadott, I was aware of this policy, but was surprised to read that 5 cents was paid for a crow in 1927. I knew that just 50 short years before that, an Indian scalp was worth $200. Yes, White man taught the Indians the scalping technique and their adage was: The only good Indian, is a dead Indian.

When I moved to Independence, in 1994, I was extremely offended by the Independence School logo. Having studied Native American cultures for many years, and having met many Indians in my travels, I viewed the mascot through their eyes – an ugly man, with a bulbous nose, running naked, except for a loincloth and having a raised tomahawk in his hand.

Some months later, we received a survey, regarding a change in this hideous logo. About 98 percent felt “we are paying the Indians a great honor” and “no Indians should be offended,” etc. Bear in mind, the vast majority of people in this district have never seen an Indian.

As a White teacher, I recalled a survey given to fourthgrade students in St. Paul, Minn., just a few years prior. Students in White public schools were asked, “What is an Indian?” Their responses were very stereotypical.

An Indian is someone who doesn’t wear clothes, eats raw meat, is lazy, is drunk, lives on welfare, wears feathers on his head.

One day, when I was a substitute teacher in Cornell (for Sandy Crank, I think), I noticed how poor the textbook was, containing one very short chapter on Indians. The chapter ended with Custer’s Last Stand and the victory of the Indians.

It failed to mention anything about the fact that the last of the Lakota Souix warriors had been killed, or the 250 women, children and elderly who were shot in the back as they fled U.S. Army troops through deep snow. The were later buried in a mass grave at Wounded Knee, S.D.

All Indian tribes gave up and were herded like animals to reservations in deserts, in swamps or in mountains. White man kept the best land. Not one treaty he ever made with the Indians, did he keep.

As a girl, I was taught that Christopher Columbus discovered America. His picture hung on the wall in our country school. He was a hero.

After I grew up, I learned what a horrible man he was. Each of his ships had a priest aboard. Bartolomé de las Casas, a priest on Columbus’ return trip to this land, recorded in his journal, the horrors he witnessed.

Columbus had his men make low, wide gallows, on which the victims’feet almost touched the ground. He strung up men in groups of 13, in memory of Christ and His 12 apostles. The wood was lit at their feet and the Indians were burned alive.

Some of us have worked very hard to have Columbus Day removed from the calendar. We’ve had to re-learn some of the fallacies we were taught as children. I am so happy when I see our new Independence logo – a majestic bald eagle, in front of a large capital I.

I would ask teachers never to dress children as Indians and Pilgrims at Thanksgiving.

I am sending copies of several articles from Native American newspapers to the Cornell School principal, to be shared with board members. I hope this new knowledge will guide you in your decision.

Deanne Sczepanski, Whitehall