“We’re not your mascots”: Indigenous alumni recall harm done by Native school names and imagery

On Sept. 8, the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education voted to prohibit discriminatory school branding and begin removing Native American mascot imagery at Webster and Central schools. Pictured are some of the supporters who helped make this change possible.

Written By: Russell Sun Eagle and Nico Berlin

(TULSA, Okla.) On September 8, the Tulsa Public Schools Board of Education voted 6–1 to cease its use of Native American imagery to depict Webster and Central High Schools’ mascots. The policy change was introduced at the previous board meeting on Aug. 18. Prior to the vote, some TPS alumni spoke in support of the Native American imagery, while other community members argued that Native mascots negatively impact Native American students.

The vote to change the mascot imagery immediately followed the board’s approval of a new policy to prohibit discriminatory branding at TPS. With the vote, superintendent Ebony Johnson is now tasked with developing a proposal for new branding imagery for Webster and Central, with input from community stakeholders. The mascot names — “Warriors” and “Braves” — remain unchanged.

Some members of the TPS community see the compromise to change the imagery but not the name as a victory, while others see it as a sign of unfinished business. Tulsa Indian Education wanted “both the names and imagery to be done away with,” but the changes passed were “a step in the right direction,” according to Indian Education resource advisor Teresa “Erin” Parker.

“I have a nine-year-old son [in TPS] that gourd dances, sings at the drum and attends powwows and his ceremonies,” Parker said, addressing the Tulsa School Board in support of the imagery change. 

“I want him to grow up in an environment where he doesn’t have to be ashamed of who he is — in an environment where others understand and appreciate his culture,” she said.

For Chase Parker, a Native alumnus of Union High School, the decision highlights how far schools in Indian Country have come — and how far they still have to go. 

Parker, who attended Union High School, said the school’s Redskins mascot haunted his teenage years. 

“It affected me in ways I didn’t even realize at the time,” Parker said. “In school, I was quiet, withdrawn. Outside of school, I was myself. The mascot made me feel like I didn’t belong.”

Parker said he avoided pep rallies at his school after watching non-Native students dress in fake buckskin, feathers and face paint. 

“They didn’t follow any kind of cultural protocol,” he said. “They just did whatever they wanted. It was degrading.” 

The damage wasn’t just cultural; for Parker, it was personal. 

“It was one of the causes of my depression,” Parker said. “I never saw it as an honor. I still don’t.”

Even when administrators asked his opinion as a visible minority, his voice was dismissed. “They told me I should feel proud,” Parker said.

Before the Sept. 8 vote, members of the Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission, an advisory group to the Tulsa City Council and mayor, sent a letter in support of changing the Native mascot imagery at Webster and Central High School. Commissioners emphasized how Native American imagery used in mascots could hinder Native American students’ sense of belonging. 

“[We] understand that change can be difficult, particularly for alumni who hold personal attachments to school traditions,” the Commission wrote. “Yet public schools must prioritize the dignity and well-being of current students above all else.”

Over 3,000 students in Tulsa Public Schools are enrolled citizens of a Native American tribe. Members of the Tulsa Indian Education Parent Committee initiated the process to change the mascot imagery, according to Erin Parker.

At the Tulsa School Board meeting on Aug. 18, several members of the community spoke against Policy 2623. Many were TPS alumni, including a 1960s graduate who attended well before Tulsa Public Schools opened Booker T. Washington High School in 1973, beginning the district’s desegregation.

“Union took away their teepee, and two or three years later they took away their name,” said Larry Williamson, a Tulsa community member, addressing the school board. “The fact that many communities in Oklahoma with the highest percentage of Indians in their population choose Indian culture-based mascots is proof that it’s not Indians themselves who find Indian mascots offensive.”

Not all Native people feel the same. Chase Parker said it was only when Union officially changed its mascot to the Redhawks in 2022 that he felt able to reconnect.

“Now I cheer for my nieces and nephews at Union games,” Parker said. “It was always a good school. The mascot was the only thing that kept me away.”

David Hank Bible, a Native alumnus of nearby Catoosa High School, reported similar experiences with Catoosa’s mascot, the Indians.

“As a full-blooded Indian with long braids, I was recognizable,” Bible said. “Opposing schools pulled my hair during football games, shouted things like ‘scalp the Indians.’ Even adults mocked us.”

Bible later joined activists fighting for Union to change their mascot. The effort took 20 years, but in 2022, Union officially changed its mascot to the Redhawks. 

“Change doesn’t happen overnight,” Bible said. “But it happens.”

Bible sees Tulsa’s Sept. 8 vote as another step in the same long struggle. 

“It’s a start, but eventually they’ll realize the names don’t fit either,” he said.

Members of Tulsa Native Youth Board, a district-wide student organization sponsored by Tulsa Indian Education, were present at the Sept. 8 school board meeting. Booker T. Washington High School student Audrey Gray asked the board to adopt a practice from her Cherokee culture when voting on Policy 2623: consider its impact on the next seven generations of TPS students.

“Please, don’t make this decision for the alumni associations,” Gray said. “As much as they may be involved in their schools, they don’t go there anymore.” 

“And if the alumni truly care for their schools and the students that go there, they will support them regardless of the emblem on the floor, the statue in the hall or the inflatable their team runs out of,” she continued.

Bible was encouraged to see students advocating for the policy change. “I’m proud of the students for speaking up,” he said. “They’re the future leaders who will carry this fight forward.”

For Chase Parker and Bible, Tulsa’s decision to reimagine its imagery is progress. But it’s also a reminder of how much work remains when it comes to educating the public on the harms of Native-themed mascots.

“They hear us, but they don’t really listen,” Chase Parker said. “If they wanted to honor us, they’d ask tribes directly.” 

Bible noted that while stories of Native perseverance may be inspiring to the public, using Native people as mascots is not the right way to honor Native people. 

“We’ve survived assimilation, relocation, and boarding schools,” Bible said. “We’re still here. We’re proud of who we are. But we’re not mascots.”