Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Reardan could keep 'Indians' mascot if tribe grants permission
REARDAN – House Bill 1356, which would ban the use of Native American names, symbols or images as public school mascots, logos or team names, passed through the Senate April 6 with 40 "yea" votes and nine "nay" votes. The bill appears to be on its way to Gov. Jay Inslee, who would be expected to sign the bill into law.
However, if the Spokane Tribe grants the district permission, the Reardan-Edwall School District would fall under several exceptions the bill allows.
Even though Lincoln County doesn't have any tribal land, it is adjacent to counties with Spokane Tribal land. The bill originally included an exception to the no-Native mascot rule for counties with tribal land in them, provided said tribes provide the districts in question permission to use the mascot or logo.
Superintendent Eric Sobotta testified Feb. 5 to the House, asking for an amendment to that exception to include counties adjacent to other counties with tribal land. During testimony, Sobotta referenced a growing relationship between the school district and the Spokane Tribe that includes the potential for Salish curriculum as an elective in the district.
13th Legislative District Senator Judy Warnick voted "nay" on the bill when it reached the final vote in the Senate. However, when the bill originally passed the house, Reps. Tom Dent and Alex Ybarra voted "yea." They were among 93 "yea" votes to just eight "nay" votes in a convincing victory for the bill as the House was concerned.
The House concurred with Senate amendments 40-8 April 12. Dent and Ybarra were again among the 40 "yea" votes.
Many Eastern Washington schools aside from Reardan, like Wellpinit, Colville and North Central high schools, use a Native American mascot and lie in counties with tribal land or are adjacent to such counties. Other schools around the state, like Columbia River High School (formerly the "Chieftains") in Vancouver, got ahead of the bill and decided to begin the process of changing their mascot away from a Native American connotation.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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