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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Spokane Tribe won't support use of Native-related moniker
REARDAN--The Reardan-Edwall School District will be choosing a new mascot by next school year, the district announced today. The “Indians” mascot was among the Native American monikers banned in House Bill 1356, which was just signed into state law.
The bill offered an exception for schools to use a Native-related mascot if the district is in or borders a county with some or all of a tribal reservation, if said tribe gives permission. However, superintendent Eric Sobotta announced in a Facebook post on the district's page that the Spokane Tribe won’t support public schools using a Native mascot going forward.
The full notice from Sobotta reads:
Reardan Community and RESD Alumni,
This afternoon I sent the following email communication to our staff and families and I want to make sure that you receive it as well. It is our hope that you will engage with us in the process when it is announced:
As you know, we have been working closely with the Spokane Tribe all year on different initiatives including our school mascot. With the passing of HB 1356 banning all Native American mascots, we were afforded the opportunity to work with the Spokane Tribe on this issue due to our adjoining boundaries. I was notified this afternoon that the Spokane Tribe will not support public schools that want to continue to use Native American names, symbols, or images as school mascots, logos, or team names. With this notification, our school district will now start the process of selecting a new name/mascot.
We will continue to work with the Tribe on different projects and initiatives to ensure that ALL of our students are known, loved, and learning.
I will announce the timeline for suggestions, recommendations, and selection as soon as possible. As a school district we plan to select a new mascot going into the next school year and with that said, I plan to gather students' voices on this topic before summer break. There will be a process to collect parent and community voice as well.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Again, there will be more information to come.
This is a developing story. More information will be in this week's edition of The Times.
Drew Lawson is the editor of the Davenport Times. He is a graduate of Eastern Washington University.
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