Educational opportunities lost when schools ban Native American symbols

Have you ever wondered why Chief Illiniwek was banished as the symbol of the University of Illinois and why all the fuss about the Warrior Chief at Maine West High School? Following are insights into the controversy surrounding the use of Native American imagery in America's high schools and colleges, as well as how this imagery could have been, and can still be, used as a stepping stone to transformative education.

First some background, Chief Illiniwek was conceived in 1926 as a symbol of the University of Illinois - representing the heroic spirit of Illinois Indians and the finest qualities of the people of the state. In an April 1991 letter conveyed to Morton W. Weir, then the university chancellor, Florence H. Dvorak said she was "appalled at the allegation that the appearance of the Chief with the University of Illinois Band was a racist exploitation of the Indian people." The Chief was not considered to be a mascot by the Chief's creator, her husband, the late Raymond F. Dvorak.

Nevertheless, beginning in 1989, anti-Chief protests led to a documentary that mischaracterized the Chief as a mascot. This divisive and polemical documentary contributed to a drive to retire the Chief. The NCAA effectively killed the Chief with its 2005 ban on post-season play by any of its member schools using unendorsed Native American imagery. The ban, coupled with continuing anti-Chief rhetoric and runaway political correctness, led to the Chief's official banishment by the university in 2007.

Controversies faced by our nation's educational institutions that have used or are still using Native American images as symbols are ongoing. Witness recent news stories, to wit: at Maine West High School, there is the May 2 Daily Herald story "Indian mascot out; reactions mixed," and at the University of Illinois, the May 18, Champaign News-Gazette story, "Supporters hope to keep 'Fighting Illini,' reinvent Chief Illiniwek."

Pejorative mascot labeling of imagery once applied and steadfastly reinforced is difficult to remove - leading to the loss of educational opportunities over the years. Unfortunately, many have been blinded to this educational opportunity.

Today's challenge to reconcile conflicting views is rooted in the 19th-century era of Manifest Destiny when American settlers widely believed that they were destined to expand the country without regard for the natural land rights of Native Americans. This is the often untold dark side of American history of genocide by way of ethnic cleansing that took place along with broken treaties that left Native Americans bitter and distrustful - creating a cultural divide, a deep wound that is still with us.

Schools utilizing Native American symbols should have felt an educational imperative to teach the meaning behind the use of these symbols at student orientations and in the programs for athletic events. This would not only have been a good start toward healing the wound of the cultural divide, but also a critical step toward a more unified American citizenry.

Where do we go from here?

There is still ample room for creativity and imagination about how we can transit from negative narratives to being positive with transformative education by means of the use of Native American imagery and history to educate students, fans and the public. Working with the education arm of cognizant tribes would be a good first step toward covering the sacred nature of Native American imagery and its importance to the descendants of the survivors of ethnic cleansing.

To this end, a collaboration has been initiated with Charlene Teeters, the Academic Dean at the Institute of Indian Art. Also, it has been recommended that Wyoming's Sheridan College - striving to make the school more welcoming to Native American students - not only work with IAIA, but also work with the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation.

The foundation advocates transforming communities via American native arts and cultures that inspire "creative solutions to some of our nation's most difficult collective challenges."

American culture is far from being self-correcting; change will require concerted political action, as well as a vision for a common future characterized by healing the divisions that have riven our nation. America's Democracy depends on it.

Frank G. Splitt, author of "An Odyssey of Reform Initiatives" and a former McCormick Faculty Fellow at Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, has family connections to Chief Illiniwek's creator Ray Dvorak and is active in a drive to have the University of Illinois honor the Chief as a noble symbol of the university and the finest qualities of the people of Illinois.