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DOWAGIAC — A push to change the Dowagiac Union Schools mascot has resurfaced.

Tribal Council of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan and Indiana seeks to consult with the district regarding its continued use of the “Chieftains” nickname and logo.

In August, the Dowagiac Board of Education announced that it was keeping its nickname “Chieftains” and its logo, despite requests from the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians to remove both. On Tuesday, the Tribal Council of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan and Indiana announced that he had sent a letter to Dowagiac Union Schools Board President Ruth Ausra rescinding the joint resolution from 1990.

The letter stated that several organizations, including the Representations Outreach Board, had requested that the school district discontinue the use of the nickname and logo. The letter is the latest response in a decades-long conversation about the school’s moniker, though the Band’s position on the topic has changed over the years. 

The Pokagon Band’s Representation Outreach Board asked the board of education to take a formal position on the subject. At its regular August meeting, the board issued the following statement:

“The board is committed to continued engagement with the tribal council to ensure that the history and the culture of Michigan’s Native Americans, especially the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi, remain an important part of the district’s curriculum and educational experience,” said then DUS Board President Brent Brewer. “In large part because of this commitment and the long staining agreements between the council and the board, we respectfully decline to change our logo. As fully exemplified by the party’s history, the board and district have treated the Chieftains logo with dignity and respect. The board believes that the Chieftains logo has been an important and valuable part of facilitating students’ education and guarding Native American history and culture.”

Julie Dye, Outreach Board vice chair, said they felt it was important to nullify the 1990 agreement as it was not being followed. According to the tribe, there were several different logos being used by the school system other than the logo designed by Ron Mix, which was approved in the 1990 agreement as a better representation of a Pokagon Band member.

“The logo situation is that they were supposed to stick with the original design,” she said. “That logo has made many changes through the years.”

When asked for comment from the school board regarding the tribe’s request this week, Leader Publications was referred to the board’s August statement.

A desire for dialogue

In March 2021, the Pokagon Band Tribal Council formally adopted a resolution condemning the use of Native American imagery by non-native organizations, including Dowagiac, which is in the homeland of the Pokagon Band.

“In 2021, our previous chair had a meeting with the Dowagiac and Hartford superintendents regarding a desire of the Pokagon Band to enter into consultation regarding the recent changes with how we felt about the mascot issue,” said Samuel Morseau, Pokagon Tribal Council secretary. “That was in accordance with a report that we had worked on, and all through 2022 we tried to reach out to [Dowagiac Superintendent] Jonathan Whan regarding this issue. After several attempts of not being able to contact him, we did have a meeting in November of 2022 where that item was discussed.”

Morseau said that over the remainder of that school year, there was no response from Whan or the Dowagiac Board of Education. 

“That is why the Outreach Representation Board sent a letter to Dowagiac and Superintendent Whan asking them to engage into formal consultation,” he said. “Instead of engaging in the formal consultation, they decided to look at it from a legal approach and put out a public statement which was released on Aug. 9. In response to that letter, the Pokagon Band Tribal Council and the Outreach Board released a public statement on Monday.”

Morseau added that it is the hope of the Pokagon Band that the school district will continue to engage in consultation. 

“The communication breakdown between the Pokagon Band and Dowagiac Union Schools superintendent and school board is very alarming because we have several programs and services that we offer, and do have a high percentage of Native American students in Dowagiac Union Schools,” he said.

And while the “hot topic” is mascots and logos, according to Morseau, he and the Tribal Council and Outreach Board are more concerned about the harm of its citizens that attend Dowagiac, both past and present.

While the logo and nickname are at the forefront of the minds of many in this situation, the issues go much deeper, according to Dye.

“There have been many incidents through the years of Native students have reported incidents regarding humiliation, embarrassment and culture shaming,” she said. “Native mascots are representations of Native Americans, and thus, it is not non-native persons who should be making decisions about the mascot. Non-Native people should follow the lead of the National Congress of the American Indians, who is the largest and most-represented Native Organization of Native People and Tribal nations. There have been a lot of studies through the years and most recently, about the harm that the research findings found that it causes low self-esteem.

“These incidents regarding mascots and Native youth cause low self-esteem, less capacity to imagine future accomplishments for one’s self, increased negative feelings, stress, depression, hostility. There are indirect affects as well. We have noticed that from some of our relatives, our friends and our children that attend school.”

Moving forward

Citizens on both sides of the subject have voiced their opinions. Among them was Mike Winchester, a 1968 Dowagiac graduate and Pokagon Band member, whose uncle, Joe Winchester, was the tribal chairman when an agreement was forged with the Dowagiac Union Schools in the mid-1990s to keep the name but create a new logo.

“I look at the Chieftain name, and it represents leadership,” Winchester said at the August board meeting. “The Chieftain is part of the fabric of the community. It’s not just a layer; it’s built into the Dowagiac people, and it’s not just Native Americans, it’s all of its citizens.

Michigan is the home to 12 federally recognized Native American tribes. In 2020, Paw Paw approve changing its mascot and logo from the “Redskins” to the “Red Wolves.” As of July 2022, Utica, Dowagiac, Capac, Cheboygan, Canton, New Boston Huron, and White Pigeon are the seven school districts in Michigan that go by Chiefs or Chieftains. Five schools, Tecumseh, Chesaning, Newberry, Tekonsha and White Cloud, go by Indians. Two schools, Gladstone and Tawas, are nicknamed the Braves, and 16 districts are called the Warriors. 

So far, only a few school districts have changed their nicknames and mascots after consultation with Native American tribes. In 2022, the Native American Heritage Fund announced funding to four Michigan school districts to assist with the cost of replacing their mascots, including Hartford, which changed its name from the Indians to the Huskies.

The Pokagon Band also said it remains committed to providing consultations to school districts, including Dowagiac Union, and sports teams, and other national organizations with Native-themed logos, mascots and nicknames interested in making a change.