MADISON – Some changes have been proposed to the school mascot bill (Assembly Bill 35) as democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin push for legislation to have schools drop American Indian logos or face hundreds of dollars in fines.

The bill calls for the state Department of Public Instruction to investigate complaints about race-based names, nicknames, logos or mascots. School boards would have a chance to argue the logos or mascots don’t discriminate or amount to harassment or stereotyping.

If the state superintendent finds the complaint has merit, he or she would order the school board to drop the offending moniker within a year or face $100 to $1,000 in fines each day it continues to use the logo.

“It’s 2009. It’s time we put this behind us. It’s the Native American’s heritage, first and foremost. If they’re not feeling honored, then it’s time to get rid of it,” said the bill’s author, Rep. Jim Soletski, D-Green Bay who spoke with the Associated Press.

A substitute amendment has been added to the bill, which would extend the timeframe for compliance by one to two years depending on the circumstances. 

LOTS OF INDIAN HERITAGE IN WIS.

One of the more challenging aspects of the proposed legislation is many names of Wisconsin towns, counties and cities are derived from Indian languages.

According to the state Historical Society the name “Wisconsin” is derived from the French version of the Miami Indian word for the Wisconsin River.

The small town of Kewaskum in Washington County is named after a famous Potawatomi Indian chief. The community cheers its Indian heritage and even sports an Indian feather on their water tower.  

CHANGES PROPOSED SINCE 1989…

Since the late 1980s there’s been a academic push to avoid offending American Indians.  

According to the Associated Press former Wisconsin schools Superintendent John Benson sent a letter to school districts urging them to change American Indian logos to more ethnically sensitive ones in 1994.

Then Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster sent out a similar request in 2005, citing an American Psychological Association resolution that said use of such mascots and logos could have a negative impact on students, particularly American Indians.

Since 1991, 32 state school districts have dropped references to American Indians.

La Crosse Central High School, for example, changed its Indian-on-horseback logo to a knight in the mid-1990s but kept its Red Raiders nickname. The Tomah High School Indians became the Timberwolves in 2007, and the Wisconsin Rapids School Board voted 4-3 last year to shorten its Red Raiders nickname to Raiders and redesign its mascot.

But 38 districts with American Indian mascots, logos or nicknames haven’t changed them, according to the mascot task force.

The Mukwonago School District uses the Indians nickname and an American Indian in a headdress as a logo. Superintendent Paul Strobel told the Associated Press they reflect the area’s past and the state shouldn’t dictate to local leaders.

“It’s our identity. We take pride in the fact that’s supposed to be a name taken in a positive light,” Strobel said. “We recognize there is accountability and responsibility in using that name. We’ve done that.”

The Mosinee School District did away with its Indian mascot years ago but voted in 2005 to keep the nickname.

“The older generation has a harder time with this issue. They just have a hard time understanding how this could be perceived as no longer politically acceptable,” Superintendent Jerry Rosso said.

Task force chairwoman Barbara Munson, an Oneida Indian, said her children went to Mosinee High School. While social studies classes presumably teach diversity, student athletes are still exposed to racial stereotypes when they play schools with American Indian nicknames, she said.

“My culture, the Oneida culture, values peace. The Indian mascot in Mosinee is kind of tied to ideas of being fierce and warlike. ... It’s just one more layer of things kids have to figure out.”

Soletski said it isn’t up to individual districts.

“The common argument is we’re honoring American Indians,” he said. “If American Indians don’t want to be honored, it’s their choice.”

The bill’s prospects look good. Democrats control both houses of the Legislature and Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, has signed on as co-sponsor. The bill would still need Gov. Jim Doyle’s signature to become law, but Doyle is a Democrat, too. He issued an opinion in 1992, when he was attorney general, saying an American Indian logo or mascot could constitute discrimination.

Since AB 35 passed the Assembly Education Committee on a straight party-line vote, eight democrats voted in favor and five republicans voted against, the bill is now ready to be scheduled any time for a vote by the full State Assembly.