OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma City Public Schools (OKCPS) Board of Education voted unanimously Dec. 8 to eliminate the Capitol Hill High School mascot – a mascot that shares its name with the Washington DC NFL team.

“We want to see our district set a precedence in our state … there hasn’t been any state mandate from the State Board of Education. Being one of the biggest districts in Oklahoma; I want us to be a leader. I want our district to be an example to follow,” Dr. Star Yellowfish, OKCPS Native American Student Services (NASS) administrator, said. “We want the state of Oklahoma to take notice … as we say this word is not OK. We care about our students and their learning environment, and we will no longer use the racial slur… at one of our high schools.”

The monumental decision came after the board heard testimony from students and educators, and a presentation from Yellowfish. Yellowfish was asked to speak about the mascot by OKCPS Superintendent Rob Neu. Students from Oklahoma Centennial Mid-High School’s Bison American Indian Organization (BAIO) also submitted a prospectus to the board concerning changing the mascot name. The board learned the mascot name is meant to describe the discarded bloody bodies of Native Americans after they were scalped.

“I know this is kind of graphic, but it’s important to know the powerful image that is brought to mind when our people hear that word,” Yellowfish said.

Board Member Ruth Veales, a member of the Creek Nation, said she understands the concern not only as a Native American, but also as an African American. She referenced the “N-word” and said even though some people may not have known in the past what the mascot name represents, “once we come to a knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, we have an obligation to do what is right.”

J. Don Harris, Capitol Hill Alumni Association president, said he felt blindsided because the mascot was chosen out of great respect for Indian heritage and he was not aware it was a contentious name.

Harris and the board members learned how Native American mascot imagery and symbolism can affect school environments and learning for all students, not just Native American students.

Yellowfish summarized psychological studies that concluded the use of Native American mascots teaches that it’s OK to perpetuate an inaccurate conception about race, establishes an unwelcoming learning environment and decreases Native American student self-image.

The American Psychological Association called for the immediate retirement of Native American mascots, symbols and imagery by all school levels, athletic teams and organizations back in 2005.

“In 2014 we should not even be having this conversation,” Anika Grant, of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and an Oklahoma Centennial Mid-High senior, stated. “American Indian students are made to deal with too much in our school systems. Across the state and country are on-going fights about our right to wear eagle feathers at high school graduations, the acceptable length of our hair, and the issues surrounding mascots.”

Some changes began in the 1960s, Yellowfish said. Stanford University that changed their mascot in 1972, Miami University changed in 1997-98, and the University of North Dakota voted to change in 2012, with a new name to be selected in 2015. Closer to home, in Tahlequah, Okla., Northeastern State University (2006) and Oklahoma City University (1999) changed their mascot names. Change is being sought in Minnesota and Wisconsin and ten schools in Dallas made changes to their sports teams, Yellowfish said.

Cedric Sunray, a teacher from Centennial Mid-High School and BAIO sponsor, said the Capitol Hill mascot name is a racially defined slur and people are “Trivializing our culture, trivializing our people, trivializing our history.” Sunray presented resolutions from the National Indian Education Association and several tribes who are opposed to race-based mascots and/or specifically call for the Washington DC NFL team to change their mascot.

“If there’s anybody in here that wants this change, I would ask you to stand up and support what these students have done today,” Sunray said to a crowd where the majority stood, applauded and lulu’d.

Board member Justin Ellis, Comanche, made the motion to change the Capitol Hill mascot name, effective immediately. A committee of students, alumni and community members will now be established to determine a new mascot for Capitol Hill before the spring semester ends.

Board Chairman Lynne Hardin asked Sunray and OKCPS NASS parent committee member Sarah Adams-Cornell to serve on the committee.

Prior to the mascot discussion, Yellowfish presented information to the board about the recent school environment listening session held Nov. 18, which was part of the White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Native Education. She listed the top ten concerns of Oklahoma Native American students, teachers and community members throughout the state and in the OKCPS district.

In addition to removing Native American mascots, other concerns were: Not enough Native American educators, history books need to depict accurate historical events, bullying by teachers and peers, and all schools should remove the Land Run days from their curriculum.

The listening session testimony from students regarding land run reenactments impacted Associate Superintendent Aurora Lora, who soon after mandated all land run reenactments to be discontinued in Oklahoma City Public Schools.

Tierney Tinnin, spokesperson for the OKC school district, said OKC teachers were surveyed last month and only one teacher still included the reenactment.