A second Boise-area school vows to stop using Indian logos. But the mascot won’t change
Another Idaho high school is moving away from the use of Native Americans as its mascot.
Meridian High School will retain its Warriors nickname but has vowed to stop using logos depicting an American Indian on any new projects, the Idaho Statesman learned through a public records request.
It will instead use a block-style letter “M” — similar to the University of Michigan — as its logo on any new uniforms or school-branded gear. The school previously used several versions of an Indian head, native headdresses or native imagery in its logos.
“Any of the negativity that we’ve gotten, it’s that headdress, not really the Warriors,” Meridian Principal Jill Lilienkamp told the Idaho Statesman on Monday. “We’ll always be the Warriors. I don’t think that will ever change.
“We’ve reached out to some of the Native American tribes in Idaho. And some of them are like, ‘It doesn’t bother us.’ But some of them are like, ‘Well, it’s not really indicative of all Idaho tribes.’ So they don’t like it. It offends them.”
Lilienkamp added Meridian has no plans to spend money to remove existing Native American imagery around its campus, including a rock in front of the high school, a mural outside its library or a bronzed statue of an American Indian in its office.
Native American logos also remain on the school’s homepage, its athletics website, the football team’s booster club website and multiple social media accounts.
“We personally aren’t getting a whole bunch of pressure from anybody to do it,” Lilienkamp said. “We just felt like it was time to be culturally sensitive for any money moving forward. But nobody has demanded that we remove anything.”
MERIDIAN QUIETLY CHANGES INDIAN LOGO
Meridian started weighing a change last summer, when the use of Native American mascots became an issue across the state. Boise High changed from the Braves to the Brave in August. And Teton High in East Idaho rescinded its Redskins name in July. It has not yet named a replacement.
Nezperce High in North Idaho is also debating a change to its Indians mascot, expecting a decision in March or April.
Those decisions followed the Shoshone-Bannock tribe calling for a ban on all American Indian mascots in Idaho’s public schools, citing their use as “racial misappropriation.” Maine has banned all Native American mascots, and Oregon schools must receive permission from one of the state’s federally recognized tribes.
“The non-Indian, Euro-American rationale of public schools and communities that using mascots such as Savages, Redskins or Indians ‘honors’ Indian people is grossly inaccurate,” a paper addressed to the governor, the Legislature and the Idaho State Board of Education reads. “The continued use of those names would only honor the non-Indian ideology created by dominant mainstream society, whose ancestors directly or indirectly killed, sold, removed or demoralized the original Indian residents.”
The Nez Perce tribe has also called for the end of mascots that portray Native Americans or their culture.
“The Nez Perce Tribe strongly supports these schools moving in the direction of retiring these types of names and mascots,” Kayeloni Scott, the communications manager for the Nez Perce tribe, wrote in an email. “Though communities may feel a sense of connection, the harm of using them far outweighs any possible benefits. We will continue to advocate for other schools to do the same.”
Meridian replaced its gym floor last summer, a project that cost $17,890. Rather than risking the need for another replacement, administrators decided to stick with the block “M” logo at midcourt and use it for all future logos.
Emails show Lilienkamp and Meridian Athletic Director Mike Graefe instructing their coaches and staff over the summer of the change. The Idaho Statesman filed a records request for those emails Aug. 12 and received them Jan. 23, more than five months later.
Both declined interviews with the Idaho Statesman until the newspaper obtained those emails. The Idaho Statesman emailed Graefe on Aug. 3 asking for clarification on its logo. Graefe did not respond, instead forwarding the message to Lilienkamp and writing: “I didn’t respond to this fool. Just a heads up for what’s coming.”
Lilienkamp and Graefe said Monday they couldn’t remember any public announcements about the identity change to Meridian parents or alumni, and the issue has never come before the West Ada School Board.
The Boise and Teton school districts held public school board meetings on their mascots, receiving hours of testimony both for and against changes. West Ada School District spokesman Eric Exline said a logo change would not require school board approval. But no Idaho law requires a school board to approve a mascot change, either.
Lilienkamp said a Native American staff member reached out to several Idaho tribes for input, but she couldn’t remember which ones. Shoshone-Bannock spokeswoman Randy’L Teton said her tribe has yet to hear from Meridian.
“We welcome them to reach out to us,” Teton said.
Eight Idaho high schools still use Native American mascots, including the Warriors (Kootenai), Savages (Salmon, Salmon River) and Indians (Buhl, Nezperce, Pocatello, Preston, Shoshone).
MERIDIAN WARRIORS HISTORY
Meridian, known as the Warriors since 1939, already has altered its depiction of American Indians before to please critics. The school moved to the block “M” logo in the mid-2000s as the NCAA pushed colleges to remove Native American mascots.
“We certainly don’t want to offend Native Americans,” former Meridian Principal Don Nesbitt told the Idaho Statesman in 2005. “… We have really moved toward the ‘M’.”
Meridian also stopped using a mascot dressed in a stereotypical Native American costume under Nesbitt in the mid-2000s, Exline said. But depictions of Native Americans remained around the school, and those images eventually found their way back onto jerseys and into logos.
Lilienkamp, who is in her fourth year as Meridian’s principal, said the Native American logos won’t return as long as she’s at the school. But she couldn’t make any promises for future administrators.
Professional teams and schools have retained their Warriors nickname without using images of Native Americans. The NBA’s Golden State Warriors abandoned their American Indian logo in 1969. Schools across the country have changed their portrayal of Warriors to ones featuring Spartans, Romans or simple shields and swords. And Watersprings, a Christian school in Idaho Falls, uses a warrior mask as its logo.
Teams at Meridian replace their uniforms every couple years, handing them down to the junior varsity and then freshman teams. So it could take six or more years before the school removes all Native American imagery from its uniforms, Graefe said.
“Uniforms are being ordered all the time,” Graefe said. “So we didn’t want to spend a bunch of money if we had to go back and make an adjustment.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 4:00 AM with the headline "A second Boise-area school vows to stop using Indian logos. But the mascot won’t change."
