Geographies of Indigenous-Based Team Name and Mascot Use in American Secondary Schools
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Theses and Dissertations in Geography Geography Program (SNR) 5-2008 Geographies of Indigenous-based Team Name and Mascot Use in American Secondary Schools Ezra J. Zeitler [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geographythesis Part of the Geography Commons Zeitler, Ezra J., "Geographies of Indigenous-based Team Name and Mascot Use in American Secondary Schools" (2008). Theses and Dissertations in Geography. 7. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/geographythesis/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Geography Program (SNR) at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations in Geography by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. GEOGRAPHIES OF INDIGENOUS-BASED TEAM NAME AND MASCOT USE IN AMERICAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS by Ezra J. Zeitler A DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: Geography Under the Supervision of Professor David J. Wishart Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2008 GEOGRAPHIES OF INDIGENOUS-BASED TEAM NAME AND MASCOT USE IN AMERICAN SECONDARY SCHOOLS Ezra J. Zeitler, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2008 Advisor: David J. Wishart This dissertation identifies the geographic locations and characteristics of high schools using Native American nicknames and, through the examination of Indigenous- based iconography, analyzes the portrayal of Indigenous peoples in these learning environments. Primary and secondary data collected from archives, newspapers, yearbooks, directories, school websites, and fieldwork are utilized in various ways, including cartographic and quantitative analyses of 1,368 school locations and their attributes, numerous case studies highlighting concocted histories and stereotypical depictions of Native Americans, and a content analysis of Indigenous-based imagery photographed in 125 schools with predominately white student bodies. The first chapter defines the dissertation topic and provides a literature review of relevant geographic and anti-mascot literature, and Chapter Two stresses the relevance of studying team names. Chapter Three examines the Indian’s role in the development of American identity and argues that the tradition of portraying of Native Americans as “Others” in literature, art, Wild West shows, film, and television continues to this day through the use of team names and mascots. Chapter Four applies Renato Rosaldo’s concept of imperialist nostalgia, Mary Louise Pratt’s idea of anti-conquest, and other theories to explain the selection and continued use of Native American mascots. National, regional, and local geographic patterns of mascot use are mapped and analyzed in Chapter Five, and Chapter Six critiques the portrayal of diverse Native American groups as stereotypical Plains Indians, noble and ignoble savages, masculine warriors, Indian princesses, and other depictions in secondary schools. The study complements existing geographic and anti-mascot literature in three ways: by approaching the Native American mascot issue from a spatial perspective and mapping the locations and characteristics of these schools for analysis, by strengthening the anti-mascot argument by examining the practice in secondary schools, the next logical step in a movement that has focused largely on professional and collegiate sports, and by advancing knowledge in geography and in the interdisciplinary realm of anti- mascot literature by using textual evidence from numerous historical periods, and at several geographic scales, to emphasize how race-based ideologies become manifest on the landscape and in life through the use of iconography and ritual. DISSERTATION TITLE Geographies of Indigenous-based Team Name and Mascot Use in American Secondary Schools BY Ezra J. Zeitler SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE: Approved Date _____________________________________________ __________________ Signature David J. Wishart________________________________ Typed Name _____________________________________________ __________________ Signature Jay T. Johnson_________________________________ Typed Name _____________________________________________ __________________ Signature J. Clark Archer_________________________________ Typed Name _____________________________________________ __________________ Signature Steven J. Lavin_________________________________ Typed Name _____________________________________________ __________________ Signature Margaret D. Jacobs______________________________ Typed Name DEDICATION To my cousin Ryan, who recognized the significance of history in our world and aspired be an educator. He served his country with undaunted resolve, and his valor will forever be a source of inspiration. PFC Ryan Jerabek, USMC May 9, 1985 – April 6, 2004 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I wish to thank my advisor, David Wishart, for his constant guidance and encouragement. Thank you to my committee members – Jay Johnson, Margaret Jacobs, J. Clark Archer, and Stephen Lavin – for challenging me as a scholar and supporting me as a student. I wish to acknowledge and thank the anti-mascot scholars whose work has inspired me to produce something that provides additional credence for the cause. Particularly, I want to express my gratitude to Robert Eurich, whose American Indian Sports Team Mascots website (www.aistm.org) kept me informed with news regarding the struggle to eliminate Indigenous-based team names and mascots. I am also indebted to many people at the University of Nebraska, including John Wunder, Victoria Smith, Andrew Graybill, Pete Maslowski, Ben Rader, Mark Awakuni-Swetland, Kurt Kinbacher, Catherine Johnson, and Mila Saskova-Pierce, for sharing their knowledge and supporting my ideas. I would be remiss if I did not thank my colleagues in the Department of Anthropology and Geography – Kenny French, Matt Engel, Becky Buller, Ryan Weichelt, Katie Haselwood, Lesli Rawlings, Cynthia Williams, Mel and Leatha Johnson, Kathy Hellwege, Joyce Hurst, Barbara Trail, and Ben Purzycki – for the laughter, support, and camaraderie. A special thanks also to the many members of the Indigenous Peoples, Ethnic Geography, Cultural Geography, and Historical Geography Specialty Groups of the Association of American Geographers who continue to support student research. I would also like to thank the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Office of Graduate Studies for providing a Day Dissertation Travel Award to offset costs associated with fieldwork as well as the Department of Anthropology and Geography for offering financial support to present research at national conferences. Thank you, Mark and Tara Timm, for providing me with elbow room on your serene rural Nebraska property during the past five years. Support from my family, my mother in particular, over the past eight years has been paramount in regards to the completion of this degree, and words alone cannot express my heartfelt thanks to Kristi Kose for her continuous encouragement. I acknowledge that this dissertation is a product of knowledge attained from many people working inside and outside of academia, and that any mistakes, omissions, or shortcomings in the dissertation are entirely my own and are by no means a reflection of those guiding me as this study unfolded. CONTENTS List of Figures ix List of Tables xiv List of Maps xv Chapter One: Introduction 1 Chapter Two: Place Identity and Athletic Team Names 18 Chapter Three: The Indian’s Place in European American Identity 48 Chapter Four: Theoretical Perspectives on Indigenous-based Team Name 80 Selection Chapter Five: Locations, Frequencies, and Characteristics of Secondary 124 Schools with Indigenous-based Athletic Team Names Chapter Six: Indigenous-based Iconography in Secondary Schools 179 Chapter Seven: Reiterations and Opportunities 233 Appendix A: Secondary Schools using Indigenous-based Team Names 238 in 2005 References 273 viii LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 A monument honoring “pioneers who passed this way to win and hold 2 the West,” erected by the Wahoo, Nebraska Mothers’ Club in 1931. 1.2 A postcard, circa 1960, of Wahoo, Nebraska’s welcome sign. 3 1.3 A description of activities hosted by the “Squaws,” Wahoo, Nebraska 4 High School’s cheerleaders, in 1953 with a photo of the cheerleaders dancing around the gymnasium’s center court “Indian style.” 1.4 The Wahoo, Nebraska High School Warrior mascot in 1983. 6 2.1 The 1913-14 Columbia, Missouri High School boys basketball team. 25 2.2 The boys basketball season summary in the 1920 edition of The 27 Prairie Dog, the yearbook of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin High School. 2.3 The Houston 1836 logo, unveiled on February 6, 2006, and the 34 Houston Dynamo logo, presented one month later on March 6 after negative reaction by Hispanics. 2.4 A screenshot of Montgomery, Alabama’s Robert E. Lee High School 36 website on March 5, 2006. 2.5 The 1974-75 Pekin, Illinois High School Boys Varsity Basketball 39 team, the Chinks. 2.6 A parade float titled “Chinatown, U.S.A.” in the 1974 Pekin, Illinois 40 High School homecoming parade. 2.7 Logos of selected high schools using Arab-related nicknames in 2008. 44 2.8 A mosaic of sights on the Coachella Valley, California High School 45 campus as depicted on the school’s website, 2008. 3.1 Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s Westward the Course of Empire Takes 52 Its Way,1861. 3.2 John Gast’s