Weyauwega-Fremont may retire ‘Indians’ team name
By Angie Landsverk
The Weyauwega-Fremont School District’s legal counsel says the district does not need the community’s consent to retire its Native American mascot.
As a result, District Administrator Phillip Tubbs is gathering information from other districts that have changed their mascots and plans to bring it to the board later this fall.
The school board was scheduled to vote in late August on whether to seek input on the topic by placing an advisory question on the November ballot.
It was then tabled as the district focused on the start of the school year.
Around the same time, Greg Gill Sr., the district’s legal counsel, provided input on the idea of placing an advisory question on the ballot.
In an Aug. 18 letter to Tubbs and the school board, Gill noted the board does not need the community’s consent to retire the mascot.
Potential liability
Gill said that regardless of the outcome of an advisory referendum, if the board decided not to retire the mascot, the potential for liability would not go away.
“Specifically, simply because the community votes to keep the ‘Indian’ name and mascot, it does not relieve the District from potential liability that may flow from a lawsuit that claims the use of the name is harmful to Indigenous people,” he wrote. “It is challenging to predict what, if any, monetary damages would flow should a lawsuit as outlined above be filed, and the District would lose.”
Gill also wrote that he is “reasonably satisfied that if a challenge to the District were made in Federal Court, that the outcome would be adverse public relations, perhaps nationally, to the District, regardless of who wins.”
He said the potential liability for damages, attorneys’ fees and costs could also be assessed against the district and in favor of the person or entity that brought the cause of action forward, if they prevailed.
The idea of having an advisory question on the Nov. 3 ballot was discussed last spring as a way to gauge the community’s feelings on the topic.
It took place a few months after the Wisconsin Association of School Boards (WASB) met for its annual state education convention.
The convention took place in January and included a resolution to ban Native American mascots and nicknames in the state.
The resolution failed 101 to 218, leaving the issue up to local control.
Tubbs asked the board for direction earlier this month, during its Committee of the Whole meeting.
Board member Tim Baehnman said he does not think the district should do anything unless someone complains.
Tubbs said even though the name “Indians” is the district’s mascot, the district does not use it or talk about it.
The only way it is seen in the district is on things from the past, he said.
“I think the kids want an identity and the staff does as well,” Tubbs said.
With only 30-some districts left in the state with Native American names for mascots, there is pressure to retire them, he said.
“We don’t have a mascot,” said Jodi Alix, the district’s middle and high school principal.
She said the students want something that speaks to their school spirit.
Tubbs said the process for choosing a new mascot could include suggestions from multiple groups and a survey.
An ad hoc committee could help narrow down the ideas.
Elementary Principal John Ohlson said Alix’s comment is pertinent to the discussion.
The students currently in school want something to rally behind, he said.