Michigan schools awarded $484K to address offensive Native American mascots

Promoting good connections between Michigan’s public and private K–12 schools, colleges, institutions, local governments, and the state’s 12 federally recognized Native American tribes has been the goal of the Native American Heritage Fund.

In order to strengthen school curricula and rename racially offensive mascots, 10 Michigan schools, districts, and institutions received more than $480,000 in funding from NAHF this year.

Since 2018, they have given awards to about 60 entities.

According to Tribal Council Chairwoman Dorie Rios, addressing the state’s 15 offending (high school) mascots was one of the NAHF’s top concerns.

In 2003, the Michigan Board of Education passed a resolution calling for all Michigan schools to stop using Native American mascots and descriptors.

According to the resolution, American Indian students’ academic performance suffers as a result of drug use.

Many of the controversial mascots, according to Rios, were chosen by people who thought they were honoring Native Americans.

If you don’t have that dialogue or that connection with that indigenous group, how do you honor them? “I said,” Rios said.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights received a complaint from the Michigan Department of Civil Rights in 2013, requesting that it issue an order that would forbid the use of Native American mascots, titles, nicknames, slogans, chants, and/or imagery going forward.

Many of the mascots have been successfully rebranded by NAHF in the seven years that the organization has been in operation and giving out funds.

Rios stated, “We are proud to say that the student body came up with a lot of these initiatives.”

According to her, the grants also help organizations enhance their curricula.

This year, NAHF gave over $484,000 to ten charities.

The following is the list:

• 
  
  Albion College
  
  $35,000 to create a culturally appropriate exhibit and site co-management plan at the Whitehouse Nature Center.
  
• 
  
  Camden Frontier School
  
  $105,061.20 to rebrand the current mascot from the R-word and to rebrand signage, floors, athletic facilities and apparel with the new RedHawks mascot imagery.
  
• 
  
  East Jordan Public Schools
  
  $12,570 to implement the Nbwaachiwedaa miinwaa Kinomaagedaa: Let s Visit and Learn Program. This grant is in addition to the NAHF grant that East Jordan Public Schools received in 2021, as NAHF continues to work with and support schools as they make ongoing changes.
  
• 
  
  Gladstone Area Schools
  
  $18,575.05 to maintain and protect Native American statues that have been in their park since 1988 and to implement educational and community engagement initiatives.
  
• 
  
  Grand Ledge Public Schools
  
  $3,200 to create a culturally appropriate Anishinaabe history lesson for third graders.
  
• 
  
  Grand Valley State University
  
  $63,467.20 to support Native and Indigenous students at GVSU and to expand awareness of Anishinaabe culture across the campus.
  
• 
  
  Okemos Public Schools
  
  $8,000 to develop inquiry-based Michigan history lessons for all third-graders in the district, with a focus on the Anishinaabe people and their impact on the Okemos community. This grant is in addition to the NAHF grant received in 2021.
  
• 
  
  Plymouth-Canton Community Schools
  
  $145,894.40 to replace the Chiefs mascot at Canton High School with the new Cobras mascot.
  
• 
  
  Port Huron Area School District
  
  $86,052.24 to replace the mascot at Michigamme and Roosevelt Elementary Schools and High School. This grant is in addition to the NAHF grant received in 2023, as NAHF continues to work with and support schools as they make ongoing changes.
  
• 
  
  Suttons Bay Public Schools
  
  $6,600 to further develop cultural curriculum, which is in addition to the NAHF grant received in 2020 and 2018.
  

“We want to take this nationwide in the end,” Rios stated. Other tribes are eager to participate.

The application process is available at www.nahfund.com and opens in June.