The Apaches are here to stay. The Arcadia High Student Exectuvie Council announced that the school will maintain the the Apache Indian as the Arcadia High School mascot.
Arcadia Apaches name use is challenged. Sonny Skyhawk challenged The Arcadia School Board to drop the Apache Native American mascot for Arcadia High School.
Arcadia High School Principal Martin Plourde's attempts at racial sensitivity over the school's use of an Apache mascot have not only left the mascot question unsettled, they have also incensed Los Angeles' Native American community.
Arcadia High School's Student Executive council convened behind closed doors last week to cast its vote on whether the Apache mascot is insulting to American Indians or is a tradition which should remain at the school. They present their vote to the School Board on Tuesday.
Assembly bill AB858, also known as the Jerry Ballesteros Act, is now going to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. It is a bill introduced by Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), calling for a ban on the use of Native American tribal names, specifically Apaches and Comanches, as school mascots. The Arcadia Board of Education opposes the bill. Arcadia leaders say the use of the name Apaches is a gesture of respect. Arcadia High School has a close relationship with the White Mountain Apache tribe, which supports the use of the name. This year's bill is different, in that last year's bill left a small loophole if the name is used respectfully.
Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) has reintroduced her bill to ban the use of Native American names for school mascots. The bill was defeated in the last session, with opposition from the city of Arcadia and the Arcadia Unified School District. The act lists only two tribal names as specifically banned - Apaches and Comanches -- along with terms such as Redskins, Chiefs, Braves and Papooses. Under AB858, the only schools exempted from the ban are those under the regulation of tribal councils.
Despite pressure from Native American representatives to switch mascots in the interest of cultural sensitivity, the Apache will remain as Arcadia High School's mascot, student and school leaders decided.
A member of the White Mountain Apache Tribal Council in Arizona said Friday the Council still accepts the use of the "Apache" nickname by Arcadia High School, despite a local Native American activist's request to condemn it.
More than a mascot. Schools: When a Native American group urged Arcadia High to stop using the Apache as a symbol, officials made it an educational issue to be studied--and decided by--the Student Council. Members of the Arcadia High School Student Council are scheduled today to recommend whether to keep their school mascot, the Apache warrior which has been used for 45 years.