Marysville Pilchuck mascot decision postponed until spring

MARYSVILLE — The future of Marysville Pilchuck High School’s mascot is still up in the air.

Tulalip tribal council member Misty Napeahi told Marysville School Board members Wednesday that the tribes would like to get input from members at an annual general council meeting in March, then bring a decision to the School Board by the first week of April.

“There’s a lot of division” around whether or not to change Marysville Pilchuck’s Tomahawks mascot, Napeahi said.

Under a new state law, public schools are no longer allowed to use Native American names, symbols or images as mascots unless the local tribe approves.

The Tulalip Tribes asked the district to change both Marysville Pilchuck High and Totem Middle School’s mascots early last year.

Tulalip Tribes Chairwoman Teri Gobin said Tulalip Youth Council members motivated the board to ask the district to change the mascot.

“Some of them cried” as they talked to the tribal board, Gobin said.

Tulalip students attend Marysville schools, and many native students have said they have experienced racism because of the mascot.

Marysville Pilchuck junior and Tulalip Youth Council media coordinator Sebastian Gomez said native youth are often tokenized because of the mascot, and non-native students have mocked drumming or singing at cultural ceremonies.

Students said removing symbols from schools that perpetuate harmful stereotypes about Native Americans is a start to widespread acceptance of Coast Salish culture.

Tomahawks were never used by Coast Salish people.

The Marysville School Board adopted the Phoenix as Totem Middle School’s mascot in December, replacing the Thunderbirds. Marysville Pilchuck’s mascot committee presented the Mountaineers as their final pick for a new mascot, but the School Board asked for more time, and more conversations, before it makes a decision.

Marysville Pilchuck’s long-controversial Tomahawks mascot has led to debate among tribal members and alumni.

Many elders, including Don Hatch, have advocated for keeping the mascot.

He told Marysville School Board members Wednesday that a mascot doesn’t define people.

“I’m not a Tomahawk, this Indian is not a Tomahawk,” Hatch said. “This Indian is a person … I want you guys to do a little soul searching within yourself and think about that.”

At the semiannual general council meeting in the fall, Hatch supported a motion to ask the Tulalip Tribes’ Board of Directors to allow Marysville Pilchuck to keep the mascot.

Semiannual council meeting attendees voted 92-83 in favor of maintaining the Tomahawks mascot. That meeting was poorly attended and did not include student voices.

About 1,200 tribal members show up to the annual general council meeting each spring, and a few hundred show up for the semiannual meeting in the fall, said Tulalip elder Les Parks, who played basketball and football for Marysville High School. Only those over 18 years old can participate in the meetings, he said.

Napeahi said it’s important for the board to get a deeper understanding of all the issues before coming to a final decision.

The state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction is giving the school district leniency in the timeline to make a decision “because of the relationship we’re building right now,” School Board President Paul Galovin said.

“I believe that through us having good teamwork and some good collaborative decision-making together we can come up with something that supports our Marysville community, our Tulalip community,” Galovin said, “and together with both of those communities making up the Marysville School District.”

Isabella Breda: 425-339-3192; isabella.breda@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @BredaIsabella.