MARYSVILLE — It has been a delicate balance between school tradition and changing political times at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, where the Tomahawk is the mascot and a fixture.
For years, the "tomahawk chop" — the rhythmic arm-pumping chant brought into homes across the country through televised Atlanta Braves baseball and Florida State University football games — was commonplace in the stands at Marysville-Pilchuck, a campus of 2,400 students.
These days, students are allowed to chop but not chant at sporting events and pep rallies.
Problem is, they sometimes do both and that violates the school district’s human dignity policy, says the school’s administration.
Two years ago, at the urging of an American Indian student at the high school, the district banned the traditional "tomahawk chop." Critics argued that it degraded and trivialized sacred American Indian traditions.
"The students have determined what they found offensive was the chant," said Ken Tallquist, a vice principal at the school. "The chopping motion was not the issue."
Last week, Jenna Hansen and 13 other students from different grades and walks of life visited all of the school’s social studies classes to guide discussions on the issue and gather opinions.
They went into classrooms after students watched a video entitled, "In Whose Honor?," about the use of American Indian mascots and one woman’s crusade against them.
Debate was particularly heated among juniors and seniors who were allowed to do the chop as underclassmen before it was banned.
"I feel that the student body doesn’t completely understand or agree with why it needs to be changed, but the majority is supportive of trying a new chant," said Jenna Hansen, a senior.
Student body president Laura Baird said the strongest argument she heard in favor of the traditional chop and chant was the fear of a domino effect of political correctness.
"It was a really enlightening experience," Baird said. "I learned a lot about people … You really can’t stand up for something until you know how others feel."
Kyle Williams, a junior and president of the school’s Native American Club, said the chant and the arguments in favor of it anger him.
"The more I get into my culture, the more it bothers me," he said.
"I’m glad we did it so we can let people know where we are coming from," said Bernard AfterBuffalo, vice president of the Native AmericanClub.
Emily Wicks is a senior and cheerleader at the school. She saw firsthand how quickly the chop and chant could galvanize a crowd after the national anthem. She felt the adrenaline rush. Yet she grew to understand how some students would find it offensive.
The challenge, she said, is finding a catchy, non-offensive replacement for the chant that used to accompany the hand motions.
During the school’s final football game in November, the chop and chant returned as students and parents joined in.
It sent a message to the administration that the school needed to talk about it.
"There was some serious frustration among Native American students," said Tallquist, the vice principal. "They felt this should have already been addressed. We felt we needed to educate our students better."
The result was the schoolwide conversation to explain why the policy is in place.
"What we needed to do two years ago is what we are doing right now," Tallquist said.
Marysville-Pilchuck isn’t the only school in recent years to question whether its identity could trouble some people.
Jean Shumate, who was a principal at Tyee High School in SeaTac in the early 1990s, stopped the practice of the chop at football games. The school’s teams are nicknamed the Totems.
"We had a very diverse population, and we needed to be mindful of that," said Shumate, who is now the superintendent of the Stanwood-Camano School District.
In 1997, Meadowdale High School dropped the Indian "Chiefs" mascot that had been its identity for 34 years. The decision came after months of debate among a divided student body and reluctant alumni. In 1998, the student body voted to become the Mavericks.
Four years earlier, the state Board of Education requested school districts review building names, mascots, logos and other aspects of their identity to see if they "are free from bias and derogatory connotations or effects associated with race, creed, color, national origin, gender sexual orientation and disability."
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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