Category: Delaware Tribe

To Anderson Community Schools’ School Board:

I don’t know how many of you are graduates from Anderson High or other area high schools. On this mascot problem, I can only hope you are using some common sense and some backbone.

Chief Anderson was chief of the Delaware Tribe and, through the years, descendants of his have visited here several times, visited our school and said we were showing great respect in all we do in regard to our mascot and his outfit.

They did point out that the Delaware headdress was only three feathers but ours, with numerous feathers, was respectful because it was the style of other Native American tribes.

You can’t change history, as much as some people think they can.

We have had an Indian mascot for over 90 years. For almost the last 40 years, a group of Native Americans has visited Anderson, set up Andersontown Pow Wow and shared with the public their traditions, dances and customs.

I have volunteered several years there, and our booth has been visited many times by Native Americans. We have had on our table the AHS yearbooks with the title “The Indian” on them.

We also have had a copy of “A Long Far View,” a big AHS history book that has our Indian mascot in color on the cover. We have always received complimentary feedback.

The official Anderson city seal is also the head of a Native American chief with a headdress, very similar to our mascot’s. Is that a problem?

By what power does Rachel Thunder and the American Indian Movement have to tell us what is right or wrong in the way we honor the Native Americans who settled here before us? (Editor’s note: Story ran on Page A3, April 13.)

As a 75-year graduate of Anderson High, I say to those who chose…

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Apr. 1—ANDERSON — As Anderson Community Schools returns from its two-week spring break, the district has begun an internal review of its Indian mascot, maiden and the pair’s basketball pregame routine.

For now, the district is only conducting an internal review of how it honors the Native American heritage of Anderson High School and the district.

Previously, ACS representative Brad Meadows told The Herald Bulletin that ACS was identifying external and internal people to be part of a review committee.

ACS hoped to have the committee start meeting within the first week of April to begin discussions about the mascot, maiden and pregame routines, according to Meadows.

While there was no external review being conducted as of Thursday, Meadows said, “We will certainly, at some point, seek input externally as well.”

Currently there is no Native American representation on the internal review committee, said Meadows, though the district plans on including Native American voices on the external committee.

The review committee was sparked by a video that was posted to TikTok in late February. It detailed the Indian mascot and maiden preforming their pregame routine and the passing of a peace pipe around a circle of cheerleaders before a boys’ basketball game.

The video has since received over 771,200 views and has led members of various Native American tribes to contact ACS to express their concerns.

Meadows noted that the district has kept in contact with the Delaware Tribe of Indians and the Delaware Nation, two federally recognized groups of Lenape people.

Assistant Chief of the Delaware Tribe of Indians, Jeremy Johnson, said that he and Chief Brad KillsCrow received email communication from ACS Superintendent Joe Cronk on Tuesday, notifying the tribe of ACS’ internal review.

In the email, Cronk stated that the recommendations and feedback from the tribe will be used during the internal review, according to Johnson.

Story continues

“It…

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Child care facilities close across Green Country over tribal money dispute | KTULPlease ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes ofwebsite accessibility-1; } // command = ‘getUSPData’, version = 1, callback = function(uspData: uspdata, success: boolean) window.__uspapi = function (command, version, callback) { if (command === ‘getUSPData’ && version === 1) { if (isFullMeasure() || getPrivacyKVP()) { // enable via KVP or if the site is fullmeasure.news // check trustarc for privacy info var uspString = getTrustArc(); if (uspString) { // if the uspString was created and returned properly // Then perform callback with correct object var uspData = { version: version, uspString: uspString }; return callback(uspData, true); } } } // Case where command !== getUSPData || uspString returns null || version !== 1 || !usPrivacyEnabled // call callback with uspData = null and success = false return callback(null, false); } function getTrustArc() { if (window.truste && window.truste.cma) { // if the trustarc object and methods are available var url = location.protocol + ‘//’ + location.host; // Get consent decision by calling trustarc api var consentDetails = window.truste.cma.callApi(“getConsentDecision”, url); /* returns consentDetails: {consentDecision:$integer, source:”asserted”} consentDetails.source can be “asserted” or “implied” – ignore for our purposes consentDetails.consentDecision can be 0, 1, 2, or 3 0 – no decision (closing banner without making a decision) 1 – required – “opted out” 3 – advertising – accepted */ var uspPrivacyString = formatUSPrivacyString(consentDetails.consentDecision); return writeUSPrivacyString(uspPrivacyString); } else { return null; } } // Handle getting the value of the notice_behavior cookie (provided for us by trustarc) function getCookieData(name) { var value = ‘; ‘ + document.cookie; var parts = value.split(‘; ‘ + name + ‘=’); if (parts.length === 2) { return parts.pop().split(‘;’).shift(); } return null; } function…

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Parents all over Washington county are trying to find a place for their kids to go after three daycare facilities announced they’re closing this week. The Washington County Child Care Foundation operates two centers in Bartlesville and another one in Sperry. Nearly 160 kids across the three facilities will have to find new childcare centers after all the facilities close this week.

“When they called me and told me they got in, I cried happy tears,” said Rachel Swindell. Swindell waited a year and a half to get three-year-old Lucas into her dream daycare: Ivy Academy West in Bartlesville. She and her husband both work full time jobs.

“The people there are wonderful, she said. “I have nothing bad to say.”

However, Monday she got an email from the director saying the centers would be closing on Thursday. The Washington County Child Care Foundation operates the centers. A source from the foundation said they’ve worked hand in hand with the Delaware tribe 25 years and that’s how the foundation is funded.

But they say the tribe decided to cut those ties. Now, the foundation said the tribe owes them more than $4 million. However, the Delaware chief said they don’t believe the tribe owes any money and said the daycares were primarily serving non-native children, which was against the tribe’s federal contract. He also said their audits of the foundation showed it was spending money unwisely.

“I’m learning that I’m losing childcare for my son,” said Swindell. Swindell said regardless of why it happened, she wishes she had more notice. “I was frustrated at the situation, but my heart broke for Lucas,” she said “His friends and teachers and his daily routine.”

60 employees will also be losing their jobs. Swindell said she’s relying on her family members until she can find a new daycare.

The foundation said…

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Over a decade ago, Michael Nickerson-Rossi traveled from his then-home of Long Beach to Palm Springs with some friends. By the end of the trip, he’d fallen for the city and its vibrant, artistic feel, but there was one big thing missing: a professional dance company. 

“I saw these beautiful works of art, from landscaping to architecture to fine arts, but there was no dance. And I was kind of surprised by that, because we’re so close to Los Angeles,” he said. “And I wanted to bring it.”

Now, Nickerson-Rossi Dance is a professional contemporary dance company consisting of seven full-time members. Under that umbrella, there’s also the Palm Springs Dance Academy and the Palm Springs International Dance Festival, the latter of which takes the stage this weekend.

The festival includes nine days of programming ranging from a ballroom social to a student showcase, and each event purposefully features dancers across a variety of genres to introduce guests to artforms they may be unfamiliar with. 

The Desert Sun caught up with Nickerson-Rossi and a few of his colleagues to learn what events they’re most excited for at this year’s festival. 

Indigenous Dance Residency Performance

The festival kicks off with an evening of three postmodern dance pieces by Julenda Satow Freeman, a card-holding member of the Delaware Tribe of Indians (Lenni Lenape) and the Cherokee Nation. Freeman choreographed these works during a week-long residency at Nickerson-Rossi Dance Theater, during which she learned new ways to tell her family’s story through movement. 

This is the dance company’s inaugural Indigenous Dance Residency, which is something Nickerson-Rossi has wanted to do for years to honor the tribal land that checkerboards Palm Springs. He got one step closer in 2021 when the company partnered with the Cahuilla Band of Indians to present a modern bird song dance during a Modernism Week home…

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ANDERSON — Since the 1920s, Anderson High School has been represented by the Indian mascot, but a recent video posted to TikTok has the school under fire.

In the ’50s, the Indian mascot, and the Maiden mascot, which had been introduced a decade earlier, started performing a dance routine at home basketball games.

On Feb. 22, Sarah Holba, who is from Northern Indiana and goes by @rradregina on TikTok, posted a video critical of the dance to the app. The video also captured other AHS pregame rituals, such as cheerleaders passing around a ceremonial peace pipe.

As of Tuesday, the video, which carries the hashtag #culturalappropriation, had more than 688,000 views. Other TikTok users have overlaid their comments on the original video, as well, adding to the attention it has drawn. Newsweek posted an article about the video March 3.

Debora Haza, of Columbus, was sent the video by a friend in the Native American community. Haza is a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Michigan.

“It triggers historical trauma in native people that we’ve had to live all of our lives,” Haza said of the TikTok video.

In an email to The Herald Bulletin, Brad Meadows, director of district and community engagement for Anderson Community Schools, said the district understands that the use of the Indian mascot at AHS has “not been endorsed by some tribes and tribal members but (we) trust they understand the historic and respectful context in which it has been used for many years.”

The school is committed, according to Meadows, to working with the Delaware Tribe of Indians, also known as Lenape people, to keep honoring Chief Anderson, the city’s namesake.

School district officials and representatives of the Delaware Tribe of Indians had a preliminary phone conversation Monday to open a dialogue, Meadows said.

ACS plans to…

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By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.

One Feather Staff

Several other federally recognized tribes and tribal organizations have joined with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) to oppose groups seeking federal recognition as an Indian tribe through Congressional means.  A letter was sent to Sens. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) who serve as the chairperson and vice chairperson for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on Monday, Feb. 28 that was signed by Principal Chief Richard G. Sneed and eight more tribal leaders.

The letter states, “…we respectfully request that you defer consideration of groups seeking federal acknowledgment to the Department of the Interior’s Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA).”

The letter is signed by Chief Sneed; Chief Ben Barnes, Shawnee Tribe; Chief Cyrus Ben, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; Chairwoman Lori Gooday Ware, Fort Sill Apache Tribe; President Deborah Dotson, Delaware Nation; Gov. Bill Anoatubby, Chickasaw Nation; Assistant Chief Jeremy Johnson, Delaware Tribe of Indians; President Jeffrey Stiffarm, Fort Belknap Indian Community; and Chairwoman Margo Gray, United Indian Nations of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas.

The letter went on to state, “Federally acknowledged tribes are sovereigns with significant governmental powers impacting both Indians and non-Indians, including the authority to tax, regulate activity within tribal territory, and take away personal freedoms through the exercise of criminal jurisdiction.  Acknowledgment decisions should be made on merit and not politics.”

As of now, a total of four bills have been introduced into Congress that would provide federal recognition to a group including:

The tribal leaders state in the letter, “If the Congress enacts any of these bills, hundreds of other groups claiming to be tribes also will seek federal legislation to circumvent the OFA process.”

For years, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) have opposed federal recognition for the Lumbees.  Multiple…

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A viral video of a performance during a basketball game at an Indiana high school has viewers disgusted after two students dressed in traditional Native American clothing and danced.

Sarah Holba, who goes by the username @rradredgina, posted a video of the students culturally appropriating Native culture by having two students dress as the high school’s official mascot “the Indian” and “the Maiden.”

The video, titled “what in the #culturalappropriation” received more than 146,000 views and 3,800 comments since it was posted on February 22.

Cultural appropriation is the act of taking aspects of an oppressed or minority group’s culture without permission. WeRNative, a health resource for Native youth, provides resources to youth struggling to fight Native cultural appropriation.

WeRNative recommends individuals who see individuals appropriating Native culture start a conversation about why what they are doing is harmful and disrespectful, although the conversations can be uncomfortable.

“I literally hate Indiana,” the on-screen text read as Holba showed a student dressed in a reconstruction of a traditional Native American headdress running across the high school’s basketball court.

Holba told Newsweek the incident occurred at Anderson High School in Anderson, Indiana, on February 22. Although Holba has no association with the school, she was attending a basketball game for the school’s senior night when she started recording the school’s mascot.

In the video, a male and female student stood in the middle of the basketball court dressed as Native Americans including war paint, feathers, and a large feathered headdress.

At one point during warm-ups for the basketball game, the two individuals stood in the middle of a group of cheerleaders as the male student pretended to blow a horn.

“I have had several students at Anderson comment and reach out to me saying that this has gone on historically for years at the school,” Holba said. “When students…

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In the CBS Ghosts TV show, adapted from the BBC Ghosts, Sasappis actor Román Zaragoza had his Native American backstory revealed in episode 14. While Sam (Rose McIver) and Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar) tried to create a website for their B&B, Sasappis offered to help tell their story, as he was a Native American storyteller when he was alive. Ghosts showrunners Joe Port, Joe Wiseman, and actor Zaragoza talked about the importance of Native American representation in the show and why they wrote Sasappis as a storyteller.

Román Zaragoza as Sasappis in ‘Ghosts’ | CBS via Getty Images

‘Ghosts’ Actor Román Zaragoza wanted a Native American Lenape consultant to help with writing Sasappis

The US Ghosts cast features spirits from across American history. This includes Civil War captain Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones), lady of the Woodstone Manor Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky), Jazz singer Alberta (Danielle Pinnock), Viking Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long), and Native American Lenape Sasappis (Román Zaragoza). CBS recently renewed the show for Ghosts Season 2.

And as a guest star on Ghosts, Gregory Zaragoza, Román Zaragoza’s father, played Sasappis’s father. After filming Ghosts Season 1,Episode 1, Zaragoza recalled talking with the showrunners about writing his character. Basing Sasappis in Native American history needed work.

“After the pilot, I had really good conversations with the Joes – Joe Port and Joe Wiseman – about bringing a Lenape consultant into the project,” he told Observer. “If you want him to be Lenape, you should be engaging with the tribe or someone who is associated with the tribe because otherwise, it could come off a little disrespectful. I’m like, ‘I’m not Lenape. I’m not knowledgeable on the Lenape…

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