Public protest has reversed a decision to cover up or remove the Indian head logo from a Michigan high school marching band heading to the inaugural parade for Barack Obama in less than two weeks.
The Marching Chiefs [1] of Roosevelt High School [2] in Wyandotte, Mich., planned to cover the chief logo on their uniforms. They also planned to drop the Chiefs name effective Jan. 20, Inauguration Day, a local newspaper reported.
Some of that changed on Thursday in the face of support for the name, some of it from a Wyandotte chief.
The decision to drop the logo and change the band's name came in December. Harvey Gunderson, a Wisconsin resident and president of the Religious Americans Against Indian Nicknames and Logos, had urged the school to drop the nickname.
Schools Superintendent Patricia Cole said in an interview with WJR radio's Frank Beckman that the district received a letter of about 26 pages just as the district was starting the holiday break. Schools personnel began talking to lawyers and considering options. One was to cover the logo.
Wyandotte Tribe has a long history in the area
In a five-paragraph story on Thursday [3], the Detroit Free Press reported that the logo and name would be retired and quoted Band Director Mark D'Angelo as saying, "We just don't want to bring any negative publicity." That's when things got interesting.
The comment section at the end of the story began to fill with protests, and phones started ringing in Wyandotte Schools offices.
The logo had been adopted in the 1950s, and the city where the school is located is named after the Wyandotte Indian Tribe, which had settled along the Detroit River in the 1700s. Some see the name and logo as a tribute.
One who shares that view is Chief Leaford Bearskin, leader of the Wyandotte Nation of Oklahoma [4].
In the radio interview [5], Bearskin said, "It's an honor to me to be called the Wyandotte Chiefs up there by your organization. We've got quite a few people around trying to help us poor Indians, and I think they get in the way, quite frankly.
"I would be honored to have the Wyandotte Chiefs going down in the parade. I think it would be wonderful."
Chief tells activist, "Mind your own business"
The Free Press quoted Gunderson: "When a band says that someone becomes a chief when they join the band, they're trivializing the actual role of the chief in American Indian nations. It just flies in the face of the spirit of what the whole inauguration is about."
In a letter to Gunderson, Bearskin said that only he and the chief of the Wyandotte tribe in Quebec can speak for the tribe. Bearskin wrote, "I speak to you personally. Mind your own business."
The Free Press reported that Superintendent Cole reversed the decision on Thursday.
The newspaper reported Friday [6] that the school still plans to change the name of the band to the Wyandotte Roosevelt High School Marching Band. Cole said the school is replacing the band's old banner, which bears the logo, with a much larger one that simply says "Wyandotte" to publicize the community better.
Band members are expected to be march in the parade with the chief logo clearly displayed on the sleeves of their uniforms, as always.