Cherokee Endorsement Of Maine West Warrior Mascot Questioned

DES PLAINES, IL — The blue headdress-adorned Native American that has been the Maine West Warriors mascot for nearly six decades could reconsidered, as school's belief it was operating with tribal blessing has been called into question. A couple weeks ago, Brett Chapman, a member of the Pawnee Nation noticed an image of a student portraying the mascot online, and called out the school on Twitter. The school blocked him and subsequently set all of its Twitter accounts to private.

"It appeared to be a mockery to me," Chapman told Patch. The former Oklahoma prosecutor said he was incredulous to learn school officials had been claiming for years that the Cherokee nation had endorsed the Warrior mascot. "Not that they're in a position to give permission, but to me it was offensive that they were using that as moral authority."

The mascot was originally portrayed by Jim Borowski, a longtime Maine West teacher and coach. It was later opened up to "male students of any class," the Des Plaines Journal reported in 2011, and school officials at Maine West told the Chicago Tribune that portraying the Warrior is a prestigious and highly selective position.

As recently as 2017, school faculty claimed to have received official authorization for its live mascot from the tribal nation in 1993.

“We have a letter of recognition from the Cherokee Nation which explains how the Native Americans gave us permission to keep our mascot because of how we treat our warrior with such respect,” Maine West teacher Maureen Moeller told the school paper last year, when the district commissioned a graphic artist to design an updated Warriors logo.

“More recently,we have had contact with the Native American elders through our Adventure Education program, and they have come numerous times to school and have also granted us permission because of how we hold the Native Americans so respectfully at this school," Moeller said. "You will never see our mascot running around and sitting in the stands. He comes out, does his dance, and he goes.”

According to the Chicago Tribune, the school appears to have interpreted a poem donated a quarter-century ago as a tacit endorsement of the mascot:

It goes back to the early 1990s, when a poet named Mary Littlefield visited the school. Littlefield, who is of Cherokee heritage, spoke about her culture and history, and donated a poem to the school. After her visit, school officials apparently believed she had given the mascot a seal of approval on behalf of the Cherokee Nation.

“Although our mascot is called ‘warrior,’ (the Cherokees) believe that he is depicted in paintings located in our spectator gym and bus concourse as being kind and with the wisdom that comes from years of humanitarian leadership of his Native Americans,” Maine West’s late former principal James Coburn wrote in a 1993 memo.

“The expressed behaviors of our students and mascot, they believe, also reinforce our respect for Native Americans … I recommend that we accept the Cherokee Nation’s gracious offer as a tribute to Maine West and the dignity it accords the Native American Indian.”

In an interview, though, Littlefield said she doesn’t recall expressing support for the mascot during her visit. “I never gave any endorsement for this, for myself or the Cherokee Nation,” she said.

Representatives of the Oklahoma-based Cherokee Nation also said they have no records showing that officials approved the mascot.

In recent years, many schools have ended the practice of using Native American characters as mascots, such as the University of Illinois retiring Chief Illiniwek and Algonquin Middle School in Des Plaines changing its mascot to the Thunder. Maine West, however, showed no interest in doing so last year.

“We’re in cooperation with the tribes, we have a letter," said Athletic Director Jarett Kirshner, "and it’s something that [Principal Audrey] Haugan takes very seriously."

Haugan declined to respond to repeated requests for comment or a list of written questions on the subject.

Chapman said it would cost the school nothing to end the practice. He said he was not asking for an apology or suggesting a costly logo change – just an end to the practice of parading a live mascot dressed up in a Halloween costume and blue headdress around school events.

In light of shifting "sensitivities," the spokesperson for Maine Township High School District 207 told the Tribune that the district is "definitely willing to review what we're doing."

In a statement to WGN, the district spokesperson said "school administrators are reviewing the school's practices." It said school officials believe they have portrayed the mascot "with dignity and respect at all times." It added the district takes pride in its cultural diversity and does not wish to offend.