The mascot for Port Neches high school is an “Indian” this is harmful for many reasons.

The school as a whole refer to themselves and it’s mascot as “Indians”. When Christopher Columbus came to North America he believed he was in India, which is why he called us (Native Americans) Indians. We are NOT Indians, we are Native Americans. The mascot along with drum majors in the band, the dance team, and cheerleaders, can be seen in headdresses that are sacred to Natives, these people also most of the time ARE WHITE. This is so disrespectful on many levels, feel free to do more research if you’d like to know more. After halftime and before games the school mascot can be seen preforming a traditionalNative American dance, this is  extremely hurtful, disrespectful, and feels like a spit in the face to Native Americans (such as myself) to see a WHITE PERSON do these things that are sacred to our culture. I am a student at Thurgood Marshal High School and witnessed all of these things firsthand, as a Native American person of color, this was extremely upsetting to watch. This act of culture appropriation should not be tolerated AT ALL in a school setting where students are supposed to feel safe.