Rudy Ortega Jr., Fernandeño Tataviam Tribal President, addressed the William S. Hart Union High School District Board on Wednesday regarding Hart High School’s Indian mascot, which has drawn community attention over the past year for being “outdated.”
The Governing Board has expressed a desire to approach this issue thoughtfully and with a full understanding of the perspective of all relevant stakeholders, according to District officials.
At the regularly scheduled meeting, the governing board welcomed Ortega as a representative from the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, in order to develop a greater understanding of the people indigenous to the Santa Clarita Valley.
“How do we feel about the mascot?” Ortega said. “I’ve had conversations with students and individual board members… We look to go forward.”
The Tribal President claimed there would be few Californian tribes that would support schools keeping their race-based mascots.
“Many times in history class I would be told ‘all the Indians are dead,’” Ortega added. “They thought there were no more indigenous peoples to this area… It’s a difficult challenge because there’s some history or some legacy.”
Ortega sees the issue with mascot as a problem with two sides. One where a conversation can be had with the wider Santa Clarita community regarding how the indigneous people of the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians view the race-based mascot.
“I know many of my tribal people who will become Hart High students,” Ortega said. “We want them to be proud of their heritage.”
Ortega also sees the issue as an opportunity to educate students of the indigenous people that originally inhabited the area. The Fernandeño Tataviam advocate for ethnic studies, including indigneous people, according to the Tribal President.
“From a student perspective, this is not something we learn about, not even in my college courses I’ve taken,” said Kaitlyn Thanaet, student representative on the board. “Schoolbooks do touch on it slightly… I don’t think the removal (of the mascot) should be made by those who it does not affect. It won’t affect me, but it would affect Mr. Ortega.”
On Feb. 9, the Hart District Governing Board held a virtual study session to start a conversation about changing Hart High’s Indian mascot, which students have called “outdated.”
“(Study sessions) give the board an opportunity to learn without the pressure of having to make a decision,” said Dr. Cherise Moore, chair of the Hart District board in a previous KHTS story. “They are designed to ensure that when we do have to make decisions we are completely informed as a board.”
Among those in attendance were Julia Estrada, a recent Hart High graduate who started an online petition back in June of 2020 to urge Hart High School and district staff to retire the school’s “outdated and offensive Indian mascot.”
“The issue with the mascot is that it stereotypically portrays an existing race and culture, and promotes ignorance throughout the student body,” Estrada told the board Tuesday.
Many of the written comments submitted to the board ahead of the study session argued that the majority of Native Americans were not opposed to the Indian mascot, with one dismissing the effort to replace it as being part of a “racist political agenda.”
No action was taken at this meeting and further discussions and opportunities for input are scheduled for future meetings. Board Chair Dr. Moore asked Superintendent Mike Kuhlman to begin the process of engaging the topic with more students.
the full meeting can viewed here.
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