With regard to the Kelseyville Indians, the suggestions by some that the Pomo “just get over it” are startling in their thoughtlessness. While you have merely had the mascot of your high school changed, the Pomo have had ancestors murdered, their nation and culture all but destroyed and their lands stolen. There is simply no comparison between the two. I am weary of the childish sniveling of you small-minded folk.
None of your protestations that the Indian mascot “honored” the “noble red man” ring true when one looks at the buck-toothed cartoon caricature that represented the Kelseyville Indian. It is no wonder that the Pomo were offended. My suggestion to you is “just get over” the change of mascot from Indians to Knights.
I also remind those opposed to a name change for Kelseyville that Mt. Konocti was once known as Uncle Sam and the town of Kelseyville went by the same name. Was there was a great outcry about changing Uncle Sam to Kelseyville? I like the idea of using place names that the aboriginal people used such as Konocti, Kabatin, Kono Tayee, etc. Not only are these names time-honored, they are uniquely 100% American.
Consider these place names: Muskogee, Massachusetts, Chattanooga, Tulsa, Connecticut, Narragansett, Oklahoma, Okefenokee, Mississippi, Missouri, Utah, Washoe, Shenandoah, Tennessee, Niagara, Yosemite, Mayacama, Sequoia, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Sarasota, Sedona, Kansas, Alabama, Tucson, Taos, Minnesota, Iowa, Mojave, Ojai, Lodi, Lompoc, Yucaipa, Texas, Alaska, Seminole, Idaho, Seattle, Ohio, Chicago, Arkansas, Nebraska, Kentucky, Michigan, Wisconsin, Dakota, Tacoma, Denali, Arizona, Azuza, Inyo, Colusa, Cucamonga, Tehachapi, Truckee, Tulare, Yreka, Dinuba and Miami. These are but a small sampling of familiar Indian names.
Further, in the United States, there are about two dozen lakes called Clear Lake, including two in California. I think our lake should revert to being called Ka-Ba-Tin, which is not only unique but has a beautiful ring to it. Remember that Tahoe was once called Lake Bigler before the white man came to his senses.
Michelle Rivers
Kelseyville
