LAKE COUNTY — The Kelseyville Unified School District will discuss reinstating the Indian as Kelseyville High School”s mascot at its Feb. 19 meeting in open session at 7 p.m.
Kelseyville business owner Marcie Cadora read a letter to the board and submitted a petition with more than 500 signatures in support of reinstating the high school”s mascot.
“Somebody told me that the reason the name was originally changed and the reason it made it to a vote was because a young girl was quite hurt at athletic events every time she heard the term ”Indian”,” Cadora said before she began reading the letter.
“Hurt feelings are hurt feelings, whether someone else can see the cause or not – but the decision to take away the name of ”Indians” from our Kelseyville High School teams has hurt the feelings of generations of Kelseyville residents and took away their history and heritage,” Cadora said, reading her letter to the board.
“Our elected agents, chosen to exercise the power vested in the people that elected them chose to not hear our voices,” Cadora”s letter said.
Nice resident Clayton Duncan, a member of the Robinson Rancheria band of Pomo Indians, spearheaded an effort in 2006 to change Mountain Vista Middle School”s and Kelseyville High School”s mascots after attending a middle school basketball game.
Duncan”s efforts resulted in a 5 – 0 vote by the Kelseyville Unified School District Board March 22, 2006 to change both schools mascots. Mountain Vista”s nickname “Braves” was dropped along with its Indian mascot; Kelseyville High School”s “Indians” nickname and Indian mascot was changed to a Knight.
Board member Rick Winer moved that the discussion be taken up as an action item at the board”s February meeting, and that the meeting be held in the high school”s student union center. The room accommodates up to 700 people, according to district superintendent Boyce McClain.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
