New bill proposed to eliminate Native American imagery and names in Illinois schools K-12

URBANA - Redskins, Indians, and Raiders might become school nicknames of the past. State Representative Maurice West (D-Rockford) submitted House Bill 5617 in February, which requires elementary and secondary schools to alter mascots, logos, or names with Native American tribes or feature Native American culture. The bill also requires Native American history taught in all Illinois elementary and high schools.

Area schools like Judah Christian, University-High, Tuscola, and Mt. Zion, would need to adopt a new logo, buy new uniforms, and retire the sale of banned gear. Schools will also be required to remove Native American imagery and logos during the next renovation or update of athletics facilities, according to the bill.

Some of the other Illinois high schools that would be affected include: Pittsfield (Saukees), Lake Forest (Scouts), Thornwood (Thunderbirds), Stockton (Blackhawks), West Aurora (Blackhawks), Bremen (Braves), Annawan (Braves), Deer Creek Mackinaw (Chiefs), Cahokia (Comanches), Morrisonville (Mohawks), Sullivan (Redskins), Casey-Westfield (Warriors), Crete-Monee (Warriors), Granite City (Warriors), Warren (Warriors), Watseka (Indians), Winnebago (Indians), Maine West (Warriors), Chicago Westinghouse (Warriors), Waubonsie Valley (Warriors), Altamont (Indians), Brimfield (Indians), Chicago Calumet (Indians), DuQuoin (Indians), Carlyle (Indians), Dakota (Indians), Lewistown (Indians), Johnston City (Indians), Pawnee (Indians), Pecatonica (Indians), Payson-Seymour (Indians), Meredosia (Indians), Minooka (Indians), Mascoutah (Indians), Marengo (Indians), Momence (Indians), Neoga (Indians), Pontiac (Indians), Sandwich (Indians), Hononegah (Indians), and Wayne City (Indians).

It is not the first time Illinois lawmakers have broached the issue. In Feb 2020, West filed HB4783, a similar bill, which died in the House in 2021. In addition to leading the effort to remove racist school mascots from Illinois schools, he was also the lead sponsor of legislation last year requiring Illinois schools to teach Native American history.

West filed the bill in February, and it was assigned to the Elementary & Secondary Education: Administration, Licensing & Charter Schools committee. Five additional representatives, including Laura Faver Dias, Angelica Guerrero-Cuellar, Michelle Mussman, Elizabeth "Lisa" Hernandez, and Anne Stava-Murray, have added their names to co-sponsor the proposed law.

If signed by the Governor, schools would have to change their mascot and nicknames by Sept. 1, 2027. The bill would also prohibit schools from selling items with banned mascots and remove banned logos from school property. At this time the bill is still in committee.

Nokomis superintendent Scott Doerr told WirePoints, "If at this time we had to make a change, especially in a short amount of time that this bill might go into effect, we're talking about maybe $100,000 for signage change, uniforms and gym floors and all the mats and things that we have."

In April of last year, the state of New York passed a law that bans the use of Native American-themed logos and mascots unless they are approved by a recognized Native American tribe. Schools that fail to obtain permission from a tribe to use such logos or imagery must change their branding by August 2024.

In Washington state, schools have been required to get permission from the nearest federally recognized tribe to use a Native American mascot since 2021. Districts that refused jeopardized receiving state funds.

Some Illinois students and school districts have already taken a proactive approach. Change is difficult and there has been pushback.

In 2019, students at Hononegah High School started a petition to change their nickname from the Indians and Lady Indians. A counter-petition was quickly started and collected more 13,000 names to keep the imagery and name. It has been four years since the initiative started, and the school's mascot tradition continues.

Minooka underwent a similar challenge to change their name from the Indians in 2020 as well. Like Honnegah, the bid failed.

There have been some successful transitions. Over a decade ago back in 2012, Aptakisic Junior High School in Buffalo Grove changed its mascot from the Indians to the Eagles.

In 2022, the Morris school board approved a measure to drop the name "Redskins" by August of 2025. Their IHSA directory page no longer list a nickname.

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Sunday Sports Rewind; St. Joseph-Ogden advances to baseball title game

Peoria - Brant Hoveln and Colton Hale head to the dugout during the St. Joseph-Ogden baseball team's state semifinal game a Dozier Stadium. The Spartans plated three runs in the top of the ninth inning, breaking a 2-2 tie to beat Chicago Christian 5-2 and advance to the Class 2A champion game. Jesse Schlueter, Eli Place, and Austin Cain led the offensive effort with two hits each. Hale, who struck out eight of the 20 batters he faced across 6.2 innings, earned the win on the bump. Here's a look back at some of the game action from the game seven years ago this June.

Photos: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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St. Joseph-Ogden 3rd Quarter Honor Roll

ST. JOSEPH - Last week, St. Joseph-Ogden High School announced the third-quarter Honor Roll and High Honor Roll recipients. Over 270 students at the high school earned third-quarter Honor Roll recognition.

To make the honor roll at SJO, students must earn a grade point average of 3.25 or higher on a 4.0 scale. Students whose GPA soared above 3.74 are recognized as High Honor Roll students.

Freshman High Honor Roll

Lillian Ahart
Samuel Albrecht
Zhou Barbee
Zachary Benoit
Colin Burnett
Elizabeth Clark
Abigail Crider
Hayden Dahl
Iris Davis
Nick Ditchfield
Madison Farber
Nathaniel Farney
Nolan Franzen
Leah Gaines
Skyler Graham
Anna Hammond
Mark Harbourt
Nicholas Harris
Tyler Hess
Maggie Hewkin
Brynn Ikemire
Mia Jones
Alivia Learned
Chase Mabry
Hadley McDonald
Finnegan Miller
Maddux Musselman
Mason Ramm
Peighton Reim
Kiah Riesel
Dennis Rineberg
Sophie Schmitz
Ava Smoot
Adeline Stevens
Ani Stine
Isabella Turner
Brayden Waller
Jack Wear
Kaden Wedig
Emerson Williams

Freshman Honor Roll

Yadiel Acosta-Reyes
Alec Bowlin
Willis Canamore
Brenda Castro Gutierrez
Jaxson Colvin
Justin Downs
Aiden Hundley
Waylon Jones
Garrett Loschen
Avrianna Lyttle
Steven Newman
Mason Olinger
William Ricketts-Royer
Lilly Sollars
Cameron Wagner
Shelby Warns
Declan Yohnka
Dalton York

Sophomore High Honor Roll

Trevor Ames
Kylie Barrowman
Lexie Barrowman
Kaitlyn Beyers
Emily Bird
Tim Blackburn-Kelley
Aiden Bonny
Addison Brooks
Sara Bytnar
Jacob Carlson
William Carlson
Adelyn Childers
Katherine Ericksen
Callie Evans
Abigail Getty
Camden Getty
Zachary Harper
Claire Hartman
Bryson Houchens
Amelia Huckstadt
Lydia Huckstadt
Adalyn Jannusch
Kaelyn Jolley
Sophia Kasper
Madilyn Kelley
Samantha Kelso
Cooper Kietzman
Alexis Lackey
Ryker Lockhart
Mackenzie Loschen
Michael McDaniel
Danny McGinnis
Emma McKinney
Kodey McKinney
Patrick McMahon
Ava Midkiff
Ashlyn Miller
Hannah Mock
Delaney Nekolny
Allison Ochs
Brennan Oleynichak
Kayla Osterbur
Colton Overstreet
Garrick Page
Branson Pearman
Kaleb Peoples
Asher Pruemer
Ainsley Rhoton
Lily Rice
Landon Roberts
Logan Rosenthal
Amber Ruppel
Cameron Schlueter
Allison Schmitz
Gracyn Sjoken
Lucas Smith
Tao Smith
Karleigh Spain
Quinn Stahl
Sydney Steinbach
Hadley Sweet
Carlee Taylor
Sophia Vliet
Madeline Wells
Wyatt Wertz
Logan Xiao
Cyrus Zadeh

Sophomore Honor Roll

Caroline Aden
DeAva Barnett
Timera Blackburn-Kelley
Shelby Campbell
Rudra Chaudhary
Wade Clark
Christopher Coffey
Cade Crozier
Caleb Dwyer
Brandon Goodwin
William Haley
Erica Hardimon
Nick Jackson
Kylan Kincaid
Vance McComas
Jackson Mohr
Graham Ray
Lance Retz
Ethan Sanders
Trevor Sexton
Landon Smith
Lucas Truong
Hunter Van Meenen
Emma Wells

Junior High Honor Roll

EJ Beckett
Audrey Benoit
William Besson
Sul Bonny
Holden Brazelton
Arely Castro Gutierrez
Richi Chimal
Preslee Christians
Madison Clampitt
Ella Dietiker
Luke Ditchfield
Nolan Earley
Jackson Ennis
Savanna Franzen
Addison Funk
Tayton Gerdes
Olivia Getty
Makennah Hamilton
Lauren Harris
Haley Hesterberg
Maebree Houston
Kendrick Johnson
Dylan Jones
Sara Kearney
Amilliya Kindle
Madison Lankster
Logan Mills
Gabriel Mortlock
Grace Osterbur
Sonia Patel
Nathan Phillips
Sydney Reitmeier
Audrey Ruppel
Charles Schmitz
Tanner Siems
Kyler Swanson
Collin Thomey
Samantha Uden
Reese Wheatley
Charley Wright
Fiona Xiao

Junior Honor Roll

Jared Altenbaumer
Rylie Barton
Eli Birt
Landon Brown
Landen Butts
Hayden Coffey
Joshua Courter
Lauren Dewese
Lyla Frerichs
Kaiden Gaines
Paige Johnson
Owen Knap
Aiden Krall
Logan Lackey
Gabe Mata
Brenden Maury
Chayse Palmer
Logan Patton
Haley Rudolph
Corbin Smith
Thea Smith
Coy Taylor
Ava Worley
Zoe Wright

Senior High Honor Roll

Edward Alewelt
Chloe Allen
Logan Allen
Aden Armstrong
Samantha Beetz
Chloe Burkhalter
Payton Carter
Garrett Denhart
Mia Frederick
Addison Frick
Grace Getty
Chloe Harper
Rachel Harris
Brody Hausman
Annabelle Hueber
Tanner Jacob
Kya Jolley
Helene Jones
Quinn Lewis
Taylyn Lockhart
Addisyn Martinie
Ethan McElroy
Shannon McMahon
Talan Miller
Isaiah Mock
Rowan Musselman
Caleb Ochs
Macy Reed-Thompson
Addison Roesch
Addison Ross
Daniel Santiago
Addison Seggebruch
Lucas Skelton
Logan Smith
Dylan Smoot
Zoey Sweet
Drew Thurman
Emma Thurman
Braxton Waller
Elissia Ward
Colin Wayland
Corbin Wells
Hayden Williams
Peyton Williams
Spencer Wilson
Mitchell Wright

Senior Honor Roll

Kaden Allinger
Owen Baltzell
Mya Bott
Halle Brazelton
Kyler Brown
Tyler Buss
Maya Chahine
Cameron Dressen
Sadie Ericksen
Joseph Frasca
Alana Frerichs-McCurry
Grace Goldenstein
Ray Gutierrez
Jayci Hayes
Emmitt Holt
Ella Jones
Holden Jones
Tori Kibler
Luke Landrus
Lauren Lannert
Hayden Lewis
Connor Little
Carson Maroon
Seth McBride
Aescton Slowikowski
Brody Weaver
Nicholas Wetzel