Michigan Native American Fund Gives $480,000 to Schools to ‘Rebrand Racially Insensitive Mascots’

The state of Michigan has doled out $480,000 to 10 schools this year to help them “rebrand racially insensitive mascots” and add more Native American culture into the curriculum.

In 2003, the Michigan Board of Education adopted a resolution that supported doing away with “Native American descriptors and mascots by all Michigan schools,” MLive reported. 

The board found that usage of these themes “has a detrimental effect on the educational achievement of American Indian students.”

By 2013, the Michigan Department of Civil Rights complained to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, requesting it to “issue an order prohibiting the continued use Native American mascots, names, nicknames, slogans, chants and/or imagery.”

The Native American Heritage Fund (NAHF) was created after an amendment to the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi’s (NHBP) Tribal-State Gaming Compact with the state government was made in 2016, according to the fund’s website. 

The amendment directs state funds into the NAHF, starting with $500,000 being deposited in the 2016 fiscal year. 

“For each fiscal period moving forward, funds will be deposited into the NAHF to replace the amount used during the previous fiscal period and thus restore the balance of $500,000,” NAHF officials explained. 

This year, $480,000 in NAHF funds were spent across several Michigan K-12 public schools and private colleges to correct issues like Native American imagery being used in mascots and a lack of cultural “awareness,” according to MLive.

The schools and districts that received the money are as follows:

Albion College — $35,000 to create a culturally appropriate exhibit and site co-management plan at the Whitehouse Nature Center.

Camden Frontier School — $105,061.20 to rebrand the current mascot from the “R-word” and to rebrand signage, floors, athletic facilities and apparel with the new “RedHawks” mascot imagery.

East Jordan Public Schools — $12,570 to implement the Nbwaachiwedaa miinwaa Kinomaagedaa: Let’s Visit and Learn Program. This grant is in addition to the NAHF grant that East Jordan Public Schools received in 2021, as NAHF continues to work with and support schools as they make ongoing changes.

Gladstone Area Schools — $18,575.05 to maintain and protect Native American statues that have been in their park since 1988 and to implement educational and community engagement initiatives.

Grand Ledge Public Schools – $3,200 to create a culturally appropriate Anishinaabe history lesson for third graders.

Grand Valley State University — $63,467.20 to support Native and Indigenous students at GVSU and to expand awareness of Anishinaabe culture across the campus.

Okemos Public Schools — $8,000 to develop inquiry-based Michigan history lessons for all third-graders in the district, with a focus on the Anishinaabe people and their impact on the Okemos community. This grant is in addition to the NAHF grant received in 2021.

Plymouth-Canton Community Schools — $145,894.40 to replace the “Chiefs” mascot at Canton High School with the new “Cobras” mascot.

Port Huron Area School District — $86,052.24 to replace the mascot at Michigamme and Roosevelt Elementary Schools and High School. This grant is in addition to the NAHF grant received in 2023, as NAHF continues to work with and support schools as they make ongoing changes.

Suttons Bay Public Schools — $6,600 to further develop cultural curriculum, which is in addition to the NAHF grant received in 2020 and 2018.

The “R-word” referred to by MLive is “Redskins,” the former mascot of Camden Frontier School.

This brings the total number of entities to receive money from NAHF to 60 since 2018. 

“One of the top priorities of the NAHF was to address 15 offensive (high school) mascots in the state,” Tribal Council Chairwoman Dorie Rios told the Michigan outlet, explaining that many of the problematic characters and names were adopted by schools who thought they were paying homage to indigenous people.

“How do [you] pay homage if you don’t have that conversation or that relationship with that indigenous community?” she asked.

“Ultimately our goal is to take this nationwide,” Rios added. “There is a desire for other tribes to join in.”