BERKELEY, Calif. — Although many pop culture representations still marginalize American Indians nowadays, the tide is steadily shifting among higher education institutions — and for the better, says a longtime educator and expert in indigenous topics.
Karen Biestman, associate dean and director of Stanford University’s Native American Cultural Center, applauds the growing tendency of colleges to do away with Indian mascots, for example.
“If you’re going to be inclusive of all students on campus, you cannot do so by commodifying someone’s name or heritage,” says Biestman, who has held teaching and administrative roles involving American Indians at Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley for 30 years, combined. “A chant or the use of someone’s name doesn’t honor that person or that group of people. It’s not an honor; it’s commodifying.”
She notes that academia has been more responsive than professional sports franchises to the demands by indigenous people for more sensitivity in their choices of team names and mascots. Ongoing controversies, such as the Washington Redskins’ moniker, typically involve legally approved trademarks, too, she says, “which is another reason why trends have been different in higher education.”
Biestman’s remarks occurred during the weeklong Executive Leadership Academy, sponsored by the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC-Berkeley in partnership with the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education. The annual event is intended to help academicians prepare to become university presidents, vice presidents and deans. This year’s event included more than 30 participants from throughout this country and South Africa who are currently faculty and administrators at a variety of institutions.
Unlike other programs around the country offering such training and mentoring, the academy was designed around a multicultural and multinational faculty, as well as a multicultural curriculum, says Josefina Baltodano, the academy’s founder and executive director.
Biestman, who’s Cherokee, explained how some schools have successfully navigated through questions over the appropriateness of their mascots. Florida State University, for instance, still uses “Seminoles” for its sports teams, after holding discussions with leaders of the Seminole tribe, who indicated that the mere use of the name didn’t offend them. Such an example reiterates the importance of, and raises questions over “who can, and when to appropriate images,” Biestman says, adding, “If you get the support of the tribe, that can make all the difference.”
