Host: Earlier this month Oklahoma School for the Deaf unveiled a fresh logo featuring their new Bison mascot. StateImpact’s Robby Korth reports the Bison name flips a new page in the storied history of Oklahoma’s school for deaf students.

NEWSPAPER CLIPPING PAGE FLIP

RK: John Reinenger is thumbing through a book of old newspaper clippings. The pages are from his days as a student at Oklahoma School for the Deaf here in Sulphur, a school that competed under the name Indians in his time. He’s speaking here through an interpreter.

REINENGER (through interpreter): It brings back a lot of memories. Definitely nostalgic. So yeah. I feel very, very closely connected to OSD. It’s like my second home, really. (11)

RK: The Midwest City man has a son here. His parents met here. He is a 2000 graduate. But there was one thing his mother Sylvia told him not to do at school.

REINENGER: My mother told me never to dress like in costume as an Indian, like any kind of Indian costumes. (06)

RK: John and his mother are both citizens of the Muscogee Nation. And people did dress up in costume regularly at football games and pep rallies. 

REINENGER: I mean, I didn't honestly really think much about it. And then as life went on and I've gotten older, then I've looked at it and realized, Ooh. [air sucking grimace] Yikes. OK. (08)

RK: There’s been a community-wide realization here as well. The Indians mascot was officially retired this year and replaced with the Bison. Superintendent Chris Dvorak.

DVORAK: It really kind of came to a head where there were some serious conversations within the administration that had links to alumni. And we just got the sense that the time is now, you know, we can we really need to have a serious conversation. The writing is on the wall. (18)

RK: So he tasked OSD alum and director of student life Trudy Mitchell with creating a task force and leading the charge toward a new mascot. She spoke to StateImpact through an interpreter.

MITCHELL: The change is needed. I'm excited that it's going to be something new, it's going to be a new vision for our school. (08)

RK: Mitchell met and spoke with dozens of alumni about the potential for change. It wasn’t well received at first, but she says, after several discussions many in the community have come around to the idea. 

MITCHELL: Oh we had lots of options. We had painted horse, a T. Rex, a Tasmanian Devil. There was an eagle. 

RK: But more than two-thirds ended up voting for Bison. Oklahoma School for the Deaf was hardly alone in its use of an Indigenous-themed mascot in Oklahoma. A StateImpact review of school nicknames found at least 75 public school districts - almost 15 percent - use Indigenous themed mascots. Corey Bunch, Education Services executive director for Cherokee Nation, says that can be hurtful.

BUNCH: The chants from opposing teams and the slogans that kind of are associated with the mascots and the imagery they can quickly get carried away. And they just don't represent Native people.  (14)

RK: The movement to change offensive names is gaining momentum in western states. Laws in Washington and Colorado passed this year are compelling schools to stop using Indigenous-themed mascots. Such a bill has not even been introduced in Oklahoma - the state with the highest proportion of Native Americans in the lower 48. 

BUNCH: Certainly, Cherokee Nation nor other tribal nations are out twisting anybody's arm, telling them that they ought to change their mascots. But when we are asked we are certainly happy to participate. (13)

RK: Individual districts are considering changes. Tulsa Union recently announced it would change its nickname. Tulsa Public Schools is looking at changing mascots at some sites as well. Bunch served as an advisory member for the review boards at both districts. And he says he always wants to advocate for Native students.

BUNCH: We don't want them to be ashamed for any reason to just be the people that that they are. (08)

CHATTER IN GYM

MITCHELL(through interpreter): Are you ready?

RK: Back in Sulphur, Reinenger is standing by his son as a group of alums unveil the new Bison logo. 

CHEERS

REINENGER: Yeah, I like it, I think it's cool. (02)

RK: Cool in that the animal has a symbolic relationship with deaf people, he says.

REINENGER: People who are deaf rely on things like vibrations. Thinking about like herds and movements and vibrations, I think it really connects well with the deaf community. (07)

RK: It’s a proud moment for the Reinenger family. A new era for Oklahoma School for the Deaf. For StateImpact, I’m Robby Korth.