Changing Landscapes: From "The ASU Story" to Modern A-State

The Mascot Controversy

Following the Civil Rights era, many universities began to realize that their cherished school traditions could have unintended consequences. In the 1970s, many universities and schools began reconsidering their use of Native American mascots under the increasing protest from Native communities. indigenous rights advocacy groups, and culturally conscious faculty.  By the early 1990s, the Faculty Senate at A-State was also calling for a reexamination of the Indians nickname and the scalp-waving “Jumpin’ Joe” caricature,  charging that the mascot had been created without Native American input or consent, and was a demeaning image that reaffirmed offensive stereotypes about Native Americans [1].

The “Indians” mascot spoke more about Arkansas’s changing identity that it did the state’s actual Native American presence.   As historian Morris S. Arnold points out, the historiography of Arkansas's colonial period - and the histories of the people who lived here prior to the arrival of Europeans – remained “rather thin” until the 1980s, and lagged behind other states’ development of their indigenous and colonial history [2]. Arkansas’s misnamed Toltec Mounds State Park reflects the many misconceptions Arkansans have had over the years about the original inhabitants of the state, who were mainly known by the shards of pottery, flint weapons, and mounds they left behind [3].  The Tunican-speaking Temple Mound Culture which inhabited the state during the time of Hernando de Soto’s 1541 expedition had been succeeded by the Quapaws by the end of the 1500s, and the pressures of colonization in both the regions to the south and east brought migrations of new tribes - the Cherokee, Choctaw, Shawnees, Delawares, and Caddos -  into the area by the early 19th century. The rich gameland of the Mississippi Delta also made it an attractive hunting ground for the neighboring Missouri Osage as well as westward-moving European trappers, increasing the conflict in the region. The formation of Arkansas’s territorial government in 1819 began the process of treaty making that would eventually lead to the removal of Arkansas’s Native populations to Oklahoma, followed by the removal of the Eastern indigenous nations in the 1930s along the “Trail of Tears” through Arkansas [4].

With only a minimal population of Native Americans left in Northeast Arkansas, the public image of “Indians” was informed primarily by the popular stereotypes and Hollywood characterizations of the times, which focused on the Wild West images of Plains Indians in headdresses or the clownish “savages” presented in cartoons.  As Mary Landreth points out in "Becoming the Indians," the “Indians” mascot also capitalized on the frontier image Arkansas was projecting to the nation in the early 20th century through the emphasis on its border with "Indian Territory" in Oklahoma in its tourism and craft industries [5]. 

The mascot choice also followed the lead of well-known national universities, particularly as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which had branded itself in 1921 as the "Fighting Illini" and created the myth of the "new united, fighting, aspiring tribe of Illini, who know how to honor their living heroes and venerate their dead" [6].  UIUC's creation of "Chief Illiniwek," who debuted in 1926 with the performance of a "lively Indian dance" during halftime at the Illinois-Pennsylvania football game, became an instant success for stoking the crowd's enjoyment and new "traditions" using Indian characters began to spread across the country [7]. The ability to use these images to create new "Indian traditions" fueling team spirit and entertainment was limited only by students' imagination.

The 1930 name change to Arkansas State College was an important hallmark for the growing school.  It would no longer be merely a regional agricultural college, but the major institution for higher education in the northeast part of the state.  As such, the choice of a mascot gained new importance.  Entering the Arkansas collegiate landscape as a new college having to fight for recognition among the established Arkansas universities, Arkansas State could easily imagine itself in this popular heroic, confrontational image of the Osage Indians "at war with practically all the other tribes of the plains," which echoed the independent frontier spirit while conveniently overlooking the historical relationships with the Quapaw and Caddo which had been settled in the state prior to the removal to Oklahoma [8].

For real Native Americans, however, the 1950s marked the beginning of the “Termination” era in the relationship between the indigenous nations and the federal governments. The removals of many tribes from their traditional homelands meant the disruption of Native religious and social practices, which were based in the specific relationship to the land itself.  The campaigns of forced assimilation in the late 1800s took Native children away to distant boarding schools where all traces of Native identity were eradicated and outlawed Native religious practices as federal and state policy attempted to “save” Native Americans by “killing the Indian,” as stated by Capt. Richard H. Pratt in 1892 [9].  In 1953, the passing of the House Concurrent Resolution 108 marked the establishment of the policy of terminating the federal recognition of tribes deemed to have passed below a government-determined cultural threshold of “Indianness” – the very thing that the federal policies were working hard to eliminate [10].  In the American public's awareness, however, the resulting disappearance of authentic Native American culture in the public’s awareness was not viewed as the deliberate work of policy, but a general and destined “dying out” of Native ways, whose memory should be kept alive by education institutions instead.  This flawed assumption permitted the popular argument that sports mascots were a way of honoring the Native heritage of America and making sure that it didn’t disappear entirely.

Though A-State made several attempts to dignify the mascot’s image and defend its use, the university faced growing censure from within its scholarly community as well as from outside.  The controversy peaked in 2005, when the NCAA issued new guidelines regarding the use of Native American mascots and added Arkansas State University to a list of colleges using "displaying hostile and abusive racial/ethnic/national origin mascots, nicknames or imagery" [11].  The schools were asked to complete and submit self-evaluations to the NCAA National Office regarding their use of Native American imagery.  Arkansas State University submitted its self-evaluation by the May 1, 2005 deadline, arguing that its use of Indian imagery was “responsible and dignified” and indicative of its desire “for the university to continue to develop educational programs which honor and acknowledge Native American heritage.” The self-evaluation noted both the opposition of the Faculty Senate and other educational boards to the use of the mascot and the “considerable sentiment” and “overwhelming commentary and support of our mascot name” from students, alumni, and the regional public [12]. However, the self-evaluation itself repeated several of the historically inaccurate myths about Arkansas's Native history, primarily that the Osage tribe "lived in" or "occupied" Northeast Arkansas, without mentioning the Quapaw and other tribes that had been removed from the state.   It claimed a historical figure as the inspiration for Chief Big Track (rather than the invention of the Indian Booster Club), and noted the retirement of the “Joe” mascot without analysis of its past use or meaning [13].  Despite strong public outcry defending the Indian mascot as a harmless and beloved local tradition, A-State voted to retire "The Indians" nickname in 2007, timing the change with the university's upcoming centennial celebration [14].   In recognition of impact the change would have not only for the university’s branding, but the town’s identity as well, Arkansas State opened a period for soliciting suggestions for the new mascot, consulted firms, and began a year long process to come up with a new mascot that would be entirely A-State’s own.

A sports mascot is an expression of community belonging, creating a bond across generations of students and a strong group identity. Alumni donations and support are critical to the growth and success of university programs, and the delight of alumni for the Indian mascots had helped to grow the Indian Booster Club, formed in the 1950s, into a vital part of university development.  “The Indians” provided a unique and recognizable identity for NE Arkansas residents as the Indian Booster Club sponsored downtown parades, provided athletic scholarship and support for athletes’ families, raised funds for the Indian Marching Band to travel to represent Arkansas State, and provided the infrastructure for growing alumni support groups throughout and beyond Arkansas [15]. This forged strong community ties based on what it meant to “be an Indian” at Arkansas State, echoing the image of a “tribe” with mutual support and encouragement for not only the success of the individual students, but the region itself [16].   The declaration of Arkansas State College as a state university in 1967 was followed by the opening of Indian Mall a year later at the intersection of Caraway and Highland roads, the new heart of Jonesboro's growing commercial district.  For both the new Arkansas State University and local businesses, the ASU Indian Family personified the local spirit [17].  Unfortunately, building this strong local identity on upon a name and image belonging to other persons, and deeply intertwined with the struggles of real Native Americans to regain control of the cultural expression of their heritage, meant that conflict was inevitable. 

In March, 2008, A-State announced its new mascot, the Red Wolves [18].  The mascot continued ASU’s red & black color scheme, and highlighted the historical presence of the endangered wolf species that had once inhabited Crowley’s Ridge.  With new spirit characters, Howl and Scarlet, a signature “Wolves Up” hand sign, and a new crowd “howl” that could rival the University of Arkansas Razorback’s well-known “Woo Pig Souie” chant, A-State launched forward building new traditions to support the mascot.  "Pack Pride" replaced the idea of an "Indian Family" while retaining the language of a strong, cooperative community.  

Despite the University's effort to rebrand its sports team, the attachment to the "Indian" mascot remains evident across Jonesboro, where images of Jumpin' Joe and Running Joe still decorate store windows. With the expansion of Jonesboro’s business district along the new Red Wolf Boulevard, Indian Mall began steadily losing customers and business, and closed in 2008 before being mostly demolished in 2012 [19].   The loss of Indian Mall during the period of the mascot change reinforced the sense of nostalgia and even grief as residents confronted a growing Jonesboro headed away from familiar landmarks [20].  The mascot controversy was a poignant summary of the many levels of change that Arkansas State University experienced in its transformation from a regional college with a local focus to a university with international campuses operating in a global environment.  The re-evaluation and restatement of identity accompanying these changes has been expressed through the attachment to the images  used to represent ourselves as a community, and those transitions come less easily than merely changing the names of our streets.  

A Timeline of the Controversy [21]:



[1] Steve Watkins, “ASU’s Nickname and Mascot Questioned by Faculty Senate,” Jonesboro Sun, November 16, 1991, "ASU Mascot" file, Vertical Files, Archives & Special Collections,  Dean B. Ellis Library, Arkansas State University.
[2] Morris S. Arnold, "Introduction," in Arkansas Before the Americans, ed. Hester A. Davis, (Fayetteville, AR: Arkansas Archeological Survey, 1991), 2.
[3] Dan F. Morse, "On the Possible Origin of the Quapaws in Northeast Arkansas,” in Arkansas Before the Americans, ed. Hester A. Davis, (Fayetteville, AR: Arkansas Archeological Survey, 1991), 53.
[4] Mary Landreth, “Becoming the Indians: Fashioning Arkansas State University’s Indians” in  Team Spirits: The Native American Mascots Controversy, eds. C. Richard King and Charles Fruehling Springwood (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2001), 47-49.  
[5] Ibid.
[6] "Fighting Illini FAQ," University Archives, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, accessed April 15, 2018, https://archives.library.illinois.edu/features/illini.php.
[7] C. Richard King, The Native American Mascot Controversy: A Handbook (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015), 5.
[8] Landreth, "Becoming the Indians," 50.
[9] “'Kill the Indian, and Save the Man': Capt. Richard H. Pratt on the Education of Native Americans," in History Matters: The U. S. Survey Course on the Web, online series, American Social History Project / Center for Media and Learning (Graduate Center, CUNY)
and the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (George Mason University), last modified March 22, 2018, http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/4929/.
[10] "1953: Congress seeks to abolish tribes, relocate American Indians," Native Voices: Native People's Concepts of Health and Illness website, U.S. National Library of Medicine, accessed April 20, 2018, https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/488.html.
[11] “NCAA Executive Committee Issues Guidelines for Use of Native American Mascots at Championship Events,”  NCAA News Release, Friday, August 5, 2005, http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/PressArchive/2005/Announcements/.
[12] Arkansas State University, "NCAA Self Evaluation," May 1, 2005, 9,"ASU Mascot" file, Vertical Files, Archives & Special Collections, Dean B. Ellis Library, Arkansas State University.
[13] Ibid.; Lee A. Dew, The ASU Story: a History of Arkansas State University, 1909-1967 (Jonesboro, AR: ASU Press, 1968), 138.
[14] Matthew Roberson, “Era of Indian Nearing End,” Jonesboro Sun (Jonesboro, AR), June 19, 2007,"ASU Mascot" file, Vertical Files, Archives & Special Collections,  Dean B. Ellis Library, Arkansas State University.
[15] Dew, 138.
[16] Dew, 139.
[17] Indian: Arkansas State College Yearbook, Vol. 1968, No. 45 (State College, AR: Arkansas State College press, 1968), 46, accessed April 21, 2018, https://archive.org/stream/indian1968arka#page/46/mode/2up
[18] "ASU's  Wolves Shall be 'Red'", KAIT8 Breaking News Alert, March 7, 2008, "ASU Mascot" file, Vertical Files, Archives & Special Collections,  Dean B. Ellis Library, Arkansas State University.
[19] Jarrod Long, "Jarrod Long's Commentary: Indian Mall, Jonesboro, AR", Deadmalls.com (blog), September 13, 2005, http://deadmalls.com/malls/indian_mall.html.
[20] "Doors Close: Remembering the Indian Mall," KAIT8 News, February 22nd, 2008, accessed April 20, 2018, http://www.kait8.com/story/7913247/doors-close-remembering-the-indian-mall.
[21] Images for this timeline presentation were compiled by Aimie Michelle Taylor, using materials from the "A.S.U. Mascot" file, Vertical Files, Archives & Special Collections, Dean B. Ellis Library, Arkansas State University and the Arkansas State University Yearbooks online archive maintained by Archives & Special Collections, Dean B. Ellis Library, Arkansas State University, available at http://www.astate.edu/a/library/archives/.

 

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