CHICAGO _ Nearly six years ago, Austin Allbert dressed in beaded pants, a fringed vest and a feathered headdress, and allowed his art teacher to decorate his face with "war paint."
Portraying the "chief," he stood with his arms crossed in front of him, stoically staring ahead as the band played at Morris (Ill.) Community High School football games.
Earlier this month, Allbert sat in a lawn chair in front of his former school with more than two dozen other protesters insisting the school change its mascot.
"It was something at the time I thought was respectful and a high honor," he said, recalling his senior year. "I desperately wanted to be that mascot. It wasn't until I left Morris and went to college and made other friends that I saw, 'Wow, that was really awful and horrible what we did.' It's been a lot of years that I've sat and thought on it. I regret what I did and I wish I could go back and change it. I can't, but I'm here today to try to get the school board to change it."
Morris, a Grundy County town of about 15,000 and an hour southwest of Chicago, is one of many local schools feeling heightened pressure to remove a mascot widely considered offensive among indigenous groups.
Following decades of protests by Native Americans, Washington's NFL team removed its Redskins name last month amid corporate sponsor pressure and the potential loss of billions. The move was significant, provided the stern resistance for years from team owner Daniel Snyder, who had said he would "never" change the name or logo.
It felt seismic even 700 miles away in Morris, whose mascot is nearly identical.
"I try to stay very neutral," said Morris superintendent Craig Ortiz, a former math teacher and 1991 graduate who started his new position last year. "It's not my place to say, 'Yes, we should,' or, 'No, we shouldn't.' I try to hear both sides. I think a lot of people thought, when Washington changes then we'd talk about it, thinking Washington would never change."
Like Morris, Illinois high schools Momence, Nokomis, Sullivan and Shawnee also use the Redskins name and similar logos. Forty-seven other schools in the state use Native American imagery or names, such as "Warriors," as mascots.
Chicago Lane Tech's Local School Council recently voted unanimously to eradicate its controversial Indian mascot. And the conversation continues to play out across the state.
Those who delay their decision may be forced to change if Illinois House Bill 4783 is passed.
Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, proposed the law this winter in response to a student-led petition to change the Hononegah Indians mascot _ a mythical "Indian princess" who performs at games.
Schools using such mascots would need to receive written consent every five years from a Native American tribe within 500 miles. Schools also would need to conduct programs on Native American culture and offer a course on Native American contributions. Failing to meet the requirements would result in playoff bans.
While the bill has been put on the back burner amid the economic and public health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, West remains hopeful.
"My goal is to ensure that it's a bipartisan effort," he said. "Some people tell me it needs to be a complete ban. I've had other people say a complete ban does not educate the students on the history of Native American people. Some people tell me where to go. It makes people mad. I get that. But people are opening their eyes to what's right and wrong."
Some teams have enacted mascot changes through state laws and sports-governing rules.
The University of Illinois removed its Chief Illiniwek mascot after a 2005 NCAA policy instituted a championship policy against "hostile and abusive" Native American mascots, names and imagery. The university has yet to replace it with an official mascot despite years of debates and occasional flareups.
Maine and Oregon laws prohibit public schools and universities from using Native American symbolism as mascots. California's Racial Mascot Act bans schools from using "Redskins" as a team name or mascot.
More than 30 national Native American organizations, including the National Congress of American Indians, have called for the end of the Redskins mascot.
"The problem with these schools is they want to say they are honoring you when they know nothing about (indigenous) people," said Ted Trujillo, a Passamaquoddy tribal member.
For decades, he has spoken out against the Indians mascots of Morris and nearby Minooka, pleading for changes at school board meetings. He attended Morris in the 1970s and said he was teased with names like "Little Chief" as a child.
"They make us out to be stereotypical images of the 1800s," he said. "As a Native man, I've been threatened and told, 'Go back to where you came from,' to 'Shut up.' You've proven you can't honor us. We don't want you to honor us (with mascots)."
