CONGRATULATIONS TO COLUSA SCHOOL BOARD

Honor Indians Institute would like to congratulate the Colusa Unified School District Board of Education, in

California, for considering dropping the REDSKIN school mascot. The Board will most assuredly come under a great deal of criticism from those saying that the mascot is really meant to honor Indians and that the Board is surrendering to the politically correct crowd with nothing better to do than complain about little things like Indian mascots. At the end of the process, the Board may decide against dropping the mascot, but at least you deserve credit for raising the issue.

The bigger issue for Honor Indians Institute is that many of those professing a desire to “honor Indians,” through the use of Indian mascots, really have very little knowledge of historical or modern Indians. To the Indian mascot supporter: The goal of Honor Indians Institute is to educate. Our goal is NOT to end the use of Indian mascots, only the ignorance perpetuated by them. Please read our Indian Mascot link before you try to lump us in with the Indian advocate groups who want to end Indian mascots by litigation or legislation. At the very least, go to our Honor Indians store and get a poster or Indian Mascot Offset. We would be more than happy to visit your school district and put on a class and/or seminar. We are here to help.

HONORED INDIAN - THE HONORABLE JUDGE DAROLD J. MCDADE

New State of Utah, Fourth District Court Judge Darold McDade hugs his wife Doreen after being sworn in at the County Courthouse in Provo, Utah on Friday, July 27, 2007.

The Honorable Judge Darold J. McDade, a member of the Te-Moak band of the Western Shoshone Nation of Nevada, was appointed to the State of Utah, Fourth District Court in July 2007 by Gov. Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. He graduated from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University in 1990. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he was a section chief in the Provo section of the Utah Attorney General’s Office. He served as a volunteer judge pro tem in the Fourth District Court-Small Claims Division - from 2004 to 2007. Judge McDade was also an elected member of the Pleasant Grove City Council from 2000 to 2007 and is a member of the Utah Bar Association, Nevada Bar Association and Navajo Nation Bar Association. The McDade family includes his wife Doreen, and 3 children Warren, Aaro

NEW STUDY FINDINGS VALIDATES THE MISSION AND OBJECTIVES

The findings of a new study, released on August 29, 2007, by Public Agenda entitled “Walking a Mile: A First Step Toward Mutual Understanding,” http://www.publicagenda.org/WalkingaMile/ validates the experience, mission and objectives of Honor Indians Institute. The study finds:

1. Non-Indians know very little about Indians. What they know, or think they know, is based on generalizations and stereotypes.

2. Non-Indians need to be exposed to Indians outside of the stereotypes of casinos and impoverished reservations.

3. Non-Indians and Indians have a mutual desire to increase understanding through education.

I am excited that an “official study” has been released that confirms and validates what I have experienced in my classrooms for the past 13 and ½ years! The Walking a Mile study findings are based on 12 focus groups conducted in 2006 and 2007. From these groups, the study claims that it may be the most “in-depth examinations of the thinking” of non-Indians, and Indians.

The claim of the most “in-depth examination” may be true as for “official” research. However, I have been conducting “unofficial” research on the thinking of non-Indians regarding their knowledge of Indians for the past 13 and ½ years. The first day of class I have students take about 10-15 minutes and write an essay entitled, “What I know about Indians.” For me, this was the baseline measure for assessment. Just a few of the hundreds of comments are linked to this website. Trust me, I could have included hundreds more! The true measure of assessment for me was their final essay entitled, “What I have learned about Indians.” I have posted just a few of the comments from my students about what they have learned in my class.

I also agree with the second finding that non-Indians need to be exposed to the positive things that Indians are doing that do not reinforce the negative stereotypes commonly believed by many non-Indians. I have included a “Honored Indian” feature to highlight the positive accomplishments of Indians. Non-Indians need to see and hear about the positive things that are going on everyday in our society. Hopefully, this website can feature the lives of those Indians that are doing great things in our communities.

And finally, I also agree that most non-Indians have a desire to increase their knowledge of Indians. Most of my students state that they did not get much information from their elementary or high school classes. The Honor Indians Institute’s primary mission is to increase understanding of Indians through education. Hopefully, we will have the opportunity to accomplish that mission.

CALL FOR PAPERS

I would like to thank all those that helped get the website up and running, specifically, my son Carlos Zendejas and my wife Monica. Our objective is to teach and expose people to the good and positive things that Indian people are doing, but rarely get noticed or recognized. Usually, we hear and read about all of the negative things that perpetuate negative stereotypes. I want to invite any and all Indian people who want to submit their humorous, uplifting, and inspirational stories about the good things that you or your family are doing or have accomplished. We need to let people know that you are out there doing your best, and when you and I fall short, we get back up and keep going. Share those uplifting stories with us and we will publish them for all to read about. All stories submitted will become the property of Honor Indians Institute, and we reserve the right to edit as necessary. Please submit your stories to HonorIndians@gmail.com, and include “Story” in the subject line. Also, please include your name and short bio about yourself. I also encourage you to submit your nominations for our “Honored Indian” to be featured on our home page. The inaugural “Honored Indian” is the Honorable Judge Darold McDade. I have known Judge McDade for almost 20 years. He and his family are the best examples of ordinary Indian people working hard and achieving extraordinary things that people need to see and read about. I am looking forward to hearing from you!!!