The use of American Indian mascots by Colorado public schools can continue unfettered after a bill requiring tribal approval of their use died on a party-line vote during an April 29 Senate committee hearing.

House Bill 1165 would have created an approval committee made up of representatives from American Indian tribes for schools seeking to use Indian-themed mascots.

Sen. Jesse Ulibarri, an Adams County Democrat and a bill sponsor, said state dollars should not be used to fund derogatory uses of ethnic identities. Ulibarri told the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee that names like Redskins or Savages are deplorable and have no place in our schools.

“When we talk about using state money — specifically in the use of public mascots in schools — when students show up to their class and walk through the doors of their high school or their middle school or their elementary school, to see offensive language that is derogatory to their ethnic identity sitting on the walls, it has damaging effects on those students and has deleterious effects, long-term, for those students,” Ulibarri said.

Ulibarri used examples like students painting their faces or wearing headdresses at sporting events as ways Indian culture is disrespected.“For some people who see it as harmless as it’s connected to a sports team or high school or middle school, it has very harmful origins,” Ulibarri said.

Ulibarri and other bill supporters said American Indian students are sometimes bullied because of their ethnic identity and that the use of a mocking mascot adds insult to injury.

LacyJay Left Hand Bull, a 7-year-old girl who testified with her mother and sister, said she has been picked on because of her heritage.“My friends keep calling me a pretend Indian and making fun of me,” the girl said, reading aloud from a prepared statement. “This bill should be passed because I am not your mascot.”

Ulibarri said the bill sought to strike a balance by respecting the feelings of tribal communities and school representatives who insist that Indian mascots are used out of respect to those cultures.

The senator said collaboration on this issue has worked in the past. He said that Arapahoe High School worked with Arapahoe tribal leaders to get the OK to use the Warrior as its mascot.

Ernest House Jr., a member of the Mountain Ute tribe and director of the Colorado Commission on Indian Affairs, told the committee that Montrose High School received permission from tribal communities to use an Indian as its mascot.

But opponents said the bill is unnecessary and that the Legislature should concern itself with more pressing issues.

John Sampson, a school board member with the Strasburg 31J school district, said lawmakers should spend more time dealing with school funding and student assessment issues than with this bill, which he called a “colossal waste of taxpayer funds.”

Sampson said his district’s use of an Indian mascot is done out of respect to Native culture.

“If you were to come to our district and take a walk through our schools and buildings, you will see that we are steeped in American Indian tradition and American Indian history,” Sampson said.

Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, a Republican from Sterling who voted against the bill, asked House and Ulibarri if something should also be done about mascots like pirates and beetdiggers.

“Do you think those are viewed as derogatory as well?” Sonnenberg asked. “Help me understand the difference here.”

Ulibarri said there is a big difference.

“The difference here is that mascots based on ethnic identity are different and separate than those based on a profession,” he said. “There is no ethnic group that is a pirate or a beet harvester.”

The bill’s failure to get out of the Republican-controlled committee came as no surprise. The bill struggled to even get through the Democrat-controlled House prior to it reaching the Senate.

— Twitter @VicVela1