When did Thunderbirds become offensive?

We’re forced to ask this question because a decision by the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs on Thursday will force Thunder Mountain Elementary School in Grand Junction to drop its Thunderbird mascot, according to reporting by The Daily Sentinel’s Dale Shrull.

This decision is based on Colorado Senate Bill 116, passed by the state’s Democrats in 2021. That bill aimed to rename places, including schools that were based on culturally offensive or insensitive names.

The Savages of Lamar seemed like a pretty clear-cut example of the types of names that aren’t appropriate in 2022 Colorado. We could even see the argument for changing Braves and Indians, but Thunderbirds? This is taking this renaming mandate too far in our opinion and, in this specific case, seems likely to cause some harm of its own.

The Thunderbird does have a deep connection to Native American culture and spiritualism, but, as far as we can tell, isn’t linked to any problematic past usage. It is often depicted in Native American art and song and is associated with power and strength.

We understand how a name like the Savages is harmful to the Native American community. Its past usage was racist and many horrific things were done to native people while they were dismissed, by that word, as less human.

It makes sense to rename places that use those words that can do harm to the community, but when the net is so wide it scoops up Thunderbirds as well, it delegitimizes the whole effort. We should be renaming places that diminish Native cultures, not wholesale erasure of all names related to those cultures in any way.

We can see how some might point to the name as cultural appropriation and as such inappropriate, which is a valid concern. However the Thunderbird has been used in popular culture for so long from the car to the U.S. Air Force that it’s become associated with more than Native American culture.

We’d also like to point out the harm this will do to the students at Thunder Mountain Elementary. This Thunderbird identity is a big and positive part of how those students experienced school, according to Thunder Mountain Principal Amy Frazier.

“I’d say perhaps that sad is the best word,” Frazier said. “We really identify as Thunderbirds when we talk to our students. We call them Thunderbirds and we consider ourselves a family.”

Frazier has kept her gaze forward and said the school will come together to develop a new mascot, but now they’re going to have to build that culture and that interaction with the students from scratch. That’s a big ask of already busy enough elementary school educators and their students.

It’s sad to see them have to go through that process at all. A much better route, if one is needed, would be for the state to ask districts with non-disparaging, but Native American related names to include those names in the curriculum.

Instead of erasing a Native American connection, it should be a jumping off point to learn about their culture and the tribes native to our area. This could be instructive and positive for students, instead of destructive.

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel editorial board