The Shorewood Thunderbirds. For some Shorewood students the idea of being a Thunderbird may seem like a foreign concept, for others a distant memory. But just because the Stormray has become the new official Shorewood mascot doesn’t mean the Thunderbird has been left behind. In fact, many Shorewood Alumni and other members of the community have continued to fight for the fallen mascot.
In 2021, the State Legislature passed House Bill 1356. This bill required any K-12 school in the state of Washington using Native American names, symbols, and/or images in relation to their mascot to discontinue the use of these elements by Jan. 1, 2022. Since this bill was created many schools have changed their mascot in compliance with the bill, but that doesn’t mean every school has. In cases like Tumwater High School, which has continued to use their Thunderbird mascot, schools have been able to keep their mascot while still complying with state law.
“How has this happened?” You might ask. Following section two subsection four, schools were allowed to keep their mascots if “(a) The school is located in a county that is adjacent to a county that contains all or part of a tribal reservation or tribal trust lands; and (b) The tribe that is consulted with and determines to authorize the use of the name, symbol, or image as a school mascot, logo, or team name.” Essentially, this means that if a school is adjacent to a county that contains all or part of a tribal reservation AND that tribe (given that it is a federally recognized tribe) gives the school permission to continue to use the said name or symbol, the school is then allowed to keep their original mascot.
Despite this subsection and the fact that Shorewood is in fact adjacent to Kitsap county where the Suquamish reservation exists, the Shoreline School Board continued with the push to change Shorewood’s mascot from the Thunderbird to the Stormray. And it’s this decision that has riled up many members of our community.
Anna Deliganis, a Shorewood Alumni and creator of the change.org petition, “Removing the Shorewood Thunderbird was unnecessary and harmed our community,” is one of those community members. “I heard the process and it didn’t feel like it was particularly fair or even and I thought to myself, I wonder how other people feel about this and that’s why I put together this thing on change.org…We just did it. It was like, ‘Hey you know a few people and if you feel you’re passionate about this, pass it onto a few more.’ And within three weeks I had a thousand signatures.”
This immediate response to her petition was exciting yet slightly surprising to Deliganis. “It just speaks to what a close knit and interesting community we are. I mean everybody has a connection to another person,” Deliganis says.
But Deliganis isn‘t the only one that has been vocal about their disapproval of the Shoreline School Board’s decision. Rich Gustafson, a former Shorewood administrator, has also deeply felt the loss of the Thunderbird mascot as he was involved in the choosing of the mascot back when Shorewood first started in 1975. “My job was to work with the students and set up the student government for the school. That included deciding on the school colors, the mascot, the fight song, the alma mater, student clubs, Boosters, etc,” says Gustafson.
Both Deliganis and Gustafson feel as though the decision made by the school board about the mascot change was rushed. Gustafson says he spoke at a meeting on Oct. 5, 2021, asking them to hold out on their final decision but that that never happened, “In addition, they moved the date of changing the mascot decision from the end of October to Oct. 19. The actual deadline for making a change in the mascot decision was actually Dec. 1, 2021. I was disappointed in the Boards’ decision. There should have been an opportunity to thoroughly discuss as to how the Thunderbird was chosen in the first place and that never happened.”
“I felt like wow there was not a lot of thought and patience that went into the process,” says Deliganis, “Why would they rush this in six weeks?”
Other Shorewood Alumni, like the first Shorewood class president Brian Carroll, have lots of feelings on this subject. “I have mixed emotions about the mascot change. I have worked for tribal communities over the last eight years and have learned about the institutional traumas tribes suffered at the hands of settlers to this region from the 1830s to 1850s…[but] I feel strongly that the identity of over 11,000 alumni was disrespected and not even consulted,” says Carroll.
Carroll’s point about the generational trauma native tribes have suffered from is one that has been a big part of the discussion around the mascot change and that’s where subsection four, stating that a school is allowed to keep their mascot IF they consult the closest federally recognized tribe and are allowed to do so, really becomes important.
Both Deliganis and Gustafson have talked to leaders from the Suquamish Tribe and their Cultural Committee since the mascot change began. And from that have been able to start an open dialogue with the tribe. Recently, that conversation has led to a letter from the Suquamish Tribe to the Shoreline School District Board on the mascot change. In this letter they wrote, “When Shorewood High School was established, the students, administration and greater community worked together with tribal approval to establish the Thunderbird as the school’s mascot. We believe that the use of the Thunderbird is appropriate and respectful. We also encourage future learning opportunities for your students and community to visit and learn more about the Suquamish Tribe.”
How to be respectful of the Suquamish Tribe has been one of the main topics that the local group of community members has tried to be aware of while fighting for the Thunderbird. “I don’t wanna put them in the middle of something that is angry or controversial…We don’t want arguments but at the same time we should be following what the law says and consulting them,” says Deliganis.
Ultimately, members of the Shoreline community that disagree with how the School Board went along with the mascot change decision want to see a future with growth on all sides. According to Deliganis, “I would like to see us be able to engage honestly with the tribe and see if there is the potential to engage in community discussions and see what can come from it.”
