roseburg gym

Roseburg must remove the word Indians from its gym and other facilities by July 2017 under a statewide ban on Native American mascots. A bill passed by the Oregon Legislature would allow the school to keep its mascot, but Gov. John Kitzhaber has threatened to veto the measure.

(Bruce Ely, The Oregonian)

SALEM -- A bill allowing schools to retain Native American mascots, in spite of a statewide ban, if they obtain the permission of a nearby tribe is heading to Gov. John Kitzhaber, who is expected to veto it.

passed the House last week in a 41-19 vote, and cleared the Senate Monday in a 25-5 vote. Both margins would override the Governor’s veto, but neither chamber has discussed the possibility of an override vote.

In a memo sent to Legislative leaders last week, Kitzhaber said he would kill the bill because it allowed too broad of an exemption to the statewide ban on Native American mascots established by the state board of Education.

The board adopted the rule citing research showing that Native American mascots hurt the self-esteem of Native American students. Advocates for the ban, including many representing national Native American advocacy groups, have been working hard to kill the bill in the Legislature.

But many local tribes have lobbied hard for the bill’s passage, including the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

Kitzhaber said he was willing to work with lawmakers to develop a more narrow exemption, modeled on NCAA rules that he could support.

, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, said a veto of the bill would injure the working relationship between the state and the Oregon tribes that support the bill.

“My fear is with a veto of this there’s a potential of taking that relationship backward,” Kruse said.

--Christian Gaston