Ripon High has plan for state-mandated mascot change but seeks OK to keep ‘Indians’
The Ripon Unified School District has a solution for Ripon High, which must drop its “Indians” mascot, according to a California law that went into effect July 1.
Assembly Bill 3047, the California Racial Mascots Act, was passed in 2024 and mandates that all California public schools not operated by tribal organizations cannot use “any derogatory Native American term” as its school or athletic team mascot.
Ripon Unified School District Superintendent Rusty Clark told The Bee on Friday afternoon that the school district is in contact with “a couple” of local tribes, seeking permission to keep the Indians nickname.
He said the school has not discussed a new team nickname or mascot. Instead, for now, it will be known as just Ripon High School.
“We don’t need a mascot, we are who we are,” he said. “We are Ripon High School. That’s the take we’re taking until we can get approval from a local federally recognized tribe.”
Ripon High does not use any Native American costumed mascots. Clark notes that Ripon also got rid of the Indians name on all uniforms. As recently as this past school year, Ripon had a mural of a chief on its gym wall.
Under the new California law that went into effect at the top of the month, Tribe, Indians, Chieftains, Braves, Chiefs and other Native American nicknames are required to change unless approval is granted by a Native American tribe.
According to The Fresno Bee, Chowchilla Union High is one school that was given permission to keep using its Tribe nickname. Approval was granted by the North Fork Rancheria Mono Tribe.
“We’d like to retain the name Indians,” Clark said. “But we’re not using it until we get permission from our federally recognized local tribes.”
This is the second law regarding Native American nicknames passed by the state in the past 10 years. A law passed in 2015 mandated that schools with the Redskins as a nickname change their mascot. That affected a handful of schools, including Calaveras and Gustine of the Sac-Joaquin Section and Chowchilla of the Central Section.
By the end of 2016, schools using the term had changed their mascot. Gustine became the Reds and Chowchilla became the Tribe. Calaveras originally decided on not having a nickname but in 2021 decided to go with Red Hawks.
“We want to honor all cultures, and the last thing we want to do is make someone feel less than,” Clark said.
Some tribes have declined partnership with the Ripon school district already, which Clark said he understands. He said the conversations with some are ongoing.
“And out of respect for them, if they say no, I respect that, and then we are going to be Ripon High School,” he said. “If the community wants to go with a different mascot, then we can do that.”
