Jennifer Martinez, an alumna of Anaheim High School (AHS) who graduated in 2017, recalls walking past decorations depicting imagery of colonists celebrating the school’s accomplishments in sports. 

As Native American History Month begins, AHS is among institutions in Orange County that have been under recent scrutiny for allegedly racist names or mascots. The school’s mascot, the Colonists, is facing backlash from a petition that has garnered over 6,000 signatures calling for a change in mascot. 

“We’re supposed to be proud of going to a school that gives us an education and access to things all under the name of a colonist,” Martinez, who has roots in the Kaqchiquel tribe from Guatemala, told The Panther. “It’s just dehumanizing.” 

Mazatl Tepehyolotzin, a member of the Mexicah tribe from the Mexico Valley, spoke out at the Oct. 14 Anaheim Unified School District meeting against the “psychological genocide” caused by mascots such as AHS’ among young people from marginalized cultures. 

“Having a mascot called ‘Colonists’ is like having a high school called ‘Hitler,’” Tepehyolotzin told The Panther. “We’re (indigenous people) always treated as savages or animals.”

Tepehyolotzin was among four speakers who condemned the mascot at the meeting.

Orange County sits on land that originally belonged to people of the Tongva and Acjachemen tribes. The petition was met with a counter-petition to “Save Anaheim High School ‘Colonists,’” citing the city’s history as being founded by German colonists who did not take part in the genocide of Indigenous peoples. Martinez, however, said Anaheim’s history does not start with the German settlers the mascot celebrates. 

“Our history didn’t start in the 1700s or whatever,” Martinez said. “We live on Tongva land, (and) there’s no homage to that.”

David Garcia, a member of the Tohono O’odham tribe in Arizona, serves on the Anaheim Indigenous Peoples’ Day Committee and also spoke at the school district meeting against the mascot.

“It’s the school board that has to make a serious decision, and I know that it’s a very difficult decision, because they’re going to get a backlash,” Garcia told The Panther. “The country is already dealing with this white supremacy, (and) it can explode, you know? But the school district is in a position to seriously look at the bigger picture here and make a decision.” 

The debate around the Colonist mascot is also integral to a larger conversation in the district surrounding racist imagery. Within the same school district as Anaheim High School, another high school, Savanna High, changed its mascot, Johnny Rebel, in 2017 for depicting a confederate soldier. The district’s Esperanza High School mascot, the Aztecs, is also currently encountering criticism.  

Meanwhile, the rest of the county is also contending with similar backlash in institutions of education. Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District’s Tuffree Middle School has seen the circulation of a petition to change the school’s name due to its namesake having served in the confederacy before settling in Orange County. Saddleback College got rid of its mascot, the Gaucho, for racist associations in February of this year.

Tepehyolotzin grew up with a connection to his culture through his grandfather. He grew up speaking Nahuatl, the language of the Mexicah tribe, as his first language and taking traditional food, such as cactus to school. As he endured bullying from his peers for this, he spent elementary school wishing he was white. 

“If you don’t know who you are, then you’re lost,” Tepehyolotzin said. “If you don’t know your history (then) you have no identity.”

Martinez and Tepehyolotzin both addressed the recent viral video of Riverside teacher, Candice Reed, who imitated Native American chants while wearing a fake headdress. Reed, who has since been suspended, can be seen in this fake headdress as early as 2012 in a yearbook photo.  

“It’s amazing how long people can get away with things because people don’t realize how negative it is,” Martinez said. “It has to be a community effort, (and) we have to hold each other accountable. People really need to listen.”

Tepehyolotzin described Reed’s actions as a demonstration of white privilege. Anaheim High School’s student body was 84.2% Hispanic in the 2018-19 school year. Martinez feels that her indigenous identity is not recognized by her peers and that Native American students are distanced from their cultures.

“I’m more connected in terms of Indigenous rights, because my mom is indigenous, (but) I don’t claim it completely, because there is a disconnect,” Martinez said. “It is because of colonization; we’re supposed to just be part of the American Dream and try to accomplish it, (but) the disconnect just continues and continues.”