In June 2022, months after a video depicting the Anderson High School’s Indian maiden and mascot performing their traditional pregame routine at a basketball game was posted to TikTok, the district’s board of trustees voted unanimously to discontinue the ceremony.
Reaction to the decision — made after a recommendation from Superintendent Joe Cronk — was mixed, with some alumni expressing dismay over the end of a tradition and others saying that the move didn’t go far enough.
For Cronk, the decision represented not the end of a tradition, but the beginning of an opportunity.
“How can you honor people that say what you are doing is not honorable?” Cronk asked. “If they tell you it is not, what are we teaching our kids about being honorable people?”
Asking and answering those questions, Cronk said, played a large part in discussions he’s had with representatives of the Delaware Tribe since 2021. Members of the tribe are direct descendants of Chief William Anderson, for whom the city is named.
Following the board’s decision, Cronk and other district leaders intensified their talks with Delaware Tribe representatives, including Chief Brad KillsCrow and the tribe’s cultural education director, Jeremy Johnson. The goal, Cronk said, was to build a mutually beneficial partnership that would “promote an authentic history of the Anderson area.”
Several elements of that idea have been incorporated into the district’s curricular offerings. Cronk has taught courses focusing on the Lenape language for the district’s elementary students. Other classes throughout the district have focused on the authentic history of the Delaware Tribe.
“We have tried to do our best to represent a genuine picture of the tribe to our kids, so they do not see a movie or see a television show from back in the ‘60s and think that is what Native Americans are, because they are not,” Cronk said.
Although a partnership with the Delaware Tribe has not been formalized, Cronk regularly consults with KillsCrow, Johnson and other tribe leaders for feedback on a range of topics.
Another demonstration of the collaborative effort came in September, when Johnson traveled from Oklahoma for a three-day visit that included stops at each of the district’s six elementary schools. There, Johnson gave presentations focused on the Delaware Tribe’s history, culture, language and songs. Each session included an informal question-and-answer period.
“I had a great time and the students were so appreciative and engaged,” Johnson said. “They had amazing questions about our community and I was happy to share with them.
“This was my first true experience of Anderson and its students and I could not have been made to feel more welcome or honored to be present and share our history.”
For D.J. Suchocki, the principal at Tenth Street Elementary School, Johnson’s visit represented an occasion to make somewhat abstract concepts more substantive.
“(The students) were really inquisitive about the culture and the heritage,” Suchocki said, “especially when he brought in the music and the artifacts. When they started dancing, that is when their eyes lit up, like they made that connection about how dancing is important to the culture.”
Johnson said he feels positive about the direction of the conversations he’s having with ACS leaders.
“We’ve worked diligently over the last year or so to develop a positive relationship with Anderson Community Schools,” he said. “We’ve focused on providing authentic and accurate educational experiences about our Lenape peoples, our history and culture.
“I think we are on a great path with ACS, and I think we are collaborating in a good way to present authentic and accurate Lenape history and culture.”
Cronk said conversations on topics of the tribe’s heritage, cultural traditions and ideas for incorporating them into the district’s curriculum will continue with Johnson, KillsCrow and others. He noted that, although the Indian head logo has been removed from signage throughout the district, the Indians nickname and school colors will remain.
“This does not mean we have abolished a tradition,” Cronk said. “We have stopped a couple practices, but that does not mean that we will not develop new practices. Whatever we do, the Delaware Tribe of Indians will be involved in it.”
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.