Washington high school to change Native American mascot

KALAMA, Wash. – A Native American mascot at a high school in southwest Washington is getting a new look.

The Daily News reported the Kalama High School mascot known as Charlie Chinook has buck teeth, a large nose, wears a loin cloth and holds a tomahawk.

Kalama School Board president Ryan Cruser told the newspaper the issue had been on the back burner and needed to be addressed.

The original image was a version of an early 1900s caricature of a Native American best known as the former Arizona State University athletic logo.

Charlie Funk, a Chinook tribal member and political cartoonist for The Chronicle in Centralia, will do the redesign.

School administrators are also consulting the Chinook tribe, as well as involving a student leadership class in the mascot modification.