Are Wisconsin schools willing to end Native American nicknames? Some don't even want to talk about it.

Chris Munson has spent the better part of three decades trying to remove Native American mascots and nicknames from Wisconsin schools.

Munson, who is Oneida and former secretary for the Wisconsin Indian Education Association, has been involved in the issue since her time as a student in the early 1990s at Mosinee High School, which still uses the Indians nickname but retired its logo and mascot depicting a chief. 

More recently, she spoke Aug. 12 at a meeting of the Wausau School Board, which became the first of 18 school districts to urge the Wisconsin Association of School Boards to lobby for a state law to remove mascots or nicknames that could be considered offensive.

The atmosphere of the school board meeting was a breath of fresh air, Munson said.

“It was the first time I gave a presentation where I didn’t feel adversarial,” she said.

Of the 421 public high schools in the state, 31 still have mascots or nicknames that are Native American in origin.

Munson's alma mater is one of them. And although she felt more reception to her ideas when she spoke in Wausau, the head of Mosinee schools told a reporter he doesn't even want to talk about the subject.

Mosinee Superintendent David Munoz is among six school administrators contacted by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin who responded to requests for interviews. The news organization contacted 10 districts that use Native American logos or names and that are served by its newspapers.

Munoz's response was that he didn't want to respond to questions.

“I don’t want to be a part of any news cycle,” he said. “I’m not a politician and don’t want to get involved in people’s politics.”

Shiocton and Auburndale officials talked about the issue. Berlin, Ozaukee, Stockbridge and Tomahawk administrators did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.

Mishicot and Weyauwega-Fremont administrators said they are withholding comment until the resolutions are taken up by the Wisconsin Association of School Boards in January.

Nichole Schweitzer, Shiocton superintendent, wishes more of her counterparts among the 31 affected schools would speak up.

“We need to get the other side of the story out there and not be so tight-lipped,” she said.

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The number of schools with a Native American mascot or nickname soon will be one less, but not because of a potential ban, according to Auburndale schools Superintendent James Delikowski, who was among the few officials willing to discuss the topic.

The school district began in July a process to formally and permanently remove the Apache nickname, which hasn’t been used since 1998, Delikowski said. They're looking to come up with a new team name.

For 21 years, the district has used a block "A" for logos to signify "Auburndale," not "Apaches," but Delikowski thinks the lack of a nickname hurts student and community pride.

Establishing a new nickname and mascot is meant “to have something for the kids to cheer and give them to have school spirit,” he said.

Auburndale, as a community, has been supportive, he said. A new nickname and mascot will be chosen by the students via a poll.

It's not any specific name that a school rallies around, Delikowski believes. It's more the idea of having a unified way to cheer for local success, whether in sports or in academics or in the town at large.

“For a long time before we were the Apaches, we were known as just the Aubbies,” he said. “Our pride is not attached to any mascot or logo; it’s attached to the success of our students and community.”

Shiocton, in contrast, sent a letter to the Wisconsin school boards association opposing the ban, said school district Superintendent Nicole Schweitzer.

“In Shiocton, being the Chiefs is a source of pride and honoring Chief Shioc. We’ve gone mascotless as not to offend,” Schweitzer said.

According to Wausau School Board President Tricia Zunker, who is an associate justice on the Ho-Chunk Nation Supreme Court and led the movement to ban the nicknames and symbols, there's a simple way to honor Chief Shioc or any other Native American.

"To honor Native Americans would be to make sure Act 31 is applied in the district," Zunker said.

The act, a state law, emphasizes the importance for students to learn about Wisconsin's 11 native tribes.

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Munson thinks just talking about the issue of mascots and nicknames is a step in the right direction.

“With each of these school boards (passing resolutions) there’s some level of conversation,” Munson said.

Schweitzer, too, wants to have more discussions where both sides can give their reasoning.

“If it’s the mascot, let’s address that. If it’s the logo, let’s address that. If it’s the nickname and you’re being respectful, let’s have a conversation,” Schweitzer said.

The key, according to Schweitzer, is to not lose sight of the job of a school district or administration.

“It’s part and parcel of our job to look out for groups who are marginalized,” Schweitzer said. “But it doesn’t have to be one size fits all. Before there’s a unilateral decision, there needs to be conversation what the 31 school districts are doing and not doing.”

The next step would be for the state Legislature, which is where Greenwood Superintendent Todd Felhofer and Munson believe the proposed ban could ultimately be tied up.

Greenwood started to phase out its Indian mascot in the mid-1990s but kept the Indians nickname.

Felhofer doesn’t think the Republican-controlled Legislature would pass a law banning Native American mascots and nicknames after effectively reversing a 2010 law, which allowed a single district resident to file a complaint in an effort to enact change.

The law was rewritten in 2013, under former Gov. Scott Walker's administration, to require the signed support of at least 10 percent of a school district’s student population for the complaint to be valid.

“Is that party likely to change course?" Felhofer asked. "I don’t think they will.”

Munson doesn’t think anything would happen in the Legislature until after next fall's elections.

Zunker, who may be facing her own election next year as she runs as a Democrat for the 7th Congressional District, said she would like the movement Wausau started in August to be enough to get rid of offensive names and logos without needing legislation.

“My hope is this statewide conversation sparks school boards to make a change on their own,” she said. “Let's do the right thing without the law saying we have to.”

Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 or tdombeck@htrnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Tom_Dombeck.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS USING NATIVE AMERICAN MASCOTS/NICKNAMES

Auburndale Apaches

Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks

Belmont Braves

Berlin Indians

Big Foot (Walworth) Chiefs

Black Hawk (South Wayne) Warriors

Cornell Chiefs

Elmwood Raiders

Fort Atkinson Blackhawks

Greenwood Indians

Kewaskum Indians

Lake Holcombe Chieftains

Lancaster Flying Arrows

Menomonee Falls Indians

Mishicot Indians

Mosinee Indians

Mukwonago Indians

Muskego Warriors

Osceola Chieftains

Ozaukee (Fredonia) Warriors

Potosi Chieftains

Prairie du Chien Blackhawks

Rib Lake Redmen

Riverdale (Muscoda) Chieftains

Seneca Indians

Shiocton Chiefs

Stockbridge Indians

Tomahawk Hatchets

Waunakee Warriors

Weyauwega-Fremont Indians

Wisconsin Dells Chiefs