A policy of extermination was advocated by leading voices in Oregon not so very long ago. Every tribe in the state was shattered by genocide, forced relocation, broken promises and deadly privation. Then came generations of comprehensive efforts to extinguish native cultures and languages. Poverty and discrimination continue to this day.

The issue of Indian mascots at public high schools cannot be separated from this historical and contemporary context. Think of it: The descendants of Oregonians who took the lives and lands of Native Americans now appropriate caricatured fragments of Indians’ identity as their own. Students in schools where these bitter chapters of history might be taught are encouraged to call themselves Braves, or Warriors, or Indians.

Last year the state Board of Education adopted a rule requiring all Oregon public schools that have Native American-themed mascots to change them by 2017. Last month, by votes of 24-4 in the Senate and 41-19 in the House, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 215, allowing each of the 15 schools with Indian mascots to retain them, provided the nearest federally recognized Indian tribe agrees in writing to raise no objection.