ABSTRACT
Erwin High School in Asheville is being investigated by the Justice Department's civil rights division for using the nicknames "warriors" and "squaws" and for having students dressed as Indians at games and pep rallies. The investigation will center on whether the Indian theme creates a racially hostile environment that violates the civil rights of Indian students, according to a letter sent to the school system by Bill Lann Lee, acting head of the civil rights division, and Lawrence Baca, a department trial attorney. The letter was a response to a complaint from an Asheville nurse, Pat Merzlak, a Lakota Sioux Indian. Indian activists say that it's wrong to use living people as mascots. But on the college level alone, teams are named for Gaels, Scots, Norsemen, Dutch, and the Fighting Irish, as well as Seminóles, Chippewa, Aztecs, and the Fighting Sioux.
