Open Letter To the Ketchikan Indian Community Tribal CouncilBy Georgianna Zimmerle
February 14, 2022
My name is Georgianna (Edenso, Booth) Zimmerle. My mother was Mary Elizabeth Fitzgibbon, Tlingit of Dry Bay, Alaska. My father was Robert Morris Edenso, Haida of Craig, Alaska. I am a member of Ketchikan Indian Community (KIC). After reading your letter to the Citizens of Ketchikan, I have to say that the Tribal Council does not represent me in this regard. In your letter you clearly state that you “look forward to results of the investigation.” Yet, you also state you know actions by the Ketchikan pep club were hurtful, divisive, and disrespectful. How have you concluded this is true? Were you all at the game? Did you witness for yourselves what the Ketchikan pep club did or didn’t do? Or are you trusting that social media posts are the truth, and nothing but the truth? The news stories are all based on what has been posted on social media. There is no first-hand, verified reporting by the local news media. Why should there be an investigation at all since you have concluded what is true? I agree that we have all become aware of the racially charged incidents across the country. I have also witnessed that the Legacy News Media and social media networks may or may not be trusted to tell the factual truth about any of the incidents. We, as citizens of the United States of America have become followers of commentary news that tends to support what we want to believe. Since growing up in Ketchikan, and attending Kayhi, I have been to a lot of basketball games. In my personal memory, I have seen the Kayhi Pep Club sponsor many “Theme Nights” to unite themselves for basketball games. I have seen the “cowboy, western, Sadie Hawkins, country, whatever name tag you want to put on it, theme several times throughout the years. Cowboy hats, plaid shirts, cowboy boots, and belt with a fancy buckle are not racist. If anything, they represent the history of the United States and settlement of the west. Cowboys still exist on ranches and in rodeos. Some of the best cowboys and horsemen this country has known were Native Americans. What other proof of racism is there? There are allegations of the pep club, as a group, barking during free throws by the other team. The assumption is that means the pep club is calling the other team members, dogs. Is that name-calling or just noise? There is testimony at the School Board meeting stating this is something that has been done with other teams this year. The truth of this could be verified or not by an investigation. Even if it is verified, how can you assume what it means? It’s a noise. I have personally witnessed group chants and noise during the games. I can rarely understand what the words are. It’s a basketball competition where rowdiness is commonplace since they are competitive games. Were there racial epithets directed at the Metlakatla players? Are there recordings or sworn statements by actual witnesses? Furthermore, I am sad that the KIC Tribal Council is disgusted by children who may or may not have made a mistake. We all make mistakes. It has become painfully obvious that at this time in history with the societal changes that have occurred over the past 3-4 years, a cowboy western theme at a basketball game may have become a trigger for a basketball team and its fans. I don’t think the themed attire was disrespectful. The worst that can be said is it was ill-advised. Georgianna Zimmerle
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Received February 13, 2022 - Published February 14, 2022 Related Viewpoint:
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