Palmer ' s Mascot

By Jey Mutch and Ms. Fletcher

In 1919, Palmer High School, then the Colorado Springs School, first adopted "Elmer" the English Bulldog as it's mascot. Elmer was a reflection of Queen Palmer's love of all things English. The first use of a Native American mascot for Colorado Springs High School appears in the 1923-24 yearbook. At this time, the mascot portrayed a "noble Indian warrior" in a full head-dress. Native American culture became very popular at the school, with local Boy Scout troop #12 "featuring ceremonial Indian pageants" and "imitating Indian tradition with dance, songs, and costumes." Ironically, while this was happening in Colorado Springs, in New Mexico, tribal governments had to defend Native American rights to use ceremonial dance and their children were not allowed to learn traditional ceremonies.

Up to this point, however inequitable the use of traditional dance and clothing by non-native people may be, the depiction of the Native American was respectful. All that changed in 1946, with the introduction of Eaglebeak, a caricature of an Indian, with an extremely large nose, a pot belly, a tendancy to misspell words, and foolish behavior. Sometimes Eaglebeak had a sneaky expression on his face. This perpetuated a stereotype of Native Americans that portrayed them as silly and unsophisticated, conniving and insincere.

Not all clubs at Colorado Springs High School used Eaglebeak. In 1967-1968, the B-squad cheerleader uniforms did not sport Eaglebeak. That year, Eaglebeak was noticably absent from the yearbook. In 1974, a student organization tried to change the school's mascot, as evidenced by a yearbook commentary:

“Eaglebeak was one of Palmer’s oldest traditions, a quarter of a century to be exact.... Times were changing for what was yet to be known, and Palmer wanted to stay current.

Eaglebeak wasn’t anything but offensive and poor taste anyhow....What actually did happen to that roaring Eaglebeak controversy that swept through? Did the silent majority that kept the minority on top all of a sudden speak up? Whatever the reason Eaglebeak was a stalemate.” Even so, Eaglebeak still had solid support from some school clubs and students and thus remained the mascot for Palmer High School well into the 1980s.

A complaint filed by Ned Locke in 1985 with the Colorado Civil Rights Division renewed the attack on Eaglebeak Despite protests from students at Palmer the school district retired Eaglebeak in 1987, opting for "Eaglebeak II,"a bald eagle Prominent Eaglebeak images disappeared from yearbooks starting in 1986, although images of the caricature still showed up in the background of pictures. After 1989, he disappeared completely. Alumni are still able to purchase memorabilia with the Eaglebeak caricature if desired. Sources: