Wichita school board member apologizes for ‘Indians running loose’ comment

A Wichita school board member has apologized for a comment she made this week about “Indians running loose” in schools, saying she did not intend to offend Native Americans.

“Sometimes you wish you could take something back that you said, and unfortunately that’s not possible,” Sheril Logan said. “But you certainly can say you’re sorry to everybody that heard it, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

Logan, president of the school board, said during Monday’s discussion on the superintendent search that the Wichita district should better promote its progress and accomplishments.

“Because I so often – out in the community, especially – will talk to somebody, and they still think there’s Indians running loose in our buildings, you know?” she said. “And that’s just not true.”

Some Native Americans in the Wichita area said the comment was inappropriate and insensitive, but they later praised Logan for apologizing.

“I think that she needs to understand that you can’t go around and do that, not in a political position,” said Kansas Rep. Les Osterman, R-Wichita, a Rosebud Sioux whose district includes parts of southwest Wichita and Delano.

Osterman is a member of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on State-Tribal Relations.

“A comment like she made is just wrong,” he said. “I think she just needs … maybe some cultural classes.”

Logan, 71, said she regretted her words almost immediately after voicing them. She said the comment was intended to illustrate how some people mistakenly presume that Wichita schools – or the city itself – are part of a backward “Wild West” culture.

“When it flew out of my mouth, I thought, ‘Oh, I can’t believe you said that, Sheril,’ ” she said.

“We live in a different world today than we used to live in. … I believe in diversity. I believe in helping the kids who are the most needy. And then I make a comment like that, and it just makes me sad.”

Dal Domebo, director of the school district’s Title VII Native American Indian Education Program, said Logan called him Tuesday to apologize for the comment.

A video of Monday’s board discussion was posted Tuesday on the district’s website.

“It was an ill-advised statement that shouldn’t have been said, but she admitted to it,” Domebo said.

“I believed her to be sincere and her apology to be very heartfelt, and I don’t believe she meant any ill will toward anybody.”

Domebo said references to “wild Indians” aren’t as commonplace as they once were, in part because of increased awareness and sensitivity toward Native Americans.

In Wichita, the state’s largest school district, about 2,500 students are identified as Native American. About 1,400 are enrolled in the Title VII program, which provides tutoring and other services intended to increase academic achievement.

Wichita’s North High School, where the school board meets, has faced criticism over its Redskins mascot, which some opponents say is offensive to American Indians. In 1996, after a heated community-wide debate, officials decided the school would keep its Redskins nickname and theme, citing overwhelming support from students and alumni.

“There were things you could say way-back-when that you couldn’t say now,” Domebo said. “Back then, they told kids to sit ‘Indian-style.’ Now it’s ‘criss-cross applesauce.’ ”

School board member Betty Arnold said Logan’s comment gave her brief pause Monday, but she immediately understood her colleague’s intent.

“I’ve heard people say things … like, ‘You guys still ride horses and have gunfights, right? Like cowboys and Indians?’ And of course that’s not the case,” Arnold said.

“The only thing I thought is, ‘I understand what you mean, but I wonder if anybody else will.’ ”

Logan said she regrets the comment, but “I learned from this lesson, and I am truly sorry.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 7:00 PM with the headline "Wichita school board member apologizes for ‘Indians running loose’ comment."