Pocatello High School Indians Mascot -

Idaho State Journal
Nov 18, 2020

POCATELLO – The Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25 Board of Trustees is seeking additional public feedback regarding the selection of a new mascot for Pocatello High School.

The survey will ask participants to consider the top four (4) choices with the addition of a 5th and modified mascot: Pocatello Bison; Pocatello Phantoms; Pocatello Thunder with a Bison mascot; Pocatello Thunder with Thunder mascot; and Pocatello Mountain Lions. more

Survey On line Pocatello High School Mascot Finalists Evaluation

District 25 releases replacement options for Indians mascot

Idaho State Journal
10/25/2020

POCATELLO — The community now has nine options to consider to replace the Indians as the official mascot of Pocatello High School.

The Pocatello-Chubbuck School District 25 Board of Trustees will discuss the options during a Nov. 10 work session and is expected to take action on a new mascot on Nov. 17.

The committee created an advisory survey — tinyurl.com/SD25-PHS-Mascot — to accept feedback on the short list of options from students, staff, alumni and the community at large.

Letter: Thank you, Lisa Delonas

Letters to Editor
Idaho State Journal

10-27-2020

I'd like to thank Lisa Delonas for being a positive advocate for Pocatello High School students and our greater community. As a PHS neighbor and a parent of two future PHS students, I am thankful to her for seeking a positive mascot (or logo, if you want to split hairs) for the school, one that doesn't rely on a caricature of an entire group of people.

I am proud that my children will attend PHS and I cannot wait for her to be their principal and their high school memories to center something fun, like a mountain lion, a bison, a mustang. High school memories should never supplant the rights and dignity of people and I see a lot of people blaming her for a change that, by absolutely any real metric, should have happened decades ago

So thank you, Principal Delonas, and keep making Pocatello a place for everyone.

Letters To Editor
Idaho State Journal
Oct 23, 2020

I enjoyed Shelbie Harris’s well-written article on Poky High School’s “mascot” controversy (11 October, A1). This letter proposes to interject a degree of precision into the argument.

Controversies are more productively argued about when terms are accurately defined, a service best provided by standard dictionaries. This issue involves three aspects. One is nickname, “a descriptive name added to or replacing the actual name of a person, place, or thing.” School nicknames are normally but not always plural. “Indians” is the nickname for PHS—it’s not the mascot. Two is mascot, “a person, animal, or object” that in some way embodies the spirit of a group, “such as a sports team.” A mascot is a singular concept, a personification, usually, of the nickname. “Indians” is not a mascot. Three is logo, “a symbol . . . designed for easy and definite recognition.” Poky’s, in the photo of Joseph Felde, is a stylized Indian profile. more

Letter to the Editor
Idaho State Journal
Oct 6, 2020
Pocatello High School is changing the name of its sports teams. Here are some suggestions for new ones:

Pocatello Pioneers

Pocatello Puma

Pocatello Platypus

Pocatello Porcupine

Pocatello Pilots

Pocatello Pelicans

Pocatello Panda

Pocatello Pill Bugs

Pocatello Poodles

I'm sure your readers can come up with many more. Please add to the list and send them to Pocatello/Chubbuck District 25 on facebook.com.

Keith Ellsworth & Karen (Mayer) Ellsworth,

Class of '73,

Pocatello

Pocatello High School Indians Mascot

The History and background of the Pocatello High School Indians Mascot begins in baseball.

Idaho State Journal

Editor’s Note

This is the first article in a four-part series on the history and origins of the Pocatello High School Indians mascot.

History of Indians mascot is tied to baseball

Recently a question has resurfaced concerning Pocatello High School’s tradition of using the name “The Indians.” Such monikers provide a sense of group identity and belonging that is hard to define, but deeply felt. So the words “history” and “tradition” play a large part in the discussions. More

History and background of the Pocatello High School mascot

Idaho State Journal

Editor’s Note

This is the second article in a four-part series.

The man behind the PHS Indians name

The man behind the Pocatello Indians baseball club of 1900 was a local celebrity named Billy Trapp. Billy first appeared in Hailey, Challis, and Clayton in the 1880s as an amicable gambler, saloon owner, and musician. He eventually moved to Pocatello where his reputation grew. Billy loved horse racing, loved women and loved baseball. More

History and background of the Pocatello High School mascot

Idaho State Journal

Editor’s Note

This is the fourth article in a four-part series .

Pocatello High School once again makes local history with mascot retirement

In 1946, the Pocatello High School yearbook had something new on its cover — a cartoon of an Indian with a mohawk and spear. The cartoon theme continues throughout the book. The Medicine Men are apparently gone, but the cheer club continues the tradition of wearing headdresses. Beneath their photo in large text reads, “Youuuu Redskins, Fight!!” More