Correction: Tribal Mascots story

In Oregon, school districts with Native American mascots must abandon them by July or risk punishment that could include the withholding of state funds

(AP) — This fall, the football team in the tiny Oregon logging town of Banks will once again take the field as the Braves.

School districts in the state with tribal mascots must do away with them by July 1 or risk punishment that could include the withholding of state funds.

[...] the state will make exceptions for districts that get the approval of one of Oregon's nine tribes — and the Banks School District is one of more than a half-dozen tiny districts trying to take advantage of that provision.

In exchange, it gives up the "Indian head" image — a Native American man with a partially shaved head, face paint, ear hoop and feathers — and implements a curriculum developed by the Grand Ronde that teaches the history of its people from a tribal perspective.

The process highlights the dilemma facing small schools across the U.S. as attention has focused on high-profile battles over mascots such as the Washington Redskins.

Oregon's statewide approach is unique, and its willingness to allow an exception for districts that collaborate with tribes calls to mind the NCAA's longstanding ban on Native American mascots that don't have tribal buy-in, said Jennifer Guiliano, a history professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

State education officials initially did not want to allow any exceptions to the mascot ban but eventually bowed to pressure from lawmakers last year.

Of the 15 Oregon districts with tribal mascots, eight have either submitted a plan for approval or given notice to state education officials that they are working with a tribe or intend to do so, said Cindy Hunt, manager of the state Education Department's division of government and legal affairs.