In museums, art by Indigenous people has been seen as artifact, not intervention or complex storytelling — reduced to dream catchers, headdresses and pottery, repackaged for nostalgia and sale.

But as the Chickasaw Nation member grew up and learned about his Indigenous roots, he came to see the school's mascot — a stereotypical Native American man wearing a headdress — as problematic.

But as the Chickasaw Nation member grew up and learned about his Indigenous roots, he came to see the school’s mascot — a stereotypical Native American man wearing a headdress — as problematic.