Go Jayhawks!

In the indigenous peoples class I’m in we just finished talking about the mascotting of Native Americans.  The Champagne-Urbana Fighting Illini and the Florida state Seminoles have come under scrutiny in the past couple of years because of how they portray Natives with their mascots.  While many people feel they purvey Indians in a positive light, most will argue that it simply extends a stereotype of savages.  Oddly, it’s only the Universities and not the professional sports teams that are indicted with this.  Apparently, most pro sports fans are simply just fans, unlike college students who actually become the mascot that their school embraces.  Eg. I am a Jayhawk, but I’m not a Royal or Chief.

We all know where the Jayhawk came from, it was officially put into mascot history as a bird in 1912 when Henry Maloy decided to draw a picture of the bird to correspond with George “Dumpy” Bowle’s song, “I’m a Jayhawk”.  Through the years it has evolved several times, finally ending on the version we know today, drawn by Hal Sandy

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In 2002, members of the Lawrence Convention and Visitor’s Bureau were trying to think of some fun activities to bring to Lawrence.  Familiar with the “Cows on Parade” of New York and Houston, they decided to have some “Jayhawks on Parade”.  After recruiting sponsorship and artists, the “Jayhawks on Parade” hit the streets in 2003.

Here are pictures of just a few of the 30 jayhawks that roamed the streets during this time.  The first picture is of Hal Sandy with his Classic Jayhawk.  See if you recognize the John Brown Jayhawk.

And if you’re really interested, here is a collage of all 30.

Happy Extra Credit Post, everybody!