Topeka ? A decision to leave judgments about Indian mascots up to local districts drew both criticism from American Indian groups and praise from the dozens of schools that fondly cheer for their warriors and braves.

The Kansas State Board of Education on Tuesday rejected a set of recommendations from its equity advisory council. One of the recommendations was to adopt a resolution urging Kansas schools to discontinue using American Indian mascots and logos.

“We are still the Fighting Indians,” Tom Ostrander, superintendent of the Clearwater school district in south-central Kansas, said on Thursday.

It’s one of about 35 Kansas high schools that listed Indian mascots with the Kansas State High School Activities Assn.

“That’s just one of those things I believe each community should decide for itself,” Ostrander said. “We’ve had absolutely no concerns addressed. We’ve even had Native Americans express satisfaction and say they’d like for it not to be changed.”

But the state board’s decision drew the ire of tribal leaders.

“It demeans us,” said Badger Wahwasuck, chairman of the Prairie Band of Potawatomi, one of the state’s four American Indian tribes. “It puts Native American people in the same category as mascots.

“We’re proud of our heritage, but I think to be used as mascot for a sports team is demeaning. It puts (us) in the same category as animals, like the Denver Broncos or the Jacksonville Jaguars.”

Edmore Green, tribal council secretary for the Sac and Fox, said he was “appalled.”

“We’re the only ethnic minority group that is used in such a manner,” he said Thursday. “They (the school board) should have treated us fairly. They should have simply treated us as human beings.”