California Law Banning Native American Mascots Faces Local School Exemption Challenge
Whether tribal consent provisions within California's AB 88 can be satisfied by a small public school tests the practical limits of state-level mascot legislation.
Marysville High School in Marysville, Yuba County, California, has removed its 'Indians' mascot from official use following the implementation of California Assembly Bill 88, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, which prohibits California public schools from using Native American mascots effective July 2023. School officials confirmed to FOX40 that the mascot has been retired from official school materials and athletic branding as required under the law.
California AB 88, which passed the state legislature and was signed into law, includes a limited exemption provision that allows schools to retain or restore a Native American mascot if they obtain documented consent from a California-recognized Native American tribe with historical ties to the school's geographic area. The specific procedural requirements for satisfying this exemption — including which tribal entities qualify and what documentation is required — are governed by the California Department of Education. The full text of AB 88 is available through the California Legislative Information database.
Marysville High School officials have stated they are actively pursuing the tribal consent exemption as a pathway to restoring the mascot, according to the FOX40 report. The school has not publicly disclosed which specific tribal nation or nations it has approached, nor confirmed whether any formal consultation process has been initiated or completed. The outcome of any such consultation would be reflected in records held by the relevant tribal government and the California Department of Education.
The federal dimension of this dispute is limited but present: federal recognition of California tribal nations is administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs under the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the list of federally recognized tribes in California is published in the Federal Register. Whether Marysville's geographic area falls within the ancestral territory of a federally and state-recognized tribe whose consent would satisfy AB 88's exemption criteria is a factual question that public tribal enrollment and land records would clarify.
Several facts remain unknown from current public records: whether Marysville school officials have formally petitioned any tribal council, whether any tribal council has responded, and whether the California Department of Education has received any exemption application from Marysville Unified School District. Records that would answer these questions include California Public Records Act disclosures from the school district and meeting minutes from relevant tribal councils, both of which are obtainable by request.