Tulare Union High School is lobbying to keep its mascot name, the Redskins, in the face of pending California legislation that would outlaw the moniker for all public schools. And the school has an unlikely ally – the Tule River Tribal Council.

The tribe wrote a letter of support of Tulare Union’s continued use of its mascot. The school district forwarded the letter to the governor’s office as part of its campaign to retain the name.

But the school is fighting an uphill battle, Superintendent Sarah Koligian admits.

“There is a national push to do away with the Redskins mascot” that stems from the debate about renaming the NFL team in Washington, D.C., Koligian said.

A bill that would ban the use of the name by school sports teams passed the Legislature and is now on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. Four high schools – Tulare Union, Chowchilla Union High, Gustine High in Merced County and Calaveras High in San Andreas – would be affected. Two schools, Colusa High and Mountain Empire in Pine Valley, changed to the Redhawks.

Brown has until Oct. 11 to sign or veto the bill. The Legislature overwhelmingly supported it, voting 60-10 in the Assembly and 25-10 in the Senate. The central San Joaquin Valley’s representatives had two yes votes, six no votes and four who did not record a vote.

Advocates of doing away with the name say the term “Redskins” promotes racist stereotypes of Native American people and culture.

“Native American is the only race used as a mascot. It’s hurtful,” said Yaynicut Franco, a member of the Wukchumni tribe in Visalia. “It’s a racist term; it’s not an honorable term. This just perpetuates stereotypes of what Native Americans look like.”

Nevertheless, the Tule River Tribal Council at the Tule River Indian Reservation near Porterville said it met Tulare Union officials and supports the school on the issue.

Because the school “uses its mascot as a sign of pride and honor,” the tribe “support(s) the school district’s use of its mascot in this way,” tribal chairman Neil Peyron wrote in the letter.

All four schools highlight the Indian theme in a variety of ways, including on school websites, uniforms and around campus.

But so do other schools that use American Indian-themed mascots.

The Tule River tribe understands that the use of the Redskins mascot is a sensitive issue given Native American history, the letter says.

“The Tule River Tribal Council feels that the history surrounding the name ‘Redskin’ is negative, however, it is time to mend these feelings and move on so we may focus on today’s issues,” the letter says. “Although we will never forget what has happened to us in the past, we do not wish to dwell on it either.”

Cathy Mederos, president of the Tulare Joint Union High School District school board, said the board reached out to the tribal council and gave members a tour of the school, including its Redskins statue.

“They were very impressed” at the school’s effort to be respectful, she said.

The Redskins name has been in use since 1924, and the community believes the decision to keep it or drop it should be a local one, Mederos said.

“I was elected in 2008 and we’ve had no one come forward and ask us to change the name,” she said.

The district said school officials have met with tribal leaders before about the mascot and made some changes at the tribe’s suggestion.

For instance, the Indian-style dresses worn by color guard flag carriers were lengthened. Additionally, the eagle feather headdress as depicted in the school logo was made more authentic-looking.

The California Racial Mascots Act, authored by Assembly Member Luis Alejo, D-Salinas, would take effect in 2017.

If the governor signs the bill into law, Tulare Union would face significant financial costs, Superintendent Koligian said.

“Changes to school facilities and uniforms could range anywhere from $700,000 to $1 million in expenses that are currently not in the district’s budget,” she said.

The gym floor has the Redskins name on it, which would have to be replaced, Koligian said. The bill allows replacement of materials and fixtures over time, but those would be dollars not spent on education, she said.

For the past four years, new varsity football uniforms have said Tulare instead of Redskins, but some of the older uniforms still say Redskins and are worn if the uniform’s color scheme is needed that night, Tulare Union athletic director Diana Nalbandian-Hatton said.

Meanwhile, she has asked all coaches not to purchase new uniforms that say “Redskins” in case the bill becomes law.

In addition, the new football helmet decal shows a U for Union instead of an arrow, she said.

The Central Section of the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports in the region, has not discussed the name issue, said commissioner Jim Crichlow of Porterville.

“It’s an issue with the schools,” he said.

The bill does not require teams using other American Indian-related mascot names – such as the Fresno High Warriors, Sanger High Apaches, Sierra High Chieftains (Tollhouse) and Monache High Marauders (Porterville) – to drop them, possibly because a proposed ban failed in the Legislature in 2002.

An earlier attempt at banning the Redskins name failed in 2004 when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill.