Jaywalking: Is this nickname dustup really necessary?

It oughta be quite a circus this evening at Turners Falls High School.

Why? The school’s “Indians” nickname, which has quite possibly elicited fighting in the Powertown on a level not seen since Captain William Turner marched from Hatfield to the infamous “Falls Fight” on May 18, 1676 with a band of mostly farmer militia and attacked a camp of Native Americans, many of whom were women and children. Turner was killed while retreating from the attack but did get cemented in history when the village was named after him nearly 200 years later.

For nearly two months, people in Turners Falls have fallen into one of two camps: Those who support the Indian nickname and logo and want it to remain for the high school sports teams, and those who believe it to be offensive and want it changed.

Tonight marks the first of two forums being held by the Gill-Montague Regional School Committee that will allow proponents from both sides to air their feelings on the controversy. Tonight’s meeting takes place from 6 to 8 p.m., while the second meeting is scheduled for Nov. 15 and runs from 5 to 7 p.m. The meetings are taking place in the auditorium at the high school in order to accommodate everyone who wants their voice to be heard.

And heard they have been. You can’t go to a Turners Falls sporting event or browse social media and not see or hear people talking about the Indian. While most people have been civil in this process, a few have not and the arguments have gotten downright nasty at times, although most of the name-calling is unfounded. More on that in a moment.

All this fighting and I’m willing to bet most people don’t know much about how the school even got the nickname. I certainly didn’t, but thankfully it was a topic that Duke of Sports Mike Cadran had been working on for a while now. Cadran, a native of the Powertown and retired high school history teacher, compiled a history of the nicknames of all Franklin County high schools and completed it earlier this year.

What’s coincidental about this entire situation is that the first-known reference to anything doing with Native Americans at Turners Falls High School was actually the use of a word that was previously used as a greeting between early colonists and Native Americans. In 1920, the Turners Falls High School newspaper — which was previously named “The Echo” (from 1905 through 1918), and “The Review” (from 1918 through 1920) — changed its name to “Netop.” It’s not known exactly why the newspaper adopted that name, but the word netop is derived from the Narragansett Indian word meaning “my friend, companion,” and was used by early colonists as a salutation when greeting Native Americans.

Fast forward to 1933, and the newspaper continued to be called the Netop. In May of 1933, the Greenfield Recorder Gazette referred to the baseball and tennis teams at the high school as the “Netopers.” In June of that same year, the newspaper used “Indians” as a moniker for the semi-pro baseball team in Turners Falls. Finally, in September, the Republican newspaper used the word “tribe” to describe the Turners Falls football team, while the Recorder and the Netop both used the word “Indians” to describe the football team. Soon, the word Indians became synonymous with all the sports teams at the school, something that has lasted through today.

And now that nickname has come under fire while bickering from both sides continues to grow. It probably should not come as a shock that some folks in each group have resorted to name-calling, since the two main candidates running for president of this country have spent much of the election season (and the majority of the debates) doing the same thing. Oh, what role models they are. And in an age of social media, where folks can hide behind keyboards and computer screens, firing off insults has never been so easy. This Indian debate has turned into a divisive issue that has split the town.

So spare the name-calling. Those who are looking to save the Indian nickname are not “racists” as labeled. They are proud alumni of the school, which has as passionate a fan base as any school in western Mass., possibly the state. The reason they want to save the Indian isn’t because they like the idea of somehow demeaning Native Americans, they are traditionalists who don’t find the nickname offensive.

And those looking to change the name aren’t “whack-jobs with nothing better to do,” or “out-of-towners who shouldn’t move to Turners Falls if they have a problem with the name.” They are people who are trying to be sensitive to a population of people who have been oppressed by this country. In a time of racial unrest in this country, it’s worth listening to their side even if you want the Indian spared.

In the spirit of transparency, I would like the name to remain, simply because in my 10 years of covering the town, I do understand that the fans are a passionate group that doesn’t demean anything about the Native American people. Unlike, say, the Cleveland Indians, whose mascot could certainly be considered a caricature, the Turners Falls Indian logo is a very honorable headdress-adorned chief.

And research about whether the nickname and logo are offensive to actual Native Americans is inconclusive, but thus far teams that are nationally known (I’m talking collegiate and professional teams) have not felt the need to change their names.

That said, I’m not going to trash anyone who believes the term is offensive. They might be right. I’m not Native American, so it could be easy for me to say it’s not offensive. I will say this, if you changed the nickname to the Turners Falls Polacks (a term that is considered more derogatory than “Indians”), I wouldn’t be offended.

If the name does remain, perhaps this should be used as a learning tool for all involved. Talking to some alumni, the schools in the Gill-Montague district used to do a better job of teaching students about the history of Native Americans in the area. Would that not be a better approach in all this and do more to honor Native Americans than trying to change the nickname at the high school?

And if the name changes, how about adopting the term “Netopers?” To me, it’s almost a shame that Netoper didn’t stick as the nickname to begin with. The word has a beautiful meaning, although that may not appease those looking to do away with anything pertaining to Native Americans as a mascot. Just my two cents.

At this point, the fate of the mascot is in the hands of the nine school committee members. It should really be up to the folks who live in the towns that go to the high school. I realize it’s a school-committee issue, but what’s stopping the town selectmen from making it a non-binding referendum question on an upcoming town elections so the school committee knows the feeling of the entire population?

But whatever happens, I won’t be losing any sleep. After all, I’m a Greenfield Green Wave (whatever the hell that means) and nobody is looking to change that nickname. Maybe they should be.

Jason Butynski is a Greenfield native and Recorder sportswriter. His email address is jbutynski@recorder.com. Like him on Facebook and leave your feedback at www.facebook.com/jaybutynski.