The Turners Falls Indian mascot displayed on the box office outside the football field at the high school and Great Falls Middle School on Turnpike Road in Turners Falls.
The Turners Falls Indian mascot displayed on the box office outside the football field at the high school and Great Falls Middle School on Turnpike Road in Turners Falls. Credit: Recorder Staff/Matt Burkhartt

The Gill-Montague Regional School Committee is hosting the first of four inquiry events Wednesday, Nov. 30, at Turners Falls High School.

The first will be a historical perspective, and will be presented to the board by historian and retired professor Peter Thomas. Thomas was an anthropology professor at the University of Vermont and has also contributed to the local Battlefield study project.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Turners Falls High School auditorium and is open to the public. Unlike the public forum, the School Committee members can ask questions after the presentation, which is meant to help inform the decision of the members of the committee.

The other events include social justice, local Native American and local Turners Falls alumni perspectives and will take place from now until early January.

The events are a second step in the review of the school’s mascot, currently the Indian. The School Committee voted to review the mascot in late September. The review process means the mascot could be changed, but does not guarantee it. Since September the committee has also held two forums to learn the public’s perspective on the issue.