It was pretty amazing that on Thanksgiving Day, the Turners Falls Indians (with a student body of 270 kids) beat the Greenfield High School Green Wave (a High School with a student body of 489 kids). News flash on wwlp.com was “Turners Falls wins sixth consecutive Thanksgiving Day Game.” How can TFHS do that? Turners Falls is a town that has and is struggling to keep pride in its town and pride in its High School. We just experienced the death of Assistant Principal, Earl McGraw, who has taught these kids to love and mourn another human being. Now, at this time of mourning and loss, when a valuable life lesson has been learned, outside forces want to take their team name away. It makes no sense and seems cruel to me.
Here in town, we have always had sports to be proud of. We come together to see the Indian teams, even though, in many cases, we no longer have kids in school. We cheer! We are proud of their team spirit. We learn to recognize each team player. It is a coalescing factor in a town with a very diverse population. Yours is not an easy job, I know, but it feels as though you are annoyed at the towns’ people and TFHS students who are fighting for the right to keep a logo that represents so much to them.
The fact that the Indian Nation and Native American people want to be heard is important. Justified! The halting of a pipeline is an important issue. But, so is the decision you make for our Turners Falls High School student athletes and the decision you make for our town. I hope that, as a group, you can, and that you are willing to, think outside the box. Create a better way to teach our children about a world where atrocities have happened in the past and are still happening on a daily basis. I hope that you can resist the need to cave into the strong outside forces. That you can respect the voices of the students and towns people that you represent. Lastly, that the logo can remain with a new respect for the people and culture it represents.
Dennie Pinardi
Montague