We salute school leaders for providing different perspectives on the continued use of the Indians mascot at Turners Falls High School and giving the public opportunities to comment on the issue. But now, the Gill-Montague Regional School District is at juncture.
The committee needs to move into the decision phase of an exhaustive exploration. The committee has two paths: either a straight board vote on keeping the Indians name or putting the question to a district-wide referendum with a pledge to use that outcome to guide the decision.
We don’t, however, think there is a need to seek out a speaker who represents a Native American perspective supporting the use of Indians or other imagery or mascots.
While there are such people — the Seminole Tribe and Florida State University come to mind — both Superintendent Michael Sullivan and pro-mascot advocate Chris Pinardi pointed out at a recent school board meeting, they were unable to find local Native American tribes that supported keeping the mascot. Speakers from outside New England, let alone our region, would bring their own history and circumstances that don’t match up with the question and history here.
To date, the committee has held forums on the issue looking to educate and enlighten the public. At one event, Chief Cheryll Toney Holley of the Hassanamesit Nipmuc Nation and Dr. Lisa Brooks, Amherst College professor and a Abenaki, talked about the impact such imagery has on Native American students, along with other issues. Their talk followed one given by Peter Thomas, a retired professor from the University of Vermont, who discussed King Philip’s War and the social justice perspective given by Laura Valdiviezo of the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Education.
During these and other meetings, residents on both sides of the issue have articulated their own views. Some argue use of the name is meant to honor Native Americans while others say it is racial stereotyping that has no place here. The thinking and passion expressed at the meetings and through letters and columns in The Recorder have been heartfelt, giving us much to consider about the nickname and its use at Turners Falls High School.
After more than four months of hearings and discussion, both public and private, many minds are made up, and little, if anything, is going to change that thinking. Bringing an outside speaker, with no true connection to the region or understanding of the area’s place in history, will add little to the conversation. While it’s commendable that the committee has tried to be inclusive and thorough, we think the committee can be forgiven for skipping this final step.
What’s left for the committee is to decide. Board members have all been part of the process. They have heard in public, and no doubt in private, too, the arguments and counter-arguments about what it means to get rid of or retain the Indians.
The only reason to hold off making a decision now would be to take the temperature of the community through a referendum. It’s a way to offer the entire community a voice, especially those who have been reluctant to get involved in the public part of the process. We have seen how tempers in the community have flared and social media sites have become hornet nests of acrimony.
While we don’t think a referendum should supercede the responsibility of the School Committee in making this decision, it would allow the committee to hear from the broadest possible range of district residents on the issue. And while the committee isn’t in a position to call for the referendum, it can indicate that board backs such a vote.
When this discussion began to take shape, the committee said in a statement, “Whether or not the outcome of this process is a mascot name change, it is our hope that by engaging in a thoughtful community dialogue, we will all learn from one another and build trust and confidence in our ability to work together on a complex social topic of common interest.”
That’s been done. Now it’s time to bring this discussion to a conclusion.