BUCKLAND — For roughly two hours Wednesday, the Mohawk Trail Regional School community discussed removing the final two vestiges of its Native American mascot.
The school has images of a Plains Indian on a stone sign and as a mural in the gymnasium, though the latter has sparked the most interest, especially among the class of 1978 who gifted the painting to the school.
At Wednesday’s School Committee meeting, community members who spoke reflected a myriad of opinions, both for and against. Despite differing views, most comments were careful and considerate, School Committee member Nina Martin-Anzuoni said.
“Tonight I’ve been really impressed with people being able to talk from their hearts … in a way that wasn’t offensive,” Martin-Anzuoni said. “Thank you all for being careful with each other, even when you’re feeling strongly.”
School Committee Chair Martha Thurber agreed, saying she hoped Mohawk would “avoid what happened in Turners” as it proceeds to remove the remaining mascot images. Turners Falls changed its mascot from “Indians” to “Thunder” a couple years ago – but not before an extensive, divisive debate.
Mohawk’s situation differs from Turners in that the school has already scaled back use of its indigenous mascot imagery and says it has no plans to change its team name, “Warriors.” The school removed its indigenous logo from sports uniforms and “virtually all other areas” around the school, Thurber said. This process happened incrementally and with no formal vote, she said.
The school has been accused by some alumni of failing to inform the community that it was considering removing its remaining mascot images. Randy Smith, an alumnus of the Class of 1978, which gifted the mural to the school, said he learned about the mural through a Facebook post on his class reunion page.
Thurber gave a timeline of the school’s mascot-related discussions at the meeting. She said the idea arose when a history class discussed the mural in the 2016 to 2017 school year, and indigenous leaders were invited to speak to students. After this, students brought concerns to the Local Education Council (LEC), which began discussing the issue “periodically” between 2016 and 2019, she said. Local Education Council meetings are open to the public, Thurber said, while conceding that they “are not widely distributed or publicized.” She said the school planned to publish its agendas and minutes to its website.”
This January, a bill was submitted by state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, to ban the use of indigenous mascots by public schools. This bill spurred Mohawk to consider dropping its own mascot, Thurber said. After local media covered Comerford’s bill and identified Mohawk Trail as a public school with an indigenous mascot, Thurber said “the controversy got ahead of the LEC.”
On March 5, Superintendent Michael Buoniconti told the community it was considering removing the final images of its Native American mascot. On April 1, a Local Education Council meeting was devoted to discussing the matter, while the Co-Principal Marisa Mendonsa and Thurber said the school had already decided they planned to remove the two images of its mascot. The meeting, they said, was to discuss how to go about removing the mascot.
“There was no intent at any time not to consult with the community,” Thurber said. “There were no secret discussions. There were no secret decisions made in back rooms out of public view.”
Mohawk is not alone in its mascot discussions, Thurber said, with many U.S. schools and sports groups having the same discussion and reaching the same conclusion, that “using Native imagery as a mascot, a logo, or otherwise displaying that imagery prominently in connection with a non-Native institution, is wrong.”
Thurber offered her own perspective on the matter: “I believe that history and decency demand that rather than wait and be forced into action we can act intentionally as a community to decide how best to move forward,” she said.
Mohawk alumnus and parent Amy Coates said she opposed removing the mural, suggesting the school install a plaque offering a “the 50-year history” of the mural.
Smith, a 1978 alumnus, took issue with the schools’ failure to communicate its intent to remove the mural, and suggested they consider “updating” the image rather than removing it entirely. He said the gymnasium mural is not a mascot but rather an “artwork on a wall.”
“It’s just artwork. Maybe it’s not accurate, but it’s just artwork,” Smith said. “Not everything you see is going to be perfectly accurate.”
Rhonda Anderson, a Mohawk alumna and member of Native Alaskan tribe Inupiaq Athabaskan, offered the school “support and congratulations” for “moving forward in a positive way for the next generation of youth.” Anderson asked the school to include indigenous people in discussions going forward.
Anderson also called for the school to change its name from “Warriors,” as it is associated with Native Americans when linked to the school’s name, Mohawk – also the name of a Native tribe.
Christopher Lenaerts, who has a fourth-grader in a district school, opposed the mascot, calling it a “racist stereotype.”
Dr. Jessica Dolan of Brattleboro Vt., an expert in indigenous studies and in particular the Mohawk tribe, urged the school to use this discussion to become better informed, in doing so dispelling common misconceptions of Native history and current affairs.
“We don’t have to be embarrassed, we can just take action to educate ourselves,” Dolan said. “This is a good dialogue, and it should keep going.”
Mohawk 2015 graduate Briel Gibson commended the administration for “starting this conversation before they were forced to,” she said.
Gibson said while some said the gymnasium mural is not a mascot, but an image, it is nonetheless significant as it appears in sports games and other school events.
Grace Gokey, who is enrolled at both Mohawk Trail and Greenfield Community College, urged administrators to teach students about social justice and include Native voices.
“They’re not gone, they’re still here.” Gokey said. “Europeans do not define America.”
Reach Grace Bird at gbird@recorder.com or at 413-772-0261, ext. 280.