Nauset will review 'Warrior' nickname
Cape Cod Times
By Susan Milton
Staff Writer
August 17, 2007
ORLEANS — The Nauset Regional school system is starting to look at its use of American Indian symbols and names.
Wampanoag educator Randy Joseph is scheduled to meet with some staff this month and with the entire staff during a professional day in early October to talk about the issue, School Supt.Michael Gradone reported to school committee members earlier this month. Joseph is the Wampanoag education manager at Plimoth Plantation.
It's the start of a process during which students will study and debate the controversial and lingering use of such names and symbols. In early June during an emotion-charged meeting with members of the Nauset Regional School Committee, Joseph and other Cape residents said the "Warrior" nickname of the Nauset schools sports teams and use of an American Indian logo, the Nauset warrior, is offensive and perpetuates racial and cultural stereotypes.
At the time, a student representative said she and other students wear the logo with pride. Those seeking a change said that such claims to honor native peoples shows a failure to listen and hear what native groups and religious and civil rights organizations are saying.
In response, the committee voted to reconsider the district's use of American Indian symbols and/or names and to vote on the issue before next May. Gradone and high school principal Tom Conrad suggested that students return to the committee with a recommendation supported by 75 percent of the student body.
It was at least the fourth time in 20 years that the regional school committee for Brewster, Orleans, Eastham and Wellfleet has fielded such a request. Similar requests have sparked debates and changes across the country.
In 2001, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights called for an end to American Indian team names and mascots at non-American Indian schools. At the time, school officials defended the Nauset Warriors and Barnstable Red Raiders team names as positive reminders of the Cape's history.
Susan Milton can be reached at smilton@capecodonline.com.