A bill to ban the use of Native American names and imagery in Maine public school sports should not be necessary. With a vote in Skowhegan earlier this month to drop the Indians name from its school’s sports teams, Maine became the first state in the country to end the use of indigenous names and mascots in its schools.
The monumental decision was quickly overshadowed by an effort to bring the name back, in the name of community pride and history.
Rather than close this hurtful and contentious chapter of Maine history, we fear the divisiveness will continue. It shouldn’t.
We understand that some Skowhegan area residents continue to have strong connections to their high school’s traditions and believe they are honoring Maine’s Native Americans and their shared history with the nickname. We believe them when they say they don’t mean to offend.
However, as 30 other schools in Maine have done over the years, it is time to end this era of offensive team names and mascots voluntarily, without a state law banning them.
Rep. Genevieve McDonald, D-Stonington, a co-sponsor of LD 944, reiterated the standard that should guide debates over what names and imagery are offensive. “If the people you are claiming to honor are offended by your actions, you should stop it,” she said during a public hearing on the legislation, which would prohibit a public school from using names, symbols and images that depict or refer to Native Americans and their traditions and customs, on Monday.
The focus has been on SAD 54 in the Skowhegan area for years as local leaders have grappled with the issue. In 2015, the school board voted to keep the Indians name. It then faced intense lobbying from members of Maine’s Native American tribes and their supporters.
Tribal members repeatedly said they did not feel honored by the name. In fact, they said, it was hurtful, an assertion backed up by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the American Psychological Association.
Earlier this month, the Maine Department of Education encouraged school districts “to refrain from using mascots and logos that depict Native American tribes, individuals, customs, or traditions.”
The next week, the SAD 54 school board voted to stop using the Indians name for it high school sports teams. It was the last Maine school system to pledge to make such a change.
Almost immediately, backers of the offensive moniker began circulating a petition to keep the Indians name.
The debate was reminiscent of the one that followed a 2001 law that required an end to the use of the word “squaw” in Maine place names. That year, then-Gov. Angus King signed a law requiring the removal of “squaw” or “squa” from Maine geographic features, locations and highway signs. This was an expansion of a 1977 law removing the offensive N-word from the state’s landscape.
Years later, communities and counties continued to argue that the name was not offensive, despite a dictionary entry that said it was a “term of contempt” and was considered offensive.
There is no reason to go down this path again.
After years of debate and consideration, the members of the SAD 54 school board made a commendable and historic decision. Attention should now focus on collaborating on a new image and name for the area’s high school sports teams.