Since 1961, Nashoba Regional High School has been the "Home of the Chieftains," a promotional slogan with an insensitivity to the Native Americans that resided in the community in the past, as well as those in the district today. While some may argue that the Chieftain mascot honors the Native Americans, the caricatures and stereotypes are harmful, promote negative stereotypes of Native Americans, and ultimately contribute to negligence and disregard for the personhood of Native peoples. There is irony surrounding our pride for the "Nashoba Chieftains" without knowing anything about the tribe's history.

The intolerance and harm promoted by these Chieftain sports mascots, logos, or symbols, have adverse consequences for Native people. Years of social science research have found that derogatory sports mascots have serious social, cultural, and psychological ramifications for Native Americans, especially Native youth. The most critical factor to consider in perpetuating negative stereotypes of Native people is the promotion of hate crimes, which are alarmingly high against Native persons in our nation. A Department of Justice analysis states, "American Indians are more likely than people of other races to experience violence at the hands of someone of a different race." These elements indicate a genuine need to remove damaging images and the reeducation of the community immediately, to diffuse further hateful actions against Native Americans.

Hundreds of tribal nations, national and regional tribal organizations, civil rights organizations, school boards, sports teams, sports and media personalities, and individuals have called for the end to harmful "Indian" mascots. Over the last fifty years, and upsurge of support has mounted to end the era of racist and bigoted Chieftain mascots in sports and popular culture. Today, that support is stronger than ever. According to the NCAI, "since 1963, no professional teams have established new mascots that use racial stereotypes in their names and imagery. "Additionally, the NCAI's ongoing education and advocacy against harmful sports mascots have resulted in over 2,00 "Indian" references in sports to have been eliminated over the past 35 years. In 2015, Boston.com published an article documenting the remaining Native American high school mascots in Massachusetts, and as of 2020, our high school is still on this list. We do not want our district to be known for our tolerance for racism. The school's stated commitment to "educate all students to become positive contributors to the global community" should be emulated in all we do, and as importantly, reflected in our most influential source of branding: the school mascot.

It is not my intention to erase Native American culture from the community. As a district, we can celebrate and learn about the Native American tribes that lived on this land and how Nashoba and the surrounding regions as we know it came to be. 

By replacing our school mascot, we can separate ourselves from a symbol that reflects the negativity of a vital minority group and begin the process of genuinely proving our values of integrity, inclusivity, and community engagement. I am proud to have grown up in Stow, and fully believe that fellow proud Nashoba alumni/alumnae support the sentiment that we can leave behind our old mascot and progress with the rest of the nation. I urgently propose that Nashoba Regional High School change our school mascot.

Sincerely,

Rachel Tepper, 2008 graduate of Nashoba Regional High School

Sources: https://www.boston.com/news/untagged/2015/05/20/its-2015-why-do-40-mass-high-schools-still-have-native-american-mascots; http://www.ncai.org/proudtobe