Since Pentucket was founded in 1954, the Sachem has represented the school for over 60 years. As alumni, students, and community members agree, it is time to respectfully retire the Sachem mascot.

As alumni, the school ill-prepared us for our futures by not educating us about the importance of the local Indigenous history. Without this knowledge, many of us learned after high school that the mascot was inappropriate. At multi-cultural colleges, many of us had not heard Indigenous voices until leaving Pentucket.

Originally based on the Sachem leaders of the Pennacook, the mascot of PRHS does not represent the values this community holds. The Pennacook were a peaceful group driven out by colonizers in the seventeenth century. Their people were murdered and enslaved, and as a result, the Pennacook had to retreat from the Haverhill area all the way to northern New Hampshire and Canada over the span of fewer than 50 years.

A mascot is meant to represent a school, often in athletics, in an intimidating and aggressive manner. However, the true Pennacook sachems, who were the political and spiritual leaders, were peaceful and sought no violence against others.

We can no longer rob the Pennacook of their history by stealing their culture and identity to repurpose in our community. We ask to respectfully retire the Sachem mascot.