With the author’s permission, this post combines two separate articles in the Dartmouth High Spectrum written by Assistant Editor Avary Amaral. Ms. Amaral is also a member of the NAACP New Bedford Youth Council. The views in this essay are Ms. Amaral’s alone and do not represent those of the DHS Spectrum.
Introduction
This past year, despite COVID, multiple active shooters across the country, Asian hate, and the death of 212 people by police issued guns, despite all that the human race has endured, the presence of respect and equality, the bare minimum, is still a fight yet to be won. The fundamentals of human lives are being thrown up in the air and denied based on the simple justification of tradition, misrepresentation, inconvenience, and exclusivity within our own community. This is portrayed in the denial of an open forum of Native American voices and in the beliefs of some of Dartmouth High School’s representatives.
History of Indian Representation in Dartmouth
While many residents know that the Indian has been the longtime mascot and symbol of Dartmouth, the knowledge of how it came to be is less common.
Starting in 1964, even before the creation of a mascot for Dartmouth High School, the Thanksgiving Day game marked the beginning of the visual misrepresentation and discrimination against Native Americans. This involved the act of a white student wearing a costume to represent Native American culture while riding a horse across the football field, depicted in the 1964 Dartmouth yearbook.
Let’s consider how the actions of white students at Dartmouth High School and what our school represents could affect the Native American population. Land that belonged to Native Americans until the bloodshed that followed colonial arrival . Years of tradition and community annihilated by the white man. Now, in 1964, their ethnicity is cornered into reservations with poor funding, poverty, and little to no economic opportunity. In Massachusetts, the home of the Wampanoag nation, a white student at a high school that portrays the white demographic attempts to celebrate your culture by “dressing up” in a costume that’s been used to mock your culture for more than 500 years. Does this seem respectful? Does it seem celebratory? No. It doesn’t.
After this introduction of discriminatory behavior, it became a tradition that was increasingly considered normal due to the lack of backlash. Without resistance the presence of discriminatory logos, images, mascots, names, and cartoons made its way into American culture and society. At our own Dartmouth High School our logo has developed from a crude caricature to a logo that has been mistaken as being accepted.
Take the plentiful landmarks in Massachusetts, and more locally, Dartmouth, that are defined by offensive Native American stereotypes. A recent example would be the Russel Garrison sign, a historical site debated for its performative position of sympathizing with the colonists who took Native American land and conveying Native Americans as savages during the King Philip’s War in 1675.
History of Opposition
On October 28, the Dartmouth School Committee met together in the Dartmouth High School library and four members of the surrounding community shared their perspective on the Dartmouth Indian Mascot. Chris Pereira, chair of the Dartmouth Veterans Advisory Board and member of the Dartmouth Education System advocated for the current mascot while Lasella Hall, president of the NAACP New Bedford branch, and a representative of the Wampanoag council all favored the creation of an open forum, for all voices to be heard to come to a collective decision.
The opinions and points of view demonstrated in the October 28 meeting might be the most visual and public, but were not the first attempts of resistance towards the mascot.
Furthermore, legal action has been taken in Massachusetts, exemplified in the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) agreeing upon a resolution in 2020, dismissing all racism and prejudice in the school environment; “all the school districts in the Commonwealth must guarantee that racist practices are eradicated, and diversity, equity and inclusion is embedded and practiced for our students, families, faculty and staff.” Additionally, the Pocasset Wampanoag tribe and the Mashpee tribe have officially voiced their support of Bill H581/S295, a bill that would prevent the use of Native Americans as school and sport mascots and logos. Not only have Massachusetts tribal representatives taken action but many colleges have revised their mascots to show respect towards the Native American community. Dartmouth College, taking the extra step to prevent the misrepresentation of the Native American, disputed shirts using the old Dartmouth College logo that were still being produced to ensure that the discriminatory logo would no longer be widespread.
Despite the seemingly default action of ridding prejudice from schools exemplified in many cases across the country, the traditional and disregarding nature of some Dartmouth school representatives has resulted in the stubborn refusal to join in the movement for an open forum of Native American voices and educational programs and classes regarding cultural sensitivity despite Dartmouth High School’s encouragement and agreement to support all students, cultures, and heritage.
Dartmouth’s Opinion
The most current version of the Dartmouth logo has been discussed in multiple Dartmouth school committee meetings. Members have been in either strong support of an open forum or opposed.
Shannon Jenkins, the ongoing president of the new diversity task force has shown support for change in regards to the Dartmouth logo and in the suggestion of collaboration with all local Native Americans and Native American organizations. So far, the diversity task force has met twice and has discussed no further action on the status of the Dartmouth logo.
Adversely, School Committee Member John Nunes has voiced his advocacy in the favor of tradition and convention. Specifically in an October 28 meeting, Mr. Nunes considered the history of the representation of Native Americans in football has always been a part of sports and because of this, wasn’t an issue requiring urgency or immediate attention. Adversely, football teams have actually begun making their own changes, the former Washington Redskins changed their team name in 2018 to the Washington Football team temporarily and the Cleveland Indians are in the process of trying to find a new name. Mr. Nunes also argued that other problems, such as vaping and bullying, were more important and worthy of the Dartmouth School Committee’s prioritization than the controversy over the logo.
Some people have also opposed changing the Dartmouth logo due to the misinformed belief that the Native American community supports the current logo. Upon this proposition, the NAACP requested proof of this agreement. When Dartmouth was prompted with this query, they could not produce any evidence.
Present and Future Action
By this point you’ve heard reasoning from both sides of the aisle on why we should or shouldn’t keep the mascot. Instead of explaining why you should support the removal of the mascot further, I’m going to introduce a number of ways we, as a community, can improve our awareness, approach, education, and empathy towards Native Americans.
The most important thing to understand about culture is that it’s meant to be respected and not appropriated. This means that specific culture, history, and beliefs can and should be celebrated and appreciated by all people. Along with this, it also means that culture is something that isn’t a resource for misrepresentation. Misrepresentation can be exemplified in costumes, the adoption of traditions with no knowledge of origin, or even claiming a culture as your own when it does not. Specifically, when it comes to the Native American culture, traditional headdresses and clothing are often misused as a Halloween costume. Another example being during Cinco de Mayo, and the common use of sombreros and fake mustaches. By using the Native American culture and other cultures in a setting of “dress up” their culture is undermined.
Once people are able to be respectful of culture and diversity, recognition and the education of culture can successfully take place. Many cultures are taught by people that are not a direct representation of that culture. Instead of teaching culture through the words of the victors, culture should be taught by the communities and groups it came from. Spreading accurate information and teachings on culture in the community could drastically improve relations between diverse groups as there would be a renewed view of culture, and with it, a new foundation of respect and understanding.
We can accomplish this through many different options. One that has already been recently debated is the existence of an open forum. Implementing systems to encourage the voices of those oppressed and misrepresented to speak out is the most effective way to adjust the way we present culture so that all involved members are able to agree upon a solution that addresses all interests.
Additionally, here at Dartmouth High School, we still recognize Christopher Columbus as a man worthy of a holiday. While some may be unaware of the murder and catastrophe Columbus brought upon the original discovers of North America, (the Native Americans), it is crucial that this holiday be changed to a day with the sole purpose for celebrating Indigenous peoples and culture. Not only does the holiday of Columbus represent the beginning of violence towards Native Americans in North America, but it has also been communicated to make a student uncomfortable. Eric Andrade, a father of a student at Dartmouth High School in the same October 28 school committee meeting of 2019, shared his daughter’s feelings towards the holiday describing how to her, the holiday of Columbus was a blunt way of celebrating the mass murder and destruction Native Americans experienced when Columbus came to North America.
Along with the change of this holiday, it’s important to note the term “Indian” that is widely used. While it may be the most mainstream and collective term used, it is actually a derogatory term that represents Columbus’s view of Native Americans. Columbus, when first arriving in present-day Bermuda, then traveling to North America, thought he had arrived upon the Indies. Due to this mistake, the native peoples inhabiting the land were since then called “Indians”. As a result of the actions committed by Columbus towards Native Americans, the default term used to name Native Americans and the name of Dartmouth’s athletic teams should also be changed.
Conclusion
While Dartmouth High School’s perceived position on discrimination in the student handbook is stated to be, “The Dartmouth Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, homelessness, genetic information, military status, pregnancy or pregnancy related condition in admission to, access to, treatment in or employment in its programs and activities,” The direct opposite is epitomized in the brushing off of valid and passionate expressions of frustration, oppression, and discrimination that is occurring in meetings and disproven announcements of collaboration with Native Americans.
To prevent this from continuing to happen, the community of Dartmouth must be willing to open their minds to try to sympathize, acknowledge, and take part in the reform of society to create a better environment that is open to the celebration and appreciation of culture and malleable and supportive to those who have oppressed in the past and in the present day.
