Winchester removes Native American mascot

Winchester’s Sachem school nickname is the latest Native American mascot in Massachusetts to be removed, while the state Senate approved a bill to explore replacing the “racist” state seal.

The Winchester School Committee on Tuesday voted unanimously to eliminate the Sachem mascot and logo. The decision to change the Native American mascot comes amid the nationwide racial injustice reckoning after the police killing of George Floyd.

Other Massachusetts school districts that have recently removed Native American mascots include Grafton (Indians) and Nashoba Regional (Chieftains). The Washington Football Team also recently removed the Redskins nickname.

“Winchester’s mascot might not be the worst mascot out there, but it is our tribe’s statement that all Native indigenous mascots have to go, all nicknames have to go,” Faries Gray, Sagamore of the Massachusetts Tribe of Ponkapoag, said at the Winchester meeting.

“While other indigenous people may see this as an erasure, we see this as a beginning, a healing process that is long overdue for the indigenous community. … We all need to heal, and this is a beginning for that,” he added.

School Committee member Michelle Bergstrom said the town can “do better by the Native students” and tribes.

A bill at the Massachusetts State House would stop public schools from using Native American symbolism in their team names and mascots.

Some 40 schools in Massachusetts

use logos invoking Native American culture.

Another bill on Beacon Hill would replace the state seal, which includes a Native American figure and an arm holding a colonial-era sword above his head.

The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolve to create a special commission to study and redesign the Massachusetts state seal and motto.