Mohegan Tribe takes issue with high school ‘Indians’ teams
MONTVILLE, Conn. — For decades, the Montville High School athletic teams have competed as the Indians with the blessing of the Mohegans, the American Indian tribe that traces its local history back centuries and today operates one of the world’s biggest casinos.
Then last week, the Mohegan Tribe announced that it no longer supports the use of American Indian-related team names.
The reversal has unsettled many in the southeastern Connecticut town, which has considered itself immune to controversies stirred by American Indian mascots elsewhere because of its close ties to the federally recognized tribe. The tribe behind Mohegan Sun, the casino and resort, is a major presence in town, and many tribal members have been among the students to wear the black and orange of the Montville Indians.
The tribe and the school system have communicated over the years to ensure the name honors indigenous Americans and is not used in a derogatory way. The mayor, Ronald McDaniel, said the school system will follow up with the tribe but that the name has never been a source of friction.
“I don’t personally find it offensive,” said McDaniel, a Democrat. “We don’t use it in an offensive manner.”
Colleen Rix, a Republican town councilor and a 2000 graduate of Montville High, said the Indians name reflects pride in the history shared by the town and tribe.
“It’s never been a contentious topic,” she said. “I did go to school with several tribal members. It was never this clash between them and us. We were all there and it was, ‘Oh, he’s a tribal member, that’s cool,’” she said.
Supporters draw a distinction with other towns that have mascots wear stereotypical American Indian dress, or that use nicknames like “Redskins” or “Redmen” — the name reinstated this month in Killingly, Conn., after the School Board voted in July to adopt the name “Red Hawks.” Voters then elected a majority-Republican school board in November after the party campaigned on a pledge to restore the “Redmen” name; one successful candidate had told voters that a Democratic-led board could decide to remove the Pledge of Allegiance or the American flag next.
It was amid the fallout of Killingly’s reversal that the Democratic speaker of the Connecticut House said state lawmakers should consider banning American Indian names and symbols at public schools. Several states already have implemented similar bans or restrictions. Across Connecticut, 19 public schools still use American Indian-themed names or imagery.
In a statement shared first last week with The Day newspaper, Mohegan Chief Lynn Malerba said the term “Indians” is not offensive in and of itself, and in Montville’s case the name recognizes the first inhabitants of the area. But she said the tribe believes it is time to end the use of such mascots and team names.
“While the stated intent may be to ‘honor’ American Indians, there is a great potential for less than respectful behaviors to occur in conjunction with these mascots. Additionally, people should not be considered mascots. It is demeaning to be relegated to a stereotyping of a people. This should not be allowed to continue,” Malerba said in the written statement on behalf of the tribal council, elders council and medicine woman.
Malerba said in an email that there have not been recent conversations with the Montville school system on the topic, but she anticipated there would be in light of the proposed legislation.
The tribe’s history is recognized in this community of 20,000 people in other ways, including streets named after tribal leaders, the Mohegan Elementary School named for the tribe, and the image of an American Indian man on patches worn by Montville police officers.
The Indians name was adopted when Montville High School was built in 1965. The school has consulted with the tribe over the years on the use of the name. An early logo, featuring an American Indian man in profile with a feather in his braided hair, has been phased out in favor of the current logo, an orange “M” in a white circle with two feathers falling off to the side.
The tribe, whose casino in town generates close to $1 billion in annual revenue, also has been a financial supporter of the schools and their athletic programs.
“They are tremendous neighbors,” said Rocky Stone, president of the Montville High Athletics Boosters Organization. “We are lucky to have them, and nobody wants to offend them if somebody is offended.”
“They are tremendous neighbors. We are lucky to have them, and nobody wants to offend them if somebody is offended.” — Rocky Stone, president of the Montville High Athletics Boosters Organization.