BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI

North Country This Week

MASSENA — The Massena Central School District is changing its mascot slightly and will now be referred to as the Massena Raiders.

The change comes after school officials and St. Regis Mohawk Tribe leaders came to an agreement that allows the district to comply with new state regulations that require the removal of all references to indigenous groups when referencing mascots and team names.

The newest change is another in a string of changes over the past couple of decades, after officials agreed to remove an “Indian chief” logo in 2004.

An additional change was implemented in 2018 when board of education officials approved a new mascot for the district, a Spartan, largely replacing the “M” logo that had been used for the better part of 14 years.

Officials noted that “M” logo was still in use around the district, largely in minor ways like on stationary letterhead.

“It (Indian chief logo) was creating problems with some of our students and we created the School Climate Committee. Before we started a lot of that work to change the mascot, we approached the tribal council and asked them about the continued use of the name Red Raiders,” Superintendent Pat Brady told board members.

According to Brady, research by the district showed the moniker was derived from the district’s football uniforms in the 1930’s and was not initially connected with anything Indigenous.

Brady told board members a committee was formed shortly thereafter, including students, which led to the creation of the new Spartan mascot.

Despite the changes in recent years, officials say they went a step further to remove the “red” moniker after recent Supreme Court and state Education Department memos “changed the tenor on this,” Brady said.

Despite the recent recommendations, Brady said there have been a variety of viewpoints on the issues.

“The department did form an advisory committee. There are representatives from the local St. Regis Mohawk Tribe on that committee. Much of their deliberations has been about removing these mascots and so forth that have been seen as disrespectful to Native American people. But, even among them, there isn’t always a common viewpoint on this. You can find a variety of viewpoints. But, for many, it is seen as disrespectful,” Brady said.

Brady said he and Danielle Chapman, the district’s head of Native American education, had discussions with the Tribal Council regarding the possibility of keeping “Red Raider” as the district’s moniker.

Discussions were also had amongst members of the Akwesasne Mohawk tribe and tribal leadership, eventually leading to the decision to drop the word “red” from the district’s mascot name.

Brady said state officials gave tribes authority over the monikers, leading to many changes across the state.

“It’s clear that what’s happening here is the state Education Department has placed this authority in those local tribal councils to make these decisions. So it’s their authority and it’s their pressure to make those decisions,” Brady said.

Brady said after many discussions of the various viewpoints, tribal leaders said they would be willing to put in writing that “the district would be able to maintain the word raider but drop the red,” Brady said.

The change has since been passed onto the state Education Department for approval, after which it will be sent back to the district for final approval through a resolution by the board of education when they meet again in June.