Shinnecock Nation open to Wyandanch keeping Warriors name, but state says it's too late for exemptions
The Wyandanch School District reached out to tribal leaders to discuss the possibility of keeping its Warriors team name if it removes the Native American imagery. Credit: James Escher
The Shinnecock Indian Nation said Wednesday that it is open to allowing the Wyandanch School District to keep its Warriors team name if it removes its Native American imagery, but officials at the state Education Department said it’s too late for the district to procure an exemption.
The state Board of Regents unanimously passed a ban on the use of Native American mascots, team names and imagery at public schools on April 18 — the only exception being if the district received an exemption from a representative of a federal or state-recognized tribe. Department officials, though, said that the deadline for that exemption was May 3 — the day the rule was codified.
“It is too late,” officials said in an email. “Pursuant to the regulation, where an existing relationship between the district and the Nation existed, such agreements had to be in place by the effective date of the regulation . . . As such, by the end of this academic year, Wyandanch’s board would need to pass a resolution with a plan to change their team name, mascot, and/or imagery that would be completed no later than the end of the 2024-2025 school year.”
The state said that districts that do not comply risk losing state aid and that officials at those schools could be removed from their positions.
WHAT TO KNOW
The Wyandanch School District reached out to tribal leaders to discuss the possibility of keeping the Warriors team name while removing the Native American imagery on uniforms, fields and buildings in the district. According to the state, official representatives of a federal or state-recognized tribe are able to offer exemptions.
- State officials said it's too late for an exemption, which had to be done by May 3, when the state's ban became official.
Shinnecock Indian Nation chairman Bryan Polite said he would have been in favor of the idea as long as the imagery was removed.
Wyandanch said it would change its logo and mascot to comply with the state's ban, according to a memo posted on the district's website. Amityville, Comsewogue and Wantagh also use the Warriors team name, and all three districts have expressed a desire to keep the team name.
Bryan Polite, chairman of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, said Wyandanch was the only district to reach out to him after the state enacted its ban, and he personally does not see an issue with retaining the nickname as long as all indigenous references are removed.
Polite said he has been in continuous conversation with the school, the tribe’s seven-person council, and the Shinnecock community to get their input on an exemption.
“This is kind of a no-brainer” for him, Polite said Wednesday before the state said it was too late. “Unless there’s Native American imagery that goes along with it, the name Warrior isn’t exclusive to native culture . . . There are many cultures who have warriors, and I don’t have an issue with them using [it] as long as there’s no Native American imagery that goes along with that.”
Only official representatives of federal or state-recognized Long Island tribes are able to offer exemptions, and on Long Island, that's only the Shinnecock or the Unkechaug of Mastic.
Unkechaug chief Harry Wallace said Wednesday he believed it "unlikely the logo and name would survive scrutiny [by the state]."
Polite noted that Wyandanch, like many other Long Island towns, is named after an Algonquin word — something that keeps the language alive. “If it’s something that’s not a depiction, or a Hollywood depiction of Native American imagery or logo, I don’t have an issue with it,” he said.
"We appreciate the opportunity and positive discussions we have had with representatives of the federally recognized Shinnecock Indian Nation," Wyandanch schools superintendent Gina Talbert said in a statement. "We have been in conversations with the Shinnecock Indian Nation since December 2022, again in March 2023 and most recently last week. We shared with them the pride and significance of what being a Warrior means to our students, faculty, staff, alumni and community. The district does not have a mascot and looks forward to creating school imagery that is non-discriminatory to Native Americans or any other indigenous or ethnic groups.
"We anticipate continued discussions with the Shinnecock Indian Nation Tribal Chairman and representatives, as well as New York State Education Department regarding the next steps."
Messages to the Comsewogue, Amityville and Wantagh superintendents were not returned.
Wyandanch's memo said the district's board met on April 19 to discuss rebranding.
"As a district, we took immediate action and conducted several meetings with tribal leaders from the national, state and local levels," the memo reads. "Meeting with tribal leaders demonstrated the district's commitment and willingness to work together and to be in compliance as a NYS school district."
The district added it will create a rebranding committee consisting of members of the community, the district's board of education, parents, alumni and staff.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
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