New York set to ban Native American mascots, which could affect at least 11 Long Island school districts

Public schools using Native American mascots, team names and logos will have until the end of the 2024-25 school year to change the names and remove the imagery, the state Education Department told Newsday.

The Board of Regents will vote to ban the mascots when it meets Monday and Tuesday in Albany, Education Department spokesperson J.P. O'Hare said in an email. The Education Department is expected to develop parameters on which team names and mascots will need to change, O’Hare said. It is not clear if those parameters will be established during this week's meetings.

"I think it's long overdue," said Tela Troge, a lawyer and representative for the Shinnecock Indian Nation. "It's going to have a huge effect … We have a lot of children involved in sports … When they go to schools that have native mascots, it's insulting to them and their heritage, their traditions and cultures to be dehumanized in that way."

The ban, which could affect at least 12 high schools in 11 Long Island districts, has been controversial. Detractors say they are concerned because the cost of making the changes will fall on the schools and believe the team names are intended to honor Native Americans.

Schools that don't comply will be in violation of the Dignity for All Students Act and risk being denied state aid, and school officials in those districts could lose their jobs, according to a November memo from state Education Department Senior Deputy Commissioner James N. Baldwin, which also gave schools until the end of the current school year to comply. Further guidance released in December gave schools until the end of the 2024-25 school year to remove all imagery.

The act is aimed at protecting students from "harassment and discrimination." State law allows the education commissioner to withhold public money or remove a school officer who willfully disobeys an order or rule of the Board of Regents.

Public schools may ask for a written exemption from local federally recognized tribes, which, on Long Island, are the Shinnecock, but neither Troge nor Shinnecock Indian Nation chairman Bryan Polite foresee offering any such allowance. 

Though the regulation is not official, “no significant revisions” are expected, O’Hare said. Nor does the department expect the use of indigenous logos, names and mascots “will be considered acceptable going forward unless … [it garners] the approval of a recognized Indigenous Nation,” he said. 

New York is among 21 states that have taken or are considering taking formal action against the use of indigenous mascots in public schools, according to the National Congress of American Indians. Colorado, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire and Oregon have implemented similarly broad bans, while other states have chosen to bar specific names, according to the National Congress of American Indians.

New York State has 55 school districts with native-themed mascots, according to the National Congress of American Indians' mascot state activity tracker. 

"Native-'themed' mascots dehumanize Native people and diminish the enduring vibrancy and diversity of our distinct cultures, values, and lifeways," National Congress of American Indians executive director Larry Wright Jr. said in a statement supporting the prohibition, adding that it will make it so "all students in the state may attend school in an environment free of discrimination and harassment."

Cost and controversy

On the list of Long Island schools that could be affected: the Manhasset, Brentwood and Sewanhaka Indians; the Comsewogue, Wyandanch, Amityville and Wantagh Warriors; East Islip Redmen; Massapequa Chiefs; Syosset Braves; and the Sachem East and Sachem North Flaming Arrows.

Schools will be required to remove logos and imagery on buildings, courts, fields, scoreboards and uniforms. The cost of removal will vary based on the proliferation and location of the imagery. The rule also states that those on school premises will not be allowed to wear apparel with banned mascots and names.

The cost could exceed $400,000 per district, according to Pat Pizzarelli, the executive director of Section VIII, the governing body of interscholastic sports in Nassau County. Some districts have the imagery on multiple turf fields and hardwood courts, the latter of which will have to be repainted and revarnished. 

"It's a big deal," he said. "It's hundreds of thousands of dollars … When I was [athletic director at] Lawrence, we didn't have logos on all of our uniforms, but some schools do. They'll have to get all new uniforms … If you have multiple synthetic fields and you have that logo at the center of the field or in the end zone, that all has to come out."

John Dolan, who retired in January after seven years as the East Islip superintendent, said the district started to phase out the Native American imagery around the district three years ago.

"We had already changed wind screens and other logos around the school to start the process," Dolan said. "One change was to promote East Islip with our message of Welcome to East Islip — Home of EI Pride. … The branding in our new athletic facility sends a positive message."

The cost of those revisions was smaller than a complete makeover, Dolan said, which the district estimated would have been about $125,000 to $150,000.

"We know the majority of people in our community have been outspoken against changing the name," Dolan said. "We also know there are folks who believe changing the name and getting away from what is considered an offensive nickname and following the state mandate is the right way to go. The world is changing and a clear directive from the state would be very helpful."

East Islip interim Superintendent Paul Manzo, who replaced Dolan in February, said in a statement to Newsday that the district "intends to comply with regulations and policies the Board of Regents and state puts forth."

Longtime Islip Terrace resident Tommy Costarelli played football at East Islip High School in the 1990s and said he is proud of the school’s name.

“I understand the Redmen name is considered a derogatory term,” Costarelli said, "but why wasn’t that an issue 20, 30, 40 years ago? Our school logo and nickname has been around since 1954. It’s a lot of nonsense from liberal people.

"We feel we’re honoring the Indian heritage. … We’re going to make hundreds of thousands of dollars of changes in our fields, in the school and our community? I don’t think that’s fiscally prudent.”

Costarelli’s son, Thomas Jr., a sophomore quarterback on the East Islip football team, said he was "proud to be a student-athlete for the East Islip Redmen."

"I don’t think they should change our name," Costarelli Jr. said. "I hope they don’t.”

Joseph Kennedy, a retired MTA worker who put four children through the Syosset school system, has been vocal about keeping the Braves mascot.

“I’m of Irish heritage. I’m not upset that Notre Dame [is] the Fighting Irish. I don't consider that pejorative,” said Kennedy, 67, who moved there in 1981. Braves "makes me think that the team has a tradition of bravery, of highly skilled athletes. I don’t associate anything negative with that … I think people need to be bothered by other things than what a team name is called as long as it doesn’t denigrate a particular ethnic group.”

The prospect of losing state aid has him troubled, he said.

“It seems that the government is trying to hold school districts hostage by saying, you want your school aid? You’re going to have to call it what we want you to call it,” he said. “It’s bordering on ridiculous … Why are we spending money on this when we should be putting better computers in the labs? We should be hiring more teachers.”

Chief Harry Wallace of the Unkechaug Indian Nation near Mastic, a state-recognized tribe, has fought against the use of indigenous mascots since he was an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, and vehemently disagreed.

Indigenous children “grow up with an image that is false and that is negative, no matter how much quote, unquote 'positive pride' you have with that,” he said. “That’s a negative projection of the way a Native kid looks at himself and the way a non-Native kid looks at him.”

Added Polite: "There are better ways to honor the Natives. You can incorporate curriculum of the local tribes in your school. You can have us come and do cultural days. Mascots that are pretty much negative representations of the Natives is hurtful."

In 2005, The American Psychological Association recommended the “immediate retirement” of all Native American mascots, saying they foster "an unwelcome and oftentimes hostile learning environment for American Indian students that affirms negative images/stereotypes that are promoted in mainstream society.”

The New York Association of School Psychologists also supports a ban. Among indigenous students, the use of these mascots leads to "lowered self-esteem, lowered opinion of future personal achievement, lowered opinion of community worth … and increased feelings of depression, stress, hostility, and distress,” it said in a position statement.

LI schools in a holding pattern

Many Long Island districts are waiting on the board's decision before taking action.

"We are still waiting to receive final regulations and guidelines from NYSED," said Jennifer Quinn, superintendent of Comsewogue. "It is our understanding certain allowances regarding names are still being considered. Once the final regulations as voted on and adopted by the Regents are received, we will work with our legal counsel and our community to discuss next steps required to be in compliance."

Syosset also will wait on the Regents' final action, according to a spokeswoman.

Manhasset discussed the issue at a February school board meeting, with board president Patricia Aitken and Superintendent Guarav Passi beginning to lay the framework for change. As a higher-income district, they did not expect to receive significant aid from the state to offset costs, she said.

"We've not heard anything so far to indicate that this would not ultimately pass," Aitken said. "We need to start thinking about how we're going to address this." 

Wyandanch, like Comsewogue, uses native imagery, but Amityville has shifted to a generic “A” logo.

“It is still a question if the name 'Warriors,’ as it stands now since we removed the Native American Head and Headdress, is unacceptable,” Amityville Superintendent Edward Fale said in an email. “We do not believe it to be. We are researching this with our attorneys since the word ‘Warrior’ takes on many definitions. For example, the Wounded Warrior program for disabled veterans. So in short, we are researching whether the use of ‘Warrior’ without any symbolism other than a large A, for Amityville, would be acceptable.”

The list could be longer

Wallace is a member of the education commissioner’s Indigenous Education Advisory Council and the department’s Indigenous Mascot Advisory Group, and has advised the Department of Education that all schools with indigenous-influenced names and/or imagery should make the change.

Wallace said teams called the Red Devils should be included in the mandate. There are three teams on Long Island that use that name: Center Moriches, Freeport and Plainedge.

Half Hollow Hills East and Connetquot are the Thunderbirds, and this, too, has Indigenous roots — the Thunderbird being a legendary creature of indigenous myth. Deirdre Gilligan, a spokeswoman for the Connetquot school district, said earlier this year that they were still unclear if the school would have to make a switch. States such as Colorado have banned Thunderbirds.

What's next? 

While the affected schools have until the end of 2024-25 to make the changes, districts can petition the commissioner of education for an extension on the deadline “upon a showing of good cause,” according to the proposed rule, and can ask for financial aid if the changes cause extensive economic hardship.

But work toward banning indigenous imagery long predates the recent proposal, complicating financial aid requests. In 2001, then-Education Commissioner Richard Mills recommended ending the use of Native American mascots as soon as possible. 

“Most or all of these items [signs, floors, field turf and certainly uniforms] are replaced/repaired on periodic cycles that are far shorter than the 21 years" since Mills' directive, according to a Dec. 28 notice in the Department State Register. "[D]istricts that have failed to change their mascots and logos in the intervening time have foregone opportunities to do so at no greater cost than would have otherwise occurred.” 

There already have been legal cases challenging the rule, and Wallace, an attorney and member of the New York State Bar Association, expected “vociferous opposition” in the future. 

In 2021, the Supreme Court in Albany County upheld a decision made by state Department of Education Commissioner Betty Rosa to retire the Cambridge Central School District's "Indians" mascot — setting the precedent for Baldwin's memo. Cambridge filed an appeal with the New York State Appellate Court in February, saying the name is "specifically designed to honor Indigenous Peoples.” 

“The court’s decision establishes that public school districts are prohibited from utilizing Native American mascots. Arguments that community members support the use of such imagery or that it is ‘respectful’ to Native Americans are no longer tenable," Baldwin wrote. 

Wallace agreed. 

“It’s an invalid tradition based on the denigration of a separate people, and you should not be a participant of that,” he said. “There are a lot of different ways that you can demonstrate pride, integrity and tradition in your athletics teams and your school without having to insult and desecrate human people.”

With Gregg Sarra

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.