Massena School Climate Committee says keep 'Red Raiders,' find mascot not associated with race

The School Climate Committee on Nov. 16 recommended that Massena Central Board of Education keep the name Red Raiders and find a new mascot that is not the former chieftain head.

The committee, which has been working since the beginning of the school year, was formed on the heels of growing racial tension among the student body partially attributed to the lack of a mascot and the continued use of the former Indian head logo by some groups.

Keri Zaza, a member of the climate committee and counselor at the junior high, said they want to form a subcommittee specifically devoted to finding a new mascot, since the main committee is working in other diversity-related areas as well.

“We decided we’re not really a big enough cross-section of the population and we needed to create a third committee,” Zaza said. “We want to add a community member, we want to add a student-athlete, there’s going to be a coach who’s going to be asked to be part of it.”

Superintendent Pat Brady said a timeline he has showing the history of Massena school mascots indicates the name Red Raiders was not originally intended in a racial sense, so that will stay.

“Our research showed the term Red Raider was not born from a racial standpoint,” he said, adding that it was a reference to the color of uniforms. “When the chieftain head was added, that symbol is what created the racial issue.”

Board President Pat Bronchetti, Jefferson Elementary teacher Siera Thomas, who is a climate committee member, and Brady all said they do not believe that the new mascot is erasing history.

“To make a point, because there’s a lot of strong feelings about people who grew up with this, and I’m one of them. It’s still my history, and you’re not taking it away,” Bronchetti said.

“We’re not taking away anyone’s history,” Thomas said. “The kids now, they’re getting something to be proud of.” She said racial tension “would be alleviated if we can give them something to be proud of.

“Every couple years it keeps cropping up and they (student body) want to feel they’re one community.”

“That’s part of the school’s history and that’s not going to change. Many people were inducted into the school Hall of Fame when the symbol was the Raider head, the chieftain head, and that will remain,” Brady said. “This is a new start.”

Brady said there was about a six-year timespan between Mohawk tribal leaders asking the school to change the mascot and its official removal. He said sometime in 1996, the district appealed to the state education commissioner when the Port Jervis district decided to keep their Red Raider name and symbol. In December 1996, Mohawk tribal leaders sent a letter to the school requesting a meeting with officials to discuss changing the mascot. In July 1997, tribal officials sent a second letter requesting a meeting to talk about a new mascot. The state education commissioner in April 2001 asked schools with Native American mascots to engage the public on the issue, and urged districts to stop using Native mascots. In March 2002, NYS Native American Coordinator Adrian Cooke sent a survey to schools about their progress in removing native American Names and mascots. In March 2002, then-Massena Superintendent Doug Huntley sent a letter to the state education commissioner in response saying the mascot was removed but the name Red Raiders would stay. In April 2002, Cooke responded to the district supporting the efforts, Brady said.

Here is a report Brady read to the school board in September on the history of the Massena Red Raiders and the mascot:

“As you know, last year some of our students opened a community discussion on the Massena Central School mascot when they presented to the Board of Education in June. Since that time, I have been doing some research on the subject and wanted to share a few interesting pieces of information.

An Ogdensburg Journal article dated 9/11/34 entitled, “Red Raiders Have Skull Drill in Gym” states, “The Red Raiders of the North Country, the name by which the Massena High School team has been dubbed this season due to their adoption of complete scarlet suits including pants, sweaters, stockings and helmets, will settle down to a hard week’s work this week.” The article was referring to the high school football team coached by Jerry Donnelly. Below is a link to the article. No other references to “Red Raiders” was found prior to this date using the on-line NYS Historical Newspapers which contains the regional newspapers going back to the 1800s. It appears that the team was referred to as the “Red & Blue” prior to 1934 based on the color of their uniforms. Interestingly, OFA was referenced as the “Blue and White” likely for the same reason.”

A .pdf file of the original newspaper story is at goo.gl/hmrKR2.

“It is unclear where the Plains Indian Chief head came from but it did not appear in the 1934 yearbook on the uniforms of the football team. It does come up on the 1937 football team uniforms in the yearbook. The yearbooks in the intervening years of 1935 and 1936 were either not produced or missing. Neither the school, public library, nor museums have these yearbooks. If anyone from the community has them tucked away in the attic it would be great to include them in the collection. They may or may not provide some information on the adoption of the Indian Chief mascot. I have been told that the mascot may have come from Coach Donnelly who reportedly attended Colgate, a school that had also been dubbed the Red Raiders and had a similar Indian Chief on their uniforms.

Another important piece of information is that in 2001 the NYS Commissioner of Education Richard Mills requested that all schools with Native American mascot names remove them from use. At the time, the Massena CSD formed a committee and decided to remove the Indian Chief logo but retained Red Raider. Eventually, a block M that had been used for letter awards to athletes replaced the Chief logo. Part of our current issue is that some people continue to use this mascot despite the District’s removal of the symbol over a decade ago. This is one area of concern, which should be addressed given the NYS Education Department’s expectations and previous District decision.

Unfortunately, there is no definitive research on the origins of the name and mascot for the Massena CSD. If there are members of the Massena and Akwasasne communities who have pertinent information to share in this regard, I would ask that they contact me via phone or e-mail. I believe the history of the name and symbol have importance to our current discussions.”

The climate committee has also been working to address Native American history and culture in the school curriculum.

Brady said that can be a challenge because there isn’t a statewide plan to teach Native American history and culture. He said he recently met with the state Native American education director and found the 13 schools in the state that receive Native American education funding have to come up with their own lesson plans.

“It will be a challenge with this committee,” Brady said. “Not any of (the 13 schools in the state) have organized Native American culture to infuse in the school and there isn’t any curriculum at the state level … What it often comes down to is many teachers have worked on curriculum … but when that teacher retires, it goes away.

“Part of it I think is the oral tradition … handed down over centuries, really, and hasn’t been written down in any organized way.”

High school principal Sarah Boyce, who is also on the climate committee, said they are working to get more Native history and culture woven into school lessons. She said they now do a Native American day at the high school, which is Tuesday, and that may get expanded to lower grades.

“I ask seventh graders ‘do you know why there’s a reservation next door?’ And they have no idea,” Zaza said.