Noble tradition: School superintendent says neither symbol is offensive
Manchester Union Leader – January 10, 2007
By SCOTT BROOKS
Union Leader Staff
MANCHESTER – Central High School's Indian head and Memorial High's Crusader are traditional symbols that bespeak strength, not cultural insensitivity, both schools' principals say.
Principals at the two city high schools disputed a former student's charge that the symbols are hurtful and offensive, arguing instead that each school's symbol has proud roots.
"To me, it's not a problem," said Arthur Adamakos, principal of Manchester Memorial.
Recent Central High School graduate Ibrahim Elshamy took issue with both symbols in a speech before the Manchester school board Monday. Elshamy, the 2005 Central class president, is the founder of a Web site called HateMascot.com.
The site condemns Central's "Indian head" logo as racist. It also links Memorial's nickname, the Crusaders, to the infamous Crusades of the 12th and 13th centuries, the Christian campaign to recapture Jerusalem.
Superintendent Michael Ludwell said he is studying the issue. The school board has asked its coordination committee to do the same.
For now, at least, Ludwell said he does not consider either symbol offensive. However, he said, "If the research were to bring up some compelling reason, I obviously would consider that."
Incarnations of the Central High School "Indian head" logo date back to the 1920s, according to a booklet written by former principal William Burns. The school adopted the symbol as an homage to Dartmouth College, which won the national football championship in 1925. Dartmouth players were often referred to as the Indians until the school dropped the sobriquet in the late 1960s.
Central High also took its nickname from Dartmouth, known both then and now as the "Big Green." Sportswriters likened the green-jerseyed athletes at Central High to the bigger boys in Hanover, and took to calling Central's teams "The Little Green."
Principal John Rist makes no apologies for the association.
"The Indian is not our mascot. It's not our nickname," Rist said. "It's occasionally used as a symbol of pride, and that's fine with me."
Inside Central, the "Indian head" logo is scarcer than it once was. The head used to adorn the gymnasium floor, but Rist said he made sure to remove the image when the gym was renovated a few years ago.
Students and faculty members can still find the image on T-shirts sold at the school store. The head is on the school Web site and its hockey sweaters, and also floats in front of a lyre in a symbol adopted by the school's music department.
"We're proud of it," said Lorraine Farrell, president of the Central High Association of Music Parents. "It's a great representation of one of the oldest high schools in the state."
Memorial High School's nickname was conceived as a tribute to the city's war veterans, according to a pamphlet distributed at the school's dedication ceremony in 1960. The pamphlet says:
"Athletic teams sponsored by Memorial High School will be known as 'Crusaders,' for, in a very real sense, it is felt that those who have served our country in its wars were Crusaders in the unending struggle for peace, justice, and the preservation of freedom."
Memorial's logo, featured prominently in several locations outside the school, is a red and white knight on a steed. Adamakos notes the knight's armor is unadorned by a cross or other Christian symbols.
Of more than 30 students surveyed at the school yesterday, none disapproved of the school's nickname. Many said they believe the knight represents strength and power—qualities they want people to associate with the school's sports teams.
"My teacher was saying, 'What do they want us to be? The fluffy bunnies?'" senior Stephanie Martes said.
Memorial's are not the only Crusaders in New Hampshire. Pee-wee football players and cheerleaders in Nashua are called the Elks Crusaders. Littleton High School athletes also are dubbed the Crusaders.
"Everyone here feels pretty good about it," said Lori Wood, the school librarian in Littleton.
Other Crusaders of note: the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps; the Jazz Crusaders, a popular jazz and R&B outfit in the 1960s and '70s; the mascot of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.; and Batman – the Caped Crusader.
New Hampshire schools have often grappled with controversial nicknames. Goffstown's Grizzl[i]es used to be Indians.
Merrimack Valley High School's teams, the Pride, were once Indians as well.
Other nicknames inspired by American Indian culture remain, including the Colebrook Mohawks, the Laconia Sachems (a term referring to a tribal chief), the Belmont Red Raiders and the Merrimack Tomahawks.
Students at Manchester Central said the old "Indian head" symbol is fine with them. Said Sam Walker, a girls' varsity basketball player who is half- American Indian: "I never really thought about it."