Check your tomahawks at the door
North Shore Sunday
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Seems Saugus is the latest town to wade into the mire surrounding Native American sports mascots, something the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has decided that it frowns upon. Which could be problematic, given the 46 school districts in the state that use them. (One of them, Masconomet over in Topsfield, is actually an entire regional district named after an Indian chief—which means they'd have to change an awful lot of stationery.)
In Saugus they're the Sachems, which Superintendent of Schools Dr. Keith Manville says is meant to honor the town's history and the early cooperation between Native Americans and settlers in the area, presumably before all the genocide. And he does have a point that the name seems more innocuous than the one used by neighboring Melrose, the Red Raiders. (Melrose's motto, by the way, is "One Community, Open To All." Including violent marauding redskins, apparently.)
But Peter Sanfacon, director of the New England Anti-Mascot Coalition, makes the relevant point that you don't find races other than Native Americans portrayed as mascots. "You never see mascots named after Asian Americans or African Americans," Sanfacon notes. And whatever suggestions that may have put in your head, we recommend you don't say them out loud.
Meanwhile, as far as the Saugus Sachems go, the good news is that if the town doesn't pass its $5.2 million tax override this spring, its sports programs will probably be disbanded anyway.