New England Anti-Mascot Coalition

TEWKSBURY – Tewksbury High School soon will become the last of the "Redmen" in Massachusetts high school athletics, a touchy distinction that could get uncomfortable.

Narrowly convinced that the nickname offends many Native Americans, Natick's school board recently voted 4-3 to stop calling that town's athletic teams the "Redmen" starting with the 2008-09 school year. Peter Sanfacon, who pushed for the name change in Natick as head of the New England Anti-Mascot Coalition, has written to Tewksbury High Athletic Director Bob Aylward to similarly protest Tewksbury's use of "Redmen."

Sanfacon says he recently received a "gracious" e-mail from Tewksbury High Principal Dr. Gerald B. Ferris, who took Sanfacon's concerns "under advisement."

"Redmen is race-based. You would not hear of any other race of people being called mascots," says Sanfacon, who considers "Redmen" the most offensive of the Indian-theme nicknames embraced still by 45 high schools in Massachusetts.

Aylward says that in 22 years as Tewksbury's athletic director, Sanfacon's is the only complaint he has received concerning the nickname. Tewksbury has been the Redmen since 1934. Aylward believes the nickname honors the town's Native American heritage, a belief supported by Tom "Eagle Rising" Libby, chief of the Greater Lowell Indian Cultural Association.

"It's not like they're calling themselves the 'Savages.' That would be different," says Libby, 32, a Lowell resident of Micmac descent. "As long as it's done tastefully and respectfully, more power to them. The more that (Native American culture) stays in the public eye, the least likely people will forget that we were here in the first place. Forgetting would be the worst thing."

Libby says his views are shared by most of the approximately 250 members of the Greater Lowell Indian Cultural Association, whose three annual powwows include one in Tewksbury in June.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, the governing body of high school sports in the state, recently said that it probably has no authority to force schools to eliminate Indian-theme nicknames and logos. The MIAA's sportsmanship committee will again discuss the issue at its meeting on May 9.

"Anybody who would think we would display that (Redmen) name and logo to hurt somebody is out of their mind. Shame on them," says Aylward, who is retiring as Tewksbury's athletic director in June. "The Redmen name is a source of pride. I would be honored if we were the Tewksbury 'Aylwards' (laugh). But going back to the 1700s, the Wamesit Indians were a proud part of what is now Tewksbury."

A passion for Native American culture drives Sanfacon, 47, an artist and illustrator from Framingham who is not Native American. He believes Indian-theme high school nicknames and logos trivialize a painful history. Many Native Americans who spoke in Natick likened "Redmen" to calling an African-American the 'n' word, says Sanfacon.

Sanfacon has stirred up similar heated debates in his former hometown of Rochester, N.H. He is a graduate of Rochester's Spaulding High School, which calls itself the "Red Raiders" and uses a red-skinned Indian profile as its logo.

"This issue does not have to do with sports; it's about racism in our public schools," says Sanfacon. "How many of these schools have Native American study courses? What are we teaching students about Native American culture besides these mascots?"

Suggested readings

Sanfacon's Web site (www.sanfacon.com) includes the slogan: "Native People are not Mascots." He offers suggested readings on Native American history and culture. There is also a list of the 45 Massachusetts high schools still using Indian-theme nicknames, which includes three schools in The Sun's readership area: Tewksbury (Redmen), Billerica (Indians) and Lowell (Red Raiders).

Though Lowell calls itself the "Red Raiders," Athletic Director Brian Martin, a 1968 graduate of the school, cannot recall LHS ever using an Indian-theme logo or mascot. Lowell High's most familiar logos are an interlocking "LHS" and an image of the clock that stands outside the school's front door on Kirk Street.

"We don't let kids paint their faces (or wear Indian headdresses)," says Martin. "We're very respectful of Indian culture. Our history here at Lowell High is that we open our arms to every ethnic group in the world."

Sanfacon says he contacted LHS Headmaster William Samaras and will remove Lowell from his list once he receives confirmation that the school has no Indian-theme mascots or logos.

Tewksbury and Billerica remain on Sanfacon's list. Billerica's logo of an Indian in full headdress is posted on Sanfacon's Web site. Sanfacon considers it an unacceptable "stereotypical view of a Plains Indian."

"Billerica will probably get a letter pretty soon," he says.

Athletic Director Mike Granfield cannot recall one "local complaint" concerning Billerica's logo during his 39-year involvement with Billerica athletics. Preemptive in-house discussions about the Billerica nickname and logo several years ago reinforced a belief "we treat the Indian with respect," says Granfield.

"We don't have a mascot," says Granfield. "Sometimes we do have a couple of fanatics who put on green paint and a headdress, because they want to be out there celebrating. But it's something we do not encourage."

Concerning Tewksbury's "Redmen" nickname, Tewksbury School Committee Chairman Keith Rauseo concluded in a recent e-mail to The Sun: "...My primary concern is addressing a town deficit approaching $4 million. To me, finding ways to make sure we still have teams to name is more important than fabricating a controversy over the name itself."

Libby agrees. "At some point in life, you have to get thick-skinned about some things," he says. "'Redmen' is a descriptive term. The indigenous people's skin tones were fairly reddish. That kids in Tewksbury are proud to be 'Redmen,' I think that's cool."