Opinion: Eliminate the harm we are causing to so many indigenous people

Mar 25, 2022

To the editor:

One of the things I’ve always loved about Dartmouth is the strong sense of community and the care, compassion, and courtesy people show to one another.  Whether it’s paying it forward at the Dunkin’ drive-thru, waving someone through at the four-way stop, or fundraising to help families dealing with tragedy, people here always show great respect and regard for others.

So, it’s been hard for me to understand the outpouring of support for the Dartmouth Indians name and logo even though so many Native Americans have explained that its use is offensive and harmful to them.

Are there so many people in our community who just don’t care about harming other people, who are willing to directly and personally offend Native Americans?  Maybe there’s a few, but I have to believe that most of the people sticking Defend Dartmouth signs into their lawn just don’t appreciate the offense and harm they’re causing.

So, in this letter, I want to describe the offense and harm Native Americans have said they feel regarding the use of Indian symbolism in school logos and names.

It’s true that not every Native American feels this way. There is, notably, a group of Aquinnah Wampanoag, many of whom attended Dartmouth High and still live in Dartmouth, who want to keep the Indians name and logo. This includes Mr. Clyde Andrews, who drew the existing logo, and several members of his family.  Mr. Andrews’ logo was an improvement on the older and overtly offensive logo, and he and his family are rightly proud of their role in making this positive change. They are understandably opposed to eliminating it.

But there are so many other Native Americans who feel differently, who feel that even the more-respectable logo and the use of the Indians name, or any other kind of symbolism referencing indigenous peoples, should be ended.  And offending most, or even some, people in a group is still an offense.  Even within the Aquinnah tribe, there is considerable opposition.  Aquinnah tribe member Brad Lopes spoke eloquently against the name and logo at the March 8 School Committee forum on behalf of the 50 other tribe members who signed a petition to oppose the use of the Indians name and logo.  We heard from Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council chairman Brian Weeden about the harm from Native symbolism in schools and their tribe’s formal opposition to its use.  We heard from Pocasset Tribal Council member Megan Running Deer Page and from Assonet Wampanoag elder, Dawn Blake Souza, about the harm they feel themselves and see among their tribe.  Along with the Mashpee, many tribes in the state have formally expressed their opposition, including the Chappaquiddick Wampanoag, the Herring Pond Wampanoag, the Pocasset Wampanoag, the Massachuset Ponkapoag, as well as Native American organizations like the National Congress of American Indians, and the National Indian Education Association.

After seeing all of this testimony, I have to hope that my Dartmouth neighbors will agree we have to retire the Indians name and logo in order to avoid all the harm and offense we are causing.  That’s not who we are in Dartmouth.  And I hope they will take down their signs and vote No on the referendum to keep the name and logo on April 5.  And I hope that the referendum will fail.

I want the non-binding referendum to fail not because I think it’s all that important for actually changing the name and logo. The School Committee has that power, and I know the people on the School Committee; they are caring and respectful people and they don’t want to offend anybody, least of all Native Americans. I’m hopeful they’ll agree with their colleagues at the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, which voted 82-9 this past November to call for the end of Native American logos, names, and mascots. I’m hopeful they’ll do the right thing and eliminate the harm we are causing to so many indigenous people.

No, I want that referendum to fail because, if it passes, I can’t imagine how bad it will make Native Americans feel. I don’t want Dartmouth to be a town that treats people that way.

Doug Roscoe,

Dartmouth