To the editors:

Two claims that defenders of the Dartmouth school mascot frequently make are simply wrong: (1) “no Native Americans are offended by mascots” and (2) “we are just honoring Native Americans.” These two claims are simply false.

Many indigenous people are offended by mascots. Tribes and nations testifying before state Senate hearings on legislation to ban mascots include: Chappaquiddick Wampanoag; Mashpee Wampanoag; Pocasset Wampanoag; Herring Pond Wampanoag; Massachuset-Ponkapog; the Nipmuc Nation; the National Congress of American Indians; United American Indians of New England; North American Indian Center of Boston; and others. You can find their letters on the website of MA Indigenous Legislative Agenda. That’s a list you can’t ignore.

And rather than “honoring” Native Americans, the Dartmouth Schools are actually defining their identity. Look in the DHS Student Handbook and you’ll find the green Indian head along with:

“This symbol shall be used to signify PRIDE, DIGNITY and RESPECT, which are characteristics of the Apponagansett-Wampanoag people.”

Thank goodness the school didn’t try to define additional identities: “which are the characteristics of the [white/ Black/Latino/ Jewish/ etc] people.” This sickening paternalism is as offensive to me as if someone began a sentence with “You Jews are…”

It is unfortunate that members of the Select Board cared so little about the value of a thoughtful community conversation and rushed the April 5th vote not even two weeks after a March 22 hearing of the School Committee.

Regardless, no ethnic majority should ever be permitted to oppress or humiliate a minority. The authors of the Declaration of Independence understood this well when they added “certain unalienable rights” into the Preamble — rights that no one should ever be able to vote away.

David Ehrens

Dartmouth