Predictably, the Massachusetts Legislature’s consideration of a bill that would prevent public schools from using mascots that refer to Native Americans has not gone over well in Saugus. The reactions of public officials in town has ranged from bewilderment that the town’s use of the Sachem as a mascot could possibly be interpreted as offensive to indignation at the priorities of the state’s legislators. Select Board Chair Debra Panetta and Vice Chair Jeff Cicolini both described the Sachem as honored in Saugus, and their fellow Selectman Corinne Riley called it a genuine homage. Meanwhile, a petition on Change.org to remove the Sachem head from the side of Saugus Middle-High School has more than 3,000 signatures.
I don’t doubt that Saugonians view the town’s use of the Sachem as respectful. What I do doubt is the relevance of those convictions.
Saugus’ adoption of the Sachem was part of a phenomenon that saw many high-school, collegiate, and professional teams across the country select Native Americans to represent them in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was a time period that saw constant and concerted efforts to eradicate any traces of Native culture in the United States. Among the most egregious examples were the boarding schools that tens of thousands of Native children were forced to attend, where they were “forbidden to speak Native languages, made to renounce Native beliefs, and forced to abandon their Native American identities, including their names.” Parents who resisted sending their children to these institutions were imprisoned. Children who attended the boarding schools were sexually abused and tortured, and some never returned. This is only one example of the widespread efforts to extinguish Indigenous culture and identity during that time period. It is extremely difficult to imagine that Native symbols were being chosen for mascots out of a respect for the Indigenous peoples of this country at the same time that schools attempting to “kill the Indian in him and save the man” were so prevalent in this country.
There is a question of power that must be emphasized in any discussion of Native American mascots. While these symbols were being adopted by sports teams, they were based on images and ideas of Indigenous people that were created by white Americans as they forcibly relocated and massacred Native Americans. These portrayals were a part of this subjugation, as they were used to justify the genocide of people considered savage by American society.
The fact that Native Americans were not able to seriously contest their own portrayal in the wider culture of this country is of serious consequence. For generations to come, the skewed perspective of the colonizer dominated how most Americans saw and thought about the Indigenous people of the United States. These mascots feature representations of Indigenous Americans that are based on outdated stereotypes and are totally unrelated to the experiences of Native Americans today. When a predominantly white town uses something like the Sachem as its mascot, these historical portrayals have to be remembered.
Saugonians might consider the town’s use of the Sachem as honoring Native Americans. It is no secret that Saugus takes its sports programs very seriously. These programs can certainly be a source of great pride and history for a community, but they are still trivial when compared to entire civilizations. Sachems specifically were leaders of tribal confederations, and it is easy to see how their reduction to a mascot can be considered undignified. Panetta argued that “honoring the Native Americans is a better way to acknowledge past injustices, rather than not acknowledging they existed,” but we have to ask how much of an honor a mascot actually is and whether an overwhelmingly white community has the authority to determine that the use of the Sachem as a mascot is not disrespectful to Native Americans. There are more concrete things Saugus could do to honor and support the area’s Indigenous population, like issuing a land acknowledgement recognizing the original Indigenous inhabitants who lived where the town was later established or hosting celebratory community events like powwows.
There is one thing, though, that undermines this proposed bill: the flag and seal of the Commonwealth. It is very difficult for legislators to tell Massachusetts public schools that they can not use mascots affiliated with Native American identity while the state’s flag not only has a crest with a Native American on it, but depicts a colonist holding the sword of Myles Standish, who Globe reporter Matt Stout called “a 17th-century military commander for the Plymouth Colony known for his brutality toward the Indigenous population.” A state commission was formed three years ago to recommend any specific changes to the flag and seal, and in 2022 it recommended replacing both. However, it recently disbanded without offering any specific replacements, and the process will likely continue to drag. Telling schools to get rid of Native American mascots while having a Native American on the state’s flag and crest is essentially telling them to do as the state says, not as it does. If Massachusetts is serious about improving the way Native Americans are represented in the state, it needs to lead by example.
But even if the state flag and seal are remedied, a bill banning these kinds of mascots will only succeed on one level. It will get rid of the mascots, but just ordering these communities to replace them will not provide their residents an understanding that calling a team the “Sachems” can be seen as demeaning or offensive. When people are forced to do something without comprehending why, instead of bringing about understanding, it creates resentment. Instead, I think Saugonian officials would benefit from meeting with representatives from Native communities in the state, like the Nipmuc Nation and Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and discussing the issue with openness and sincerity. Whatever comes of these conversations will be more profound and lasting than a dictate from the Commonwealth.
Stuart Foster is The Item’s opinion editor. He graduated from Masconomet Regional High School, which uses the Chieftain as its mascot, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which used the Redman as its mascot before adopting the Minuteman in 1972.
