ROTTERDAM — Four months after the state’s Education Department handed down an edict requiring all public schools to drop the use of Native American imagery, the Mohonasen Central School District is hoping to establish a relationship with the Seneca Nation — one of the three Indigenous nations that the district derived its name from.
Board of Education President Wade Abbott suggested reaching out to the nation’s leadership during Monday’s Board of Education meeting as a way of gaining additional input regarding the state order, and to possibly establish an agreement with Seneca leadership that could allow the district to continue using native imagery — including the Warrior nickname, which has come under question since the order.
“I think with our name being Mohonasen, and Seneca being a big part of that name, maybe this is a relationship that we want to establish,” he said.
The district’s name is a made up word that is derived from three Indigenous nations belonging to the Iroquois Confederacy that once occupied the land where the district now sits: the Mohawk, Onondaga and Seneca.
Abbott, who has been critical of the state’s handling of the mascot order, said it’s unclear if an agreement could be reached, but noted that an open line of communication with the Seneca Nation is the right thing to do, regardless. He said that he is open to reaching out to the Onondaga and Mohawk nations as well, but recommended starting with the Seneca Nation because leadership has been willing to discuss the issue in the past.
The move marks the first significant action the district will take since all schools in the state received a letter from the Education Department in November regarding a new policy requiring all Native American imagery, including mascots, logos and team names, to be discontinued with limited exceptions.
The letter, handed down by Senior Deputy Commissioner James Baldwin, said district’s had until the end of the 2022-23 academic year to discontinue the use of the imagery or face penalties, including the removal of school officers and the withholding of state aid.
But subsequent guidelines, released a month later by the Board of Regents, require boards of education to adopt a plan to eliminate the use of the imagery by the end of the current academic year, and to discontinue use by the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
The state guidelines, which are still subject to change, are currently in the middle of a 60-day public comment period, but could be finalized and adopted as early as the April Board of Regents meeting, according to J.P. O’Hare, an Education Department spokesperson.
District leadership has provided residents periodic updates on the situation, but has remained largely quiet in the absence of formalized guidelines out of fear of sparking public backlash that could draw attention away from the district’s future plans, including those pertaining to a $50 million capital project set to be unveiled later this month.
Superintendent Shannon Shine said he has repeatedly requested additional information from the state, and reached out to Baldwin personally for guidance on the mascot and imagery order, but has received little feedback.
Shine said he supports reaching out to the Seneca Nation, but believes the district should focus on its capital project plans and getting a budget approved by voters in May until the state guidelines are finalized, noting the issue will likely stir up public backlash that could negatively impact how voters perceive the district’s future plans.
“I’m hesitant to bring in a highly controversial issue,” Shine said. “The state’s timing is terrible. I can start it up and we can start gathering information, what will be the utility of that with the other things we’re trying to do?”
The state edict was handed down following a 2021 court decision involving the Cambridge Central School District in Washington County, in which the school board voted to retire the district’s “Indians” team name that June.
But a newly elected school board voted to reinstate the name a month later. A group of parents petitioned state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa, who reinstated the previous board’s decision. The district filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Rosa’s decision, but lost.
Prior to the Cambridge decision, former Education Commissioner Richard Mills, in 2001, issued a memorandum to school district’s noting that Indigenous mascots created barriers, was a barrier to building a “safe and nurturing school community” and asked boards of education “to end the use of Native American mascots as soon as practical.”
“School districts have had 21 years to consider the implications of the use of these mascots, and the courts have agreed that such mascots only serve as a barrier to building a safe and nurturing school community for all students,” O’Hare said.
Under the proposed regulations, a public school, school building or school district named after an Indigenous tribe would be allowed to stay, but names, logos and mascots depicting Indigenous nations, individuals, customs and “actual or stereotypical aspects of Indigenous cultures” must be discontinued.
The guidelines make exceptions for certain schools, including those on federally recognized tribal land and those that have a written agreement with a federally recognized nation that was formalized prior to the regulations taking effect.
Under the proposed guidelines, the Mohonasen name can stay, but the district’s two logos — one depicting three Native Americans and the other of an “M” with an arrow going through it — would need to be discontinued.
But the state has yet to make clear how the guidelines would impact the “Warrior” name. Instead, the state said it will be convening a committee that will include Indigenous leaders and seeking additional recommendations.
On Tuesday, O’Hare said the department cannot provide specific legal advice “on the many variations of stereotypical Indigenous imagery and nicknames throughout the state,” but said the Education Department recommends schools reach out to Indigenous nations for input.
“The department will be organizing an advisory council composed of representatives of Indigenous nations that would be able to address such questions,” he said. “We also encourage schools and districts across New York to confer with Indigenous nations in their area and beyond to help think through these matters.”
Abbott on Monday again raised concerns about the state’s handling of the situation, and criticized the Education Department for failing to provide additional feedback to districts while imposing “an artificial deadline” that could take away time to have valuable conversations around an important topic.
Still, he vowed the district will be as open and transparent as possible once leadership gains additional clarity from the state.
“I’m game for having the discussion. Let’s have the discussion,” Abbott said. “I want Mohonasen to do the right thing, whatever that is.”
Contact reporter Chad Arnold at: [email protected] or by calling 518-395-3120.
GAZETTE COVERAGE
Ensure access to everything we do, today and every day, check out our subscribe page at DailyGazette.com/SubscribeMore from The Daily Gazette:
Hurley has UConn men's basketball back on track
A Seat in the Bleachers: Jackson stayed grounded for UConn Huskies
Ballston Spa negotiating sale of Woods Hollow Nature Preserve to Milton
Around The County: Merriam, Stratton families championed women
ECAC Hockey gets four teams into NCAA men's hockey tournament
Categories: Email Newsletter, News, News, Rotterdam, Schenectady County
One Comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
O’Hara and Baldwin should remove themselves immediately for incompetence. Your Righteous BS may make you feel good, but you both are nothing but a hinderance to real problems!