The Mason City Board of Education voted this week to drop the district’s “Mohawk” mascot, hoping to discontinue the exploitation of Native American tribal symbols. | Pixabay
The Mason City Board of Education voted this week to drop the district’s “Mohawk” mascot, hoping to discontinue the exploitation of Native American tribal symbols. | Pixabay
The Mason City Board of Education voted this week to drop the district’s “Mohawk” mascot, hoping to discontinue the exploitation of Native American tribal symbols.
Board Vice President Peterson Jean-Pierre expressed the district should find something that can represent the school without offending anyone else, stating they do not have moral ground to determine someone is being oversensitive, Globe Gazette reported Nov. 22.
“Its such a no brainer to do this. My high school should ditch the Mohawk mascot too. They werent even in Iowa so i dont get the attachment to these names and why this is so difficult,” Iowa resident Jason Bennel wrote in a Facebook post, sharing the article.
The district will begin looking for a new mascot in January with the expectation that a new name and image will be chosen by July 1 next year, The Associate Press reported Nov. 16.
Until then, the team will be referred to simply as “Mason City” when introduced during events and the name and imagery associated with the previous mascot will be absent from all new merchandise, according to the Globe Gazette.
This change comes as the U.S. has seen an increase in the number of teams dropping Native American symbols at schools, increasing sensitivity and respecting Native American culture, AP reported.
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