Change it or not: Mahopac, Ketcham mull nickname changes, consequences

The Mahopac and Wappingers school districts have not yet decided whether to comply with last month's New York state Education Department directive barring schools from using Native American nicknames and mascots for sports teams.

The department has threatened schools with a loss of state aid if they don't abandon the names and images by the end of the 2022-23 school year.

Teams at both Mahopac High School and Wappingers' Roy C. Ketcham High School are called the Indians.

Mahopac Superintendent of Schools Christine Tona said the issue will be discussed during a Dec. 20 board of education work session. Prior to that, Tona said she'll discuss the matter with district attorneys, she said.

The public is permitted to attend work sessions but public comment is not permitted, Tona noted.

In an email response to questions, Mahopac Board of Education President Ben DiLullo confirmed the scheduled discussion but did not address public reaction to the state rule or offer any personal opinion on the matter.

Multiple districts throughout the state, including some in Westchester and Rockland counties, have discarded sports names linked with Native Americans in response to concerns those names are disrespectful and mascot imagery is often mocking.

Most recently, the John Jay-Cross River Indians became the Wolves and the Nyack Indians became the RedHawks.

And, of course, nationally, the NFL's Washington Redskins dropped that nickname in 2020 and later became the Washington Commanders after years of criticism the word Redskins was blatantly racist.

As long ago as 2001, the state Department of Education pressed for schools to drop Native American names and imagery use. Then-Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills called those symbols or mascots a "barrier to building a safe and nurturing school community."

State Education order:New York public schools must drop Native American mascots or lose funding, state officials say

'Indians' no more:Nyack students choose RedHawks as new mascot, replace longstanding Indians nickname

New residents honored:John Jay-Cross River High School chooses new mascot to replace 'Indians'

But in some cases, names stem from historical reference.

Ketcham is located in the the hamlet of Wappingers Falls in the Town of Wappinger. The town is named after the Wappinger tribe that inhabited the area, largely in the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Mahopac is a Native American word that's said to mean great lake or lake of the great serpent.

The state directive allows districts to maintain nicknames and/or mascots if approval is given by what it termed a "recognized" Native American tribe.

Wappingers Superintendent Dr. Dwight Bonk said Thursday the district is still waiting for requested clarification from the department about its definition of a "recognized" tribe and about other aspects of the state directive.

He noted Ketcham's sports logo, which once was a Native American in full, feathered headdress, is now the letter K with two feathers surrounded by a circle. He said it's unclear whether this will be judged acceptable.

"We're waiting for specifics on what has to be changed," said Bonk, who has worked in the district for 13 years and has been superintendent since 2020.

Bonk, who earlier described local public opinion on the matter as "mixed," said, "We are aware this is a very, very sensitive issue and the district certainly does not want to offend anyone."

But he emphasized the historic nature of the word Indians, which has been used at Ketcham since the high school's founding in the 1960s.

Bonk described his district as "very, very proud" of the area's Native American heritage and said it is given "large recognition."

Bonk, who said the district participated in last summer's dedication of a statue in Fishkill honoring the Wappingers' last local major chief, Daniel Ninham, who was killed fighting for the Colonial Army during the Revolutionary War, noted studies pertaining to Native Americans are part of Wappingers' K-12 curriculum.

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at both @HaggertyNancy and at @LoHudHockey.