A committee evaluating the Warrior mascot at Canton High recommends no longer using any Native American imagery, something the school has been quietly doing over the past decade.
CANTON, October 25, 2021 — The committee evaluating the Warrior mascot at Canton High sent a report to the Canton Board of Education with three recommendations, including one that calls for stopping the use of Native American imagery and remove any existing imagery from the school and equipment worn by the school’s athletic programs.
The 17-person committee also made two additional recommendations. They said:
- Curriculum and education around Native American studies should be reviewed and expanded to reflect the history of local tribes, including the issues and struggles that these tribes continue to face today.
- Canton Public Schools (CPS) should establish a partnership with a Native American tribe to foster connection between CPS students and local tribe students to have greater understanding of their customs, modern day life and struggles any needs as well that can be supported by the CPS community.
The committee did not reach a decision on if the school should retire the Warrior mascot or rebrand it. The committee was divided on the subject.
The Board of Education discussed the committee report for the first time at their monthly meeting on Tuesday night.
The committee report includes comments from the public submitted to the committee this summer along with results of a survey in early September of students at Canton High School (grades 9-12) and Canton Middle School (grades 7-8).
There were 460 students that responded to the email survey and students voted by a 321-159 margin to oppose a proposal to retire the current Warrior mascot and develop a new one.
A question to keep the Warrior name and rebrand it was supported by the students, 282-178.
Some mascot committee members expressed concern in meetings earlier this month that the students didn’t have access to much of the research and material that the committee had before sharing their opinions.
The mascot committee decided to survey the students in August because few students shared their opinions during meetings during the summer.
Now, the decision lies with the Board of Education. They hope to come to a decision in two weeks on Nov. 9 on how to move forward with the Warrior mascot. They will vote on the three committee recommendations.
The big decision is what to do with the Warrior mascot. The BOE can vote to keep the Warrior nickname and rebrand it or retire it and get a new mascot and logo.
Canton High’s mascot has been the Warriors since the early 1950s. Over the last 10 years, the school has quietly been replacing Native American imagery in the building, on campus and on school athletic uniforms.
The 17-person committee, which was comprised of members of the Board of Education, school administrators, teachers, students and members of the community met seven times beginning in May.
Canton is currently one of 13 state high schools with Native American nicknames, mascots and/or imagery including Windsor, Valley Regional in Deep River, Wamogo Regional in Litchfield and Wilton (Warriors), Killingly (Redmen), Torrington and Derby (Red Raiders), Montville (Indians), Nonnewaug-Woodbury (Chiefs), and Watertown (Indians) and the two public high schools in West Hartford.
In West Hartford, Hall High’s nickname is the Warriors and Conard’s nickname is Chieftains but neither school has any used Native American imagery since 2015.
In the 2021, four schools have modified their athletic nicknames. Farmington went from Indians to River Hawks; Newington changed from Indians to Nor’easters and Glastonbury went from Tomahawks to Guardians. In July, the North Haven Board of Education voted unanimously to change their mascot, which is currently the Indians.
October 13: Mascot Committee meeting
