New York's Native American mascot ban under federal probe, as activists and academics highlight harm

The battle over Native American mascots as logos for schools sports teams in New York has taken a turn, as President Donald Trump has directed the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the state over its 2023 mascot ban.

John Kane is a Mohawk activist and radio host living on Seneca territory. His time as one of the only Native students in the Cambridge Central School District north of Albany, then known as the “Indians,” was just one thread in his long line of activism for many Native issues.

“It's always awkward, because when you're the only family in a school or in a school district that's Native, and they're kind of mocking who you are, you become the token Indian," he said.

The New York State Board of Regents voted unanimously in April of 2023 to ban the use of Native mascots and imagery for school sports teams, with little exception. Something the state education department had already advised districts to do as far back as 2001 under Republican Governor George Pataki.

Some districts had public reckonings between then to drop their offensive names, like Lancaster High School and their “Redskins” moniker.

“I think Lancaster knew they, at some point, they were gonna have to get rid of this thing," said Kane. "But it's difficult. It's difficult for these towns because there's such a brand loyalty that some of these alumni deep into the 50s, 60s, 70s, have towards these things.”

That “brand loyalty” is Native culture, or at least what some residents believe is Native culture. Like in Massapequa on Long Island, who’s failed legal battles to keep their “Chiefs” name drove President Trump to come to their defense.

“They bastardized an image," argued Kane. "Massapequa uses a Plains Indian headdress. They don't use any kind of imagery that would have been from Native people in Long Island. They don't care. Accuracy was never a concern of theirs. It was about them taking an image and then claiming it and then saying it's theirs.”

Those impacts run deep on Native youth especially, according to Harvard University Professor Joseph Gone, who is Aaniiih Gros Ventre. His background is in anthropology, global health and social medicine. Gone has extensively researched how stereotyped media depictions of Native people — like mascots — have harmful effects on the mental well-being of Indigenous youth.

“Some of the best research that's looked into these impacts on Native youth, irrespective of intent, have shown experimentally that there are negative psychological impacts for Native young people,” said Gone. “Those who are exposed to such images, they tend to show less achievement oriented future possibilities. And so what we can see from these sorts of studies is that exposure to symbols and representations like sports teams mascots curtail or limit the future horizons of Native young people.”

The defense of school districts, like in Massapequa, is often that they are honoring Native people or history.

“I do think that there are people who genuinely believe that they are honoring Native peoples, attempting to pay homage or tribute to proud Native pasts of the United States and its histories," said Gone, who was also once chief administrative officer of his Fort Belknap Reservation in Montana. "Irrespective of that intent, though, if you're going to involve any kind of stereotypical representation, it does have these negative effects. And so we've got to complicate people's understanding about how symbols and representations work, and how there is a difference between intent and impact.”

The element of historicizing people and a culture, is something Kane believes happens when you use Native Americans as mascots. And the fact that it’s predominantly in schools — where children of all races are developing their world views — he finds especially troubling.

“They're being taught that this is what a "Indian" is, that it’s this image on a football helmet and that we somehow are merely relics of the past and that we aren't a living, breathing people who are still practicing Native culture,” said Kane

Gone said there can be a positive educational element to the retirement of Native mascots in schools.

“The kind of education we most need, however, is not just about these misrepresentations, these symbols, these sports teams mascots. What we need is an education that places Native people back in the American story and continues to tell an up to date story that Native people have not gone extinct," said Gone. "We didn't die off at the beginning of the 20th century, there's more Native people today than there were 100 and 150 years ago in the United States, and we have vibrant activities we undertake to secure the futures of our children and grandchildren."

Several states have restricted the use of Native mascots to some degree, usually through a legislature vote. But Kane, who was part of NYSED’s Indigenous Mascot Advisory Group, said under Education Commissioner Betty Rosa, framing the issue solely around education and not politics was a more meaningful effort.

“We kind of shaped what the regulations were going to look like associated with this ban, and that's how it came to be," he said. "But I have to say, part of the argument for all of this was the voluminous amount of information, everything from [Native] council resolutions and nation statements, statements from Native leaders all over the country. The overwhelming amount of condemnation of the mascot issue across the country.”

Massapequa, along with three other downstate school districts, lost their legal challenge against the Board of Regents in March. It’s unclear how long the federal Education Department’s probe will take.