SKOWHEGAN (AP) — The daughter of the former chief of the Penobscot tribe plans to formally request that Skowhegan Area High School drop its Indians nickname and mascot to the school board.
The Morning Sentinel reported (http://bit.ly/25Kv3BK ) Maulian Smith will deliver a petition requesting the name change to Maine School Administrative District 54 officials at their board meeting on Thursday night.
Tim Downing, chairman of the SAD 54 board of directors, says Smith will be permitted to speak during the visitors’ portion of the meeting but no discussion will be held. The board voted 11-9 last May to keep the Indians nickname.
Smith says the use of Indian nicknames “dehumanize Native Americans and mock our culture and identity.” Skowhegan is the last high school in Maine to use such imagery.
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