So long to the Chiefs School board axes Canton High mascot despite outcry

By Brad Emons

The Canton High Chiefs’ logo and mascot are facing retirement but don’t expect a going away party.

After accepting Superintendent Monica Merritt’s recommendation, the PlymouthCanton Board of Education voted 6-1 to consign the secondary school's Native American-inspired nickname and iconic arrowhead to the branding graveyard.

Students from Plymouth Canton Educational Park, which includes the district’s three high schools, will select a new moniker and insignia.

The controversial issue was the subject of two board meetings: June 27 when Merritt made her recommendation and July 11 when the board approved her recommendation to change the mascot. Only Trustee Sheryl Pickard voted to keep the Chiefs name.

Despite the outcome, the twoyear debate is likely to continue.

A student-led group raised the issue during the 2020-21 school year, arguing that Indian names and accompanying imagery fuel stereotypes. Those terms amount to cultural appropriation, they added.

Another student contingent took up the cause again in October.

Those against the change maintain Canton High’s warrior label calls attention to the country’s rich Native American tradition, proponents said.

Students chose the nickname when the school opened in 1975. Most people prefer to stick with tradition, a community survey revealed. The advisory panel conducted the poll as part of its six-month study.

The Chiefs’ nickname faces extinction despite 56% of 6,206 people responding in favor of keeping it.

People who responded included 86 people who said they were of Native American descent. Of those, 82 or 95% prefer maintaining the status quo.

“Please consider those numbers,” said Steve Robb, Canton resident and member of the White Earth Tribe of Minnesota Chippewas, before the superintendent addressed the issue at the June 27 meeting.

The Chiefs' name still needs to go, the superintendent said.

Merritt said the move fits with state and federal guidelines urging the elimination of Native American school nicknames.

Several Michigan school districts have followed suit with Manistee and Sandusky rebranding in the past year.

Merritt also cited a 2005 American Psychological Association resolution, which decried the harmful mental health effects on Native Americans.

The superintendent also consulted with the Potawatomi Tribal Representatives Outreach Board, she said.

"They emphasize through this conversation that the findings show the harmful psychological effects on Native children exposed to cultural shaming," Merritt said.

Most board members appear in favor of the logo and mascot retirement.

Said Trustee Patrick Kehoe, a 1984 Canton High graduate, “I am supportive of this change.”

Trustee Sheryl Picard, the only board member to vote against the change, questioned whether the district's tack in addressing perceived slights will cause future hullabaloos.

“I am just concerned this is going to be a rolling (issue),” Picard said. “We have one person upset, we have two people upset and we have to change everything.” newspaper report.

Board President Shawn Wilson inquired if the ad-hoc committee’s findings address Canton High’s nickname origins.

Along with McCoin, the 14-member Canton High School Logo and Mascot Committee included administrators, teachers, students and alumni.

Cameron Miller and Jodi Ring, who are 1975 Plymouth Canton High grads — served as alumni representatives. Both have been critical of the name change.

The national trend to expunge Indian names and imagery is leading to the genocide of their culture and history, said Eunice Davidson, acting president of the Native American Guardians Association.

The nonprofit promotes education on Indian affairs and heritage, especially in public schools.

School nicknames and mascots “are the only things keeping us relevant in this day and age,” Davidson said in a telephone interview June 29, “and they aren’t hurting anybody.”

The North Dakota outfit’s views are not in line with other indigenous advocacy groups, notably the National Congress of American Indians, which mounted a drive to end Indian mascots.

On the Guardians’ website (www.nagaeducation.org), the group makes a case that even terms “Redman” are not offensive, stating Native Americans have been using those self-identifying terms since the 1800s.

An argument against rebranding was the Chiefs' sobriquet referred to leaders, stretching beyond Native American association.

“Do we have any documentation to show that was truly the intent when this was established?” Wilson asked Trustee Patti McCoin, who served on the advisory panel.

Canton High switched to an arrowhead insignia two decades ago after people complained about the school's chief-inheaddress logo, according to a PCEP Perspective student

“We're proud of our heritage; we're proud of our ancestors," said Davidson, a member of The Dakota tribe. “Our ancestors fought so hard for our survival. They did what they had to.”

Davidson's organization wades into school-naming issues like the one consuming Canton High. Davidson said she emailed P-CSS, offering her organization's perspective but didn’t hear back.

Robb shared similar frustration after the board meeting June 27.

"It seems like they have their agenda to get this done," said Robb, a retired social studies teacher whose wife is a Canton High graduate.

Like the Guardians, Robb fears the move is part of the overall erosion of Native American culture.

Robb’s mother, Iris, was born and lived on the White Cloud Chippewas reservation in northern Minnesota. He often visits relatives there.

"They live in poverty and don't care about (school names and mascots)," he said. "They think that names like Chiefs and Warriors, and even Redskins, are an honor to them."

Aside from his Native American heritage, Robb encountered the debate for four decades as a hall-of-fame football coach at schools bearing Indian nicknames.

Until last fall, the former three-sport (football, basketball and baseball) standout at Plymouth Salem High served as a Canton High assistant coach for eight years. His coaching career was also highlighted by a 25year tenure at Milan High, which kept its Big Reds name but opted to forgo all Native American iconography in 2012.

In 2015, Robb served as head coach

Are you in favor of changing the Canton High School 'Chiefs' name?

6,188 responses at Tecumseh High, which drew fire for its ceremonial headdress-wearing mascot and moniker that honors the school's namesake Shawnee Chief. He was also an assistant at New Boston Huron (Chiefs).

“I was always proud of the fact we were using Native American mascots and logos,” he said. “I think that a majority of Native American people are proud of that.”

School board members say Canton High students will select the replacement. District officials say they are figuring out the process and will have updates as they become available.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Now that the Plymouth-Canton School Board has voted to change the Canton High mascot to something other than Chiefs, we’d love to hear what you think a good replacement name should be.

Please email your suggestions to Editor Kurt Kuban at kurtkuban@ therockmagazine.com.