Bid to bring back Winnacunnet Warrior Native American mascot dropped by School Board chair

Max Sullivan
·3 min read

HAMPTON — A citizens' petition to bring Native American imagery and the Indian head mascot back to Winnacunnet High School will not be on the town's March ballot.

Henry Marsh, the chairman of the Winnacunnet School Board, said in the fall he intended to file the non-binding question asking for a referendum from voters on the issue. The deadline to file citizens' petitions was Jan. 11 and it was not filed.

Winnacunnet removed all Native American imagery in 2020 after receiving a Change.org petition to do so from alums Corina Chao and Mary Casey. Their petition, which has since been signed by 9,000 plus, led to a debate in town about whether the mascot is an insult or a tribute to Native Americans, spawning a counter-petition with more than 2,000 signatures.

Previous story: WHS chair leads petition to bring back Warrior Native American mascot

Marsh said this week he still believes the WHS Warrior mascot that featured native imagery for decades is not offensive but honorary of Native Americans.

He said he acquired the 25 signatures necessary to get the petition on the ballot, but decided not to file it because he couldn’t get the Hampton Academy and Winnacunnet High School Alumni Association leadership to support the effort.

“They were not going to get involved. It wasn’t of great interest,” Marsh said. “If the alumni association is not for the premise, then I’m pretty much wasting my time.”

Winnacunnet removed all Native American imagery in 2020 after receiving a petition to do so from alums Corina Chao and Mary Casey.
Winnacunnet removed all Native American imagery in 2020 after receiving a petition to do so from alums Corina Chao and Mary Casey.

Lori Cotter, president of the alumni association, said her group is remaining neutral.

She said the group avoids becoming political to support all alumni. She said there are members of the association that represent both sides of the debate.

“We can’t be politically inclined one way or the other,” Cotter said. “We have decided as a board to stay neutral on this issue. There are some (members) for, and some that are against.”

Marsh, who is up for reelection this March, said he also decided against filing the petition because it would be non-binding. He believes the article would have gained significant support from community members.

The Winnacunnet High School Warrior mascot had been illustrated in the past with symbols ranging from Native American arrows and feathers to a statue of an indigenous person with a headdress, as seen here.
The Winnacunnet High School Warrior mascot had been illustrated in the past with symbols ranging from Native American arrows and feathers to a statue of an indigenous person with a headdress, as seen here.

Native imagery has been removed from institutions and organizations across the nation recently, including the Washington NFL team, which dropped the Redskins name after growing pressure.

More: Winnacunnet's Abby Wilber makes ESPN 'SportsCenter' Top 10. Watch her buzzer-beater here

Denise Beauregard Pouliot, who is a Sag8moskwa (which translates to female leader) of the Cowasuck Band of the Pennacook Abenaki, said they have been advocating for Winnacunnet and other schools to remove Native American mascots for years. The tribe recently participated in the removal of Merrimack Valley’s Native American mascot after it was revived in 2019 to honor athletes of the past after being dropped 15 years ago.

“To take the race of any human being and disparage it to the point of a mascot is demoralizing and racist,” Pouliot said.

Currently, the state House is debating a bill that would prohibit the use of Native American mascots in public schools, including colleges and universities. Maine passed a similar bill in 2019.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton NH bid to bring back Winnacunnet Warrior Native American mascot dropped

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