By Zoe Ryder
Even though it’s been almost a year since Nyack has changed the school mascot, there’s still much pushback on the new name or, in some cases, simple disregard of it. Nyack’s ongoing, heated debate about its problematic mascot has been going on for years. Some believed that it was not right to keep a name that contained racist connotations or enforced damaging stereotypes. Alternatively, others believed that the name honored the Native Americans that lived on this land before us and denied the implication that it was a mockery of the Natives.
In the first camp, when discussing the name Nyack Indians, Lycia Maddocks, Vice president of External Affairs at the National Congress of American Indians, spoke about the problem saying, “The use of American Indian sports mascots, logos, or symbols perpetuates harmful stereotypes of American Indians. It reinforces the racist view that Indians are uncivilized and uneducated, and it has been used to justify policies of forced assimilation and destruction of Indian culture.”
In the second camp, in the article, Cancel Culture and the Nyack Indians, Mark T. Ruggiero writes, “The team name ‘Indian’ was selected long ago to honor the Native American Nyack tribe or subtribe. It was not selected as a parody or a slur as so many of the people are trying to imply.” He also talks about the tradition and significance that the name holds and how changing it would wipe away years of history in Nyack sports.
Last year the school board finally voted to remove the controversial name Nyack Indians and after months of research, surveying, and discussion, changed it to Nyack RedHawks. Since then, many people still refer to the team as Nyack Indians and many of the sports uniforms still have the previous name on them, as well as most of the sports signs and equipment. In any event, the decision has been made about the new name, and we are moving forward with it, with the hope people will adapt to it over time.