Over 30 Maine schools were once represented by Indian-themed sports mascots. Now, there are only a handful.
They include the Skowhegan Indians, along with Nokomis High School of Newport, Wells High School and Southern Aroostook Community School in Dyer Brook — all of which use Warriors as their nickname.
Skowhegan Area High School has received criticism from Maine tribes and other groups for retaining its mascot. But for many people there, they find their identity in being the Indians.
“I think this is really a challenging issue because I 100 percent understand and appreciate the importance of community identity, and that gets tied up with school district mascots,” said Jordan LaBouff, a social psychology professor at the University of Maine in Orono.
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LaBouff studied the impact of Indian-related mascots with recent UMaine graduate Andrew Tomer. The two last year wrote an opinion piece for the Bangor Daily News concerning Skowhegan’s mascot.
“What we see looking at both the literature and the outcomes of students in the districts, (is that) Native American students, in particular, suffer educational, emotional and social outcomes when they’re in districts that have these stereotypical Native mascots,” said LaBouff.
Tomer, a member of the Penobscot Nation, was surprised that the School Administrative District 54 school board, which includes Skowhegan, did not vote to change the mascot in 2015.
The County is pleased to feature content from our sister company, Bangor Daily News. To read the rest of “Maine high schools retain Indian mascots despite controversy,” an article by contributing writer Kassadi Moore, please follow this link to the BDN online.
