Oneida Nation Pays High School For Dropping ’Redskins’

USA Today

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2013/05/14/redskins-cooperstown-central-oneida-indian-nation/2159281/

Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter plans to give a $10,000 check to Cooperstown (N.Y.) Central School at a board meeting Wednesday evening and to praise the students who pushed to oust the district’s longtime name of Redskins.

The check is to defray the cost for new uniforms when the name Hawkeyes becomes effective on July 1.

“They’re making this decision right in the shadow of the Baseball Hall of Fame,” Halbritter told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday. “They’re showing much more thoughtful and respectful initiatives than many of these wealthy major-league team owners. … These wonderful kids have done such an inclusive, respectful and thoughtful thing.”

Halbritter mentioned the cartoonish image of Chief Wahoo that is the symbol of the Cleveland Indians: “High school students are showing more wisdom than these wealthy major league owners.”

Hawkeyes is an elegant solution for the upstate village that was the hometown of James Fenimore Cooper, as it is a nickname of Natty Bumppo, hero of Cooper’s Leatherstocking Tales series.