Peru School Board issues statement on mascot issue
July 27, 2020
Peru Board of Education background information for the resolution to retire the term Indians and form a committee of stake holders to guide the process.
At the July 14th, School Board Meeting the Peru Central School Board of Education voted to retire the “Indians” name and mascot for the Peru Central School District. Superintendent Dr. Thomas Palmer has been directed to assemble a stakeholder task force, inclusive of community members, students and staff, to develop a new Peru name that will carry forward into the future while still respecting the proud traditions and school spirit that Peru School and the entire community has displayed over the years.
This change has been discussed in recent years, and Peru has made incremental changes to the logo/mascot to satisfy the minimum requests of native American representatives over the years. As such, there are very few actual references to the “Indians” mascot on school grounds. The Board has had meaningful discussions over the last nine months and has recognized the necessity of this change through the contradiction of the use of the name with the District’s own core beliefs.
It is the Board’s position that Peru’s mascot is referring to people who inhabit India, misapplied as a racial term to describe a race of people that didn’t select this name, who have endured centuries of cultural destruction where valuable parts of their culture have been taken and appropriated without permission. The Board recognizes that Peru had intended to use the term “Indian” and related symbols to honor the heritage of the Indigenous. However, the use of the mascot and symbols is considered by many, if not all, national level indigenous representative groups to be culturally inappropriate.
As part of the District’s efforts to provide a more inclusive environment in line with its
Mission and Core Beliefs: “We value inclusivity and hold diversity and respect paramount.” The Board of Education believes that it has the responsibility to correct the culturally inappropriate use of the term “Indians” as a logo, in media or as a mascot. The Board of Education is respectful of the past and the pride that was exhibited over the years through the success Peru has accomplished and does not diminish those proud traditions. It is time to move forward and adopt a new nickname/mascot for the district that creates a more inclusive environment for future generations.
The District will move forward with the support and recommendation of the task force to the Board of Education with a name and mascot that supports the core values that the Peru Central School District represents.
Reference from the Commissioner of Education in 2001, the complete document can be found at
https://www.aistm.org/2001nysed.htm. April 5, 2001
TO: Presidents of Boards of Education and Superintendents of Public Schools FROM: Richard P. Mills
SUBJECT: Public Schools Use of Native American Names, Symbols, and Mascots
Posted: July 27th, 2020 under Education News, Peru School News, Peru/Regional History.