After plenty of controversy and months of protests, a football team has finally decided to abandon its nickname because it is clearly offensive to Native Americans as well as good taste.
Unfortunately, that team is not the Washington Redskins.
Nope, the football team that abandoned the nickname is located at high school in Driggs, Idaho.
In the wake of plenty of debate and a pair of student walkouts, the school board at Teton High voted earlier this week to “retire” the nickname following a board meeting that took longer than four hours.
Prior to the meeting, members of the Shoshone-Bannock and Nez Percé Native American tribes met with district officials to advocate for the name change.
“We are very pleased that the school board listened to the tribes in removing the Redskins name,” Shoshone-Bannock spokeswoman Randy’L Teton told the Statesman after the vote.
In addition to that nickname being changed by the school, the school newspaper, previously known as “The War Cry,” will adopt a new moniker. Established in 1949, the paper had also been called “The Chief,” “As the School Turns,” “Smoke Signals” and “Tribal Gossip” in the past.
The board did allow that future nicknames and mascots for the school could include Native American themes and imagery.
Teton High had used the Redskin nickname since 1929 and other schools in the area still boast names such as Indians, Savages, Warriors and Braves.
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