Digital Scholarship and Initiatives

The North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs has passed a resolution asking that the state's public schools do away with Indian mascots by 2003. Of the 334 schools in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association, nineteen have nicknames related to Native Americans. The nicknames are Braves, Warriors, Redskins, and Indians. Earlene Stacks, Vice Chairperson of the Commission and Lumbee, stated that the Commission probably would not press the issue unless the mascot's image or behavior was offensive. The article discusses how some of the schools got their nicknames, mentions various schools that have changed their nicknames (high schools as well as universities), and provides a list of North and South Carolina schools with nicknames related to Native Americans.