An overhead shot of the Derby football field from Valley Aerial Optics.
DERBY — Two of the three schools in Connecticut opting to keep Native American-related names did not involve the public at-large in the decision, according to interviews.
School officials said public discussion or formal votes were not needed since no changes were being made. However, there was nothing stopping the school boards from putting the items on the agenda for the public as information-only.
In order to keep getting money from the state’s Mashantucket Pequot/Mohegan Fund, schools that use Native American names, nicknames, mascots and logos had to submit paperwork to the state by March 15 showing they had permission to do so from a state or federally recognized Native American tribe.
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Derby, Montville and New Milford each submitted “certification” forms to the state along with an endorsement from a tribe.
Derby had the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation’s backing to keep using the name “Red Raider” for sports teams, along with the use of Native American imagery.
The Schaghticokes, who have a reservation outside Kent and an office in Derby, also backed New Milford so the district wouldn’t lose funding because it has a Schaghticoke Middle School.
Montville schools dropped the nickname “Indians,” but had the backing of the Mohegan Tribe to keep Mohegan on the town’s elementary school.
There were no public meetings in Derby and New Milford on whether to keep or change the names, nor input from the public on submitting the certification forms.
Derby Board of Education Chairman Jim Gildea said the school board was aware of the matter, but no formal vote was needed. The paperwork was signed by Superintendent Matt Conway and Derby Mayor Richard Dziekan.
“It was not on a meeting (agenda) as we were not changing any of our current uses or imagery,” Gildea said. “The (Schaghticoke) tribe did give consent for us to continue to use the name and imagery. There was no need for a vote since we are not changing anything.”
The resolution adopted by the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation gave Derby permission to use Native American imagery as long as it was done so in a respectful manner.
The resolution specifically states that putting an image or name of Native people on a gym floor is prohibited. The floor of the Derby High School’s gym has a drawing of a Native American warrior’s head at the center of the basketball court.
Conway said plans are underway to remove the image from the floor. He said the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation was aware of the image painted on the floor when they passed the resolution to endorse Derby’s use of Native American imagery.
The image of the man will be replaced with a “D” (for Derby) within an arrowhead, just like the Derby football field (pictured at the top of this story).
Tribal Council Resolution by The Valley Indy on Scribd
New Milford Superintendent of Schools Alicia DiCorpo also said public input or a formal vote of the town’s Board of Education was not needed since nothing was changing.
“I can confirm that the Chief (Richard Velky) of the Schaghticoke tribe did provide us with permission to continue to use the Schaghticoke name,” DiCorpo said via an email. “The BOE was aware of the requirement from the state to obtain approval and to submit the information to the state. We worked with the mayor to make him aware of the need and to initiate signature on the paperwork.”
Montville schools held two public meetings on whether to drop “Indians” as a nickname. The school board’s deliberations made the regional news wires.
A formal school board vote wasn’t taken in Montville on keeping the “Mohegan” name on a school.
“The consent is just for Mohegan Elementary, not for the use of the honorific ‘Indians’ nickname,” Pallin said. “We are discontinuing the use of the nickname and related logo.”
Derby’s annual share of the Mashantucket Pequot/Mohegan Fund for fiscal year 2022 is $207,304; Montville’s is $1.4 million and New Milford’s is $2,049.
The money in the fund comes from the Native American casinos in Connecticut.
In 2021 the state passed a law saying no municipality would receive money from the Mashantucket Pequot/Mohegan Fund if a school or team within the municipality used Native American names, nicknames, imagery or symbols.
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) have been opposing the use of Native American culture in team sports since 1968.
“NCAI shares the unified voice of hundreds of Tribal Nations, and that voice has been consistent and clear for decades: stereotypical and dehumanizing sports mascots, monikers and symbols cause well-documented harms to Native people, particularly Native youth, and they have no place in American society,” a spokesperson from the group told The Valley Indy.
However, the group recognizes it as acceptable if there is a formal agreement in place with a Tribal Nation, which has happened in Derby, Montville and New Milford.
The endorsement the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation gave Derby and New Milford cites examples of“respectful use” of Native American imagery includes“signage on walls, school cheers or other acts that recognize the history and culture of Native Americans …”
The resolution specifically states that putting an image or name of Native people on a gym floor is prohibited.
Glastonbury, Guilford, and West Hartford have also made changes, according to this report.
The photo at the top of this story is from Valley Aerial Optics.
Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Fiscal Year 2023 Certification DHS by The Valley Indy on Scribd
