To the editor:
I'm writing with some comments in connection with your recent article in BayToday, regarding the renaming of Chippewa.
See: Got an idea to rename Chippewa school?
As others have stated, it's unclear whether the school was named after the creek, the street, or the tribe. And if it was indeed the latter, do we know if there are indigenous people around who are connected to the Chippewas? And if so, has anyone polled these descendants to see if they have an issue with the name?
This kerfuffle reminds me of the one that Florida State University experienced when some folks wanted the university to change the name of its sports teams from "Seminoles" to something else. The campaign to do this basically died when the Seminoles' tribal council unanimously approved a resolution supporting FSU's use of the name! Has no one considered that naming a sports team after a tribe was intended to be an honour?
As one of the students who attended Chippewa in its first year of operation, (1958) I do know firsthand that there was indeed a controversy about the name to be given to the sports teams. It was led by our Latin teacher, Phyllis Morgan.
Did Miss Morgan have an issue with Chippewa? No, her strong objection was that the intended nickname for our teams was originally going to be "The Spartans," whom she regarded as being a bloodthirsty bunch, unworthy of being emulated. Her views prevailed, and the rest was Raider history.
Finally, in your piece, you include this quotation from Stephen Brown, the organizer of the petition against the renaming: "This high school named Chippewa High School is a well-known school. Many people of all cultures have attended this school for decades. It's on Chippewa Street and Chippewa Creek goes alongside it."
Whether intentional or not, Mr. Brown makes a good point when he refers to "Chippewa High School". That was how the school was commonly referred to, despite the official name of "Chippewa Secondary School" Irrespective of how the fight over "Chippewa" turns out, "High" should definitely replace "Secondary"!
Ian Saunders
I was born and spent the first 20 years of my life in North Bay. I now live in Denver NC
