New school board members vote to reinstate Native American mascot at Pennsylvania high school, slam cancel culture

A community in Pennsylvania recently took back its indigenous history and reinstated a school's tribesman mascot last week. The development came after five school committee members won elections by running on pro-Native American platforms, according to Fox News Digital.

The school board of the Southern York County School District allowed Susquehannock High School to once again use its Warrior logos after a vote of 7-2 on Thursday.

This comes as certain Native American mascots have been banned in certain parts of the country. California was the first state to ban "Redskins" as a team name or mascot in 2015. In 2022, the NFL team formerly known as the Washington Redskins changed its name to the Washington Commanders after activists claimed that the mascot was an example of systemic racism.

However, the Chicago Blackhawks NHL team is one organization that has stood up against cancel culture, saying the team would not change the mascot in 2020. The organization insisted that the mascot was meant to honor a specific person, Black Hawk of Illinois.

Native American activist and historian Andre Billeaudeuax told Fox News Digital that "this vote was the Lexington & Concord moment in the effort to defeat cancel culture." All seven of the votes that came down in favor of the Warrior logo came from members who had been elected to the board since 2021 when the logo was banned.

The Native American Guardians Association said that "the SYCSD school board stands as a role model and blueprint for other communities fighting for their Native names and imagery" in a statement last week.

Jennifer Henkel, a mother and a new school board member, said, "This movement was about erasing Native American culture, and I wasn’t about to stand for it." She said she was motivated to get involved after the negative impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and the rise of cancel culture, which seeks to erase some of the community's history.

However, some within the community are not on the same page as Henkel.

Deborah Kalina, a former school board member, wrote in an editorial for the York Daily Record that "they came into their new positions with bravado to push their personal agendas, and not with humility to learn their jobs."

"To put the mascot away is respect for the past, for the present and for the future," Katy Isennock, a mother and Native American, said.

The Associated Press reported that many students and parents did not want the change in 2021, but they were afraid of being called racists.

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