The Skowhegan Indian is a symbol, not a mascot as everyone keeps saying.  He is a bold, brave indigenous person.

It is sad that history and heritage can’t be shared and honored by all. Those of us who have grown up and attended schools in Skowhegan believed that the Indian was a symbol of school pride and strength that we took to the fields and gyms of sports arenas and beyond.

When visitors inquire about the Native American name Skowhegan, what do we tell them?  We can keep the name Skowhegan, but not be able to honor the Indigenous peoples for our symbol of school pride, who lived and fished the Kennebec River and the Great Eddy?

Being of Swedish heritage I would be proud to attend a school with a Viking symbol.

So who is going to challenge the Kansas City Chiefs, the Washington Redskins, and the Cleveland Indians, which, by the way, was named to honor a Native American from Maine.

Please stop using the word “mascot” and just let it be the symbol of the Skowhegan area.  Just let it be.

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Cynthia Laiho

Cornville

Class of 1963


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