WAKERFIELD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A town north of Boston will vote on whether to keep their Native American high school mascot in a non-binding resolution Tuesday.
The Wakefield Warriors logo, a front-on image of a Native American man in a headdress, was already voted to be changed by the town's School Committee on March 23 by a 5-2 vote.
The School Committee heard from a panel of Native American tribal leaders on March 17, most of whom expressed support for retiring the logo.
This latest vote— by town residents—will try to capture town opinion, but won't have an impact on the decision to retire the logo. The ballot question is part of the town's municipal elections, and reads "Do you support keeping the Wakefield Warrior logo with Native American imagery as Wakefield Memorial High School's logo?"
Wakefield Schools will keep the Wakefield Athletics "Warriors" moniker for their sports teams.
The logo was at the center of a fierce debate in the town throughout the last few months. As an example, a petition started to ditch the logo gathered around 3,100 signatures. Another petition, one that wanted to keep the logo, gathered around 2,300.
Aimee Purcell, the outgoing School Committee Chair, voted to keep the logo.
"As someone from Wakefield who really loves the town, and the people in it, it's unfortunate for me to see this divide happen over the logo," she said.
WBZ's Drew Mulholland (@DrewWBZ) has more:
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(Photo: Getty Images)