Re: Redskins
Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 7:48 am
"Sacred" or not.....
I'm an asshole who went to HS in the 80s. We had two public High Schools that people in our town (and neighboring towns) went to. You either went to New Trier West or New Trier East. West were the Cowboys and East were the Indians. Made for a great rivalry. At the time, I don't believe there were too many people offended by Indians (or Cowboys) being the team names and both schools had mascots.
Anyways, due to declining enrollment, the two schools combined. East had been in existence for close to 100 years. West, I believe only 16 years.
The powers that be decided it was best to change the school mascot/s to a single mascot with a new name.
Needless to say, the people who grew up going to East were pissed off that their tradition would end - especially being that East would become the school for ALL Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors and West would be Freshmen only. Many generations of New Trier East Indians took a lot of pride in their school and having been an Indian. Shit, the name of the town of Winnetka (where New Trier East was/is located) is a Native American name/word.
As a Freshman (Cowboy) I got to vote on the new name and school colors. For some unknown bullshit reason the two finalists came down to either Trail Blazers or Trevians (which was a soldier from the city of Trier Germany during the Roman Empire) and the color choices were either maroon and silver or green and blue (East was green and West was blue so it was a combo).
Trevians and green and blue were the winners.
Point of all that is, I am someone who feels the name should have never been changed and would have preferred and been proud to have been an Indian. I respect those who had many generations of New Trier Indians in their blood and respect that they felt it was "sacred" to them. Meanwhile, 40 years later, my guess is there are tens of thousands of people who attended New Trier who don't give a fuck that they were Trevians and not Indians - or Cowboys. Why would they?
I'm an asshole who went to HS in the 80s. We had two public High Schools that people in our town (and neighboring towns) went to. You either went to New Trier West or New Trier East. West were the Cowboys and East were the Indians. Made for a great rivalry. At the time, I don't believe there were too many people offended by Indians (or Cowboys) being the team names and both schools had mascots.
Anyways, due to declining enrollment, the two schools combined. East had been in existence for close to 100 years. West, I believe only 16 years.
The powers that be decided it was best to change the school mascot/s to a single mascot with a new name.
Needless to say, the people who grew up going to East were pissed off that their tradition would end - especially being that East would become the school for ALL Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors and West would be Freshmen only. Many generations of New Trier East Indians took a lot of pride in their school and having been an Indian. Shit, the name of the town of Winnetka (where New Trier East was/is located) is a Native American name/word.
As a Freshman (Cowboy) I got to vote on the new name and school colors. For some unknown bullshit reason the two finalists came down to either Trail Blazers or Trevians (which was a soldier from the city of Trier Germany during the Roman Empire) and the color choices were either maroon and silver or green and blue (East was green and West was blue so it was a combo).
Trevians and green and blue were the winners.
Point of all that is, I am someone who feels the name should have never been changed and would have preferred and been proud to have been an Indian. I respect those who had many generations of New Trier Indians in their blood and respect that they felt it was "sacred" to them. Meanwhile, 40 years later, my guess is there are tens of thousands of people who attended New Trier who don't give a fuck that they were Trevians and not Indians - or Cowboys. Why would they?