Montana School Board To Vote On Mascot Change

RED LODGE, Mont. (AP) - A southern Montana school district's trustees will vote next week on whether the district's public high school should drop its Redskins mascot.

The Red Lodge School District board held a hearing on the topic Wednesday night. Comment was evenly divided between those supporting the 60-year tradition of the Redskins mascot and those who say it's a derogatory term referring to American Indians.

Weighing heavily on the trustees was a letter from the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council asking them to change the mascot.

Trustees Steve Haman and John Elsberry said they felt compelled to make the change.

The vote is scheduled for Feb. 15. The school has not yet developed a list of alternative mascots.

Nearly 20 colleges with American Indian mascots have switched their logos in recent years, after the NCAA in 2005 determined the nicknames and images were "hostile and abusive."