Imagery May Change For Braintree Wamps Mascot

BRAINTREE, MA — The imagery may change for the Braintree Wamps mascot, following discussions between Mayor Charles Kokoros and the head of the Massachusetts Native American tribe.

Tribe Sagamore Faries Gray does not support the high school's use of the Wamp mascot. He said Native Americans don't feel honored by indigenous mascots. Instead, they feel like trophies.

Kokoros told the school committee he met with Gray twice to discuss the school's nickname and logo. He also brought Gray to Braintree High School to show him Native American imagery depicted at the school.

"We had a great conversation," Kokoros said. "We look forward to a great relationship. Hopefully, we will continue to move forward."

Kokoros also said Gray plans to meet with the school committee sometime in August to start a review of the mascot's imagery.

Kokoros said him and Gray discussed ways to educate students and the community about the Massachusetts Tribe. Gray is a decscent of Josiah Wampatuck, the tribal leader who inspired the high school's nickname.

In 1665, Wampatuck signed the Braintree Indian Deed, giving colonists the land that is now Braintree, Quincy, Holbrook and Randolph. The deed remains in the town clerk's office.

The Braintree School Committee has received two petitions, one demanding the mascot be changed, and another urging the school to keep the logo. Kokoros said he also received e-mails from high school students and alumni on the issue.

As of Friday afternoon, more than 7,500 people have signed the petition to rename the Braintree High School mascot. Petition creator Lauren Kaye called the school's nickname and logo "extremely distasteful."

"Every year, students dress up in feathered costumes and face paint, running through the halls replicating 'Native American chants,'" Kaye wrote. "These racist practices are unacceptable, yet continue to be allowed and encouraged by the use of this mascot."

Around 2,800 people have signed a counter-petition in support of keeping the "Wamp" mascot.

"Save the culture and history of the Braintree Wamps," petition creator Matt Curtin said. "Where students and athletes take pride in being a Wamp, in which they do not intend to be racist and disrespectful. Once a Wamp Always a Wamp."