After several months of protests, marches and debates, the Paw Paw School Board has finally voted on the fate of the Redskins. 

The name Redskins has been a topic of contention for more then 20 years. Several times over the years, the subject has come up of removing the name and logo from all school buildings entirely.

Over the last 10 months and several protests at community events and festivals by members of the local Pottawatomie tribe and other area residents, the school board finally took action. A special meeting held in December was cut short due to some unruly individuals  and a lot of outbursts. That meeting was continued in January with a much more controlled audience and several police on hand. These meetings were designed to allow the public to voice their opinion on the Redskin name. This final meeting carried normal events like announcing student of the month and budget discussions with the majority of time given to the subject of the name. Nearly 30 people spoke with a 3 minute time limit set on each speaker. At one point there did become a sign battle with people from both sides of the issue trying to hold their sign in front of the signs of others. Law enforcement became involved and removed several people from the meeting.

Finally, the motion was made by one of the board members, Aaron Mitchell, to fully reinstate the Redskin mascot and name to all schools until such time that it causes a loss of tax dollars to the district. The motion was amended to read "logo" instead of "mascot" since the schools don't have a mascot or Indian costume that is worn at any school event.

the votes then were cast openly and came in this order: Yes, Yes, Yes, No, Yes, No, No.

In a vote of 4 to 3, Paw Paw will remain The Redskins.

 

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