by April Scheinoha
Reporter
On Monday, Aug. 18, the National Coalition of Racism in Sports and Media rescinded its letter threatening legal action against the Warroad School District. The coalition wanted the district to stop using the Warriors logo.
While rescinding its letter, the coalition also apologized to the elders and community.
The decision came after the coalition met with Henry Boucha, an Ojibwe/Annishinabeg leader and elder. Boucha provided the history of the logo to the coalition. The region’s American Indian community endorsed the nickname, and the logo was created years ago by an American Indian from the Warroad community.
Superintendent Craig Oftedahl said he was proud of the community support. He noted Boucha and the community were able to convince the coalition that the school district is doing something positive and its logo isn’t meant to degrade American Indians or do anything harmful.
The coalition sent the letter to the district Thursday, Aug. 14. The coalition said the district was in violation of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964. The coalition indicated that the logo “discriminates against students, staff and the public on the basis of race, religion, national origin and color.”
In the letter, the coalition gave the district a one-month deadline to begin procedures to change the logo in a way “that does no harm to children.” If the district didn’t comply, the coalition planned to file a lawsuit.
Oftedahl said the district had no contact with the coalition prior to the letter’s arrival.
Shortly after the letter arrived, a Facebook page titled “Save the Warroad Logo” was created. The page has garnered 2,511 likes as of Wednesday morning.