Goodbye, Warrior: Wakefield Schools Votes To Drop Logo

WAKEFIELD, MA — Wakefield is retiring the Warrior logo.

The School Committee on Tuesday night voted, 5-2, to say goodbye to the controversial logo, which is both a profile and front-facing look at a Native American with a stern look under his headdress.

It's unclear how immediate the change would be. A new logo was not decided.

The sports teams will still be called Warriors.

Aimee Purcell and Mike Boudreau were the dissenting votes.

The decision puts to rest — for the moment — a hotly divisive issue that nearly ripped Wakefield in half. Some argued the logo was antiquated at best and racist and harmful at worst, while others contended the logo was a tradition-rich way to honor the town's past.

The community will have their say on April 27 in a nonbinding ballot question. But the decision has been made.

Indigenous People spoke at a tribal leaders panel last week, nearly all of them in opposition to the logo.

School districts across Massachusetts have been pivoting from Native American monikers, mascots and logos. Legislation proposing to ban the use of such things is in Beacon Hill.

The complicated history of Wakefield's Warrior goes back well over a century. According to a recent presentation by the district, it was first used as a moniker for Wakefield in an 1890 Boston Globe article. Native American logos started popping up in the 1950s, and by the 1970s most of the high school teams had such a logo.

The current iteration of the Warrior logo first appeared on the helmets of the 1984 football team.

Related: Wakefield Must Drop Hurtful Warrior, Indigenous People Say

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Wakefield Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.