Saskatoon public school board passes motion to drop ‘Redmen’ team nickname

It's been the nickname of the school's sports teams for almost 100 years, but at the end of the school year, Bedford Road Collegiate will have to pick a new one.

The "Redmen" are out.

On Tuesday night, Saskatoon's public district school board passed a motion calling on the high school to drop "Redmen" from its team names.

"We've come to a point in our time where things need to be changed. We are not really changing the history of the school but an ingredient of the recipe," trustee Vernon Linklater said during the meeting, adding, "We live in 2014 I think it is about time we do retire the name and logo."

Not everyone was for the name-change decision — the motion passed with eight trustees in favour of the change and two against it — but mostly for nostalgic reasons.

"So many other people that I have talked to, they take such great pride and they are so proud to be a Redmen," said trustee Donna Banks, who voted against the motion.

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Fans of the nickname brought up the school's history. In Saskatoon's Nutana area in the 1920s, there were two high schools: one wore blue in sporting competitions, the other, Bedford Road Collegiate, wore red. In the 1960s, the logo came out — essentially a rip-off of the Chicago Blackhawks' logo — aligning "Redmen" with negative stereotypes.

"It's the logo that is mostly the issue," trustee Kathleen Brannen said earlier last month. "I just think it is a world where we probably shouldn't be using mascots that have those sorts of associations."

"The people who I have spoken to who are in favour of keeping the name and logo, it really comes from a sense of pride that they have for the school and the blood sweat and tears that they have put into the sports," said trustee Holly Kelleher. "I think that that needs to be honoured and I don't think that those feelings will be changed by changing the name and logo."

Board chair Ray Morrison was among those who voted to "respectfully retire" the name and logo.

"More people, especially a new and young generation, might see more positive benefits if we move forward and change the logo for Bedford Road," he said.

Dr. Alex Wilson, the academic director of the Aboriginal Education Research Centre at the Department of Educational Foundation at the University of Saskatchewan, co-presented the motion to the board last month with a former Bedford Road Collegiate student.

"I think that they realized that the mascot and the name are archaic and that that reflects on the school board. If they didn't change it then it would be like making a stance that we are not a progressive city, not a progressive school board, and that education isn't about moving forward and changing," said Wilson.

Because of the expenses that come with changing a name and logo — the school gymnasium will require some new floorboards, and new jerseys will need to be ordered — the board has agreed to cover all expenses.

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A Regina high school also uses the "Redmen" name. Regina Public Schools is asking an Elders Advisory Board to look into Balfour Collegiate's athletics nickname. Unlike Bedford Road Collegiate, however, the school's logo is hardly controversial: it is simply a red letter B.

"We're being very culturally sensitive ... but we’re taking our time and we’re consulting with the people who have the experience and the ability to gauge what is the best course of action going forward," Regina Public Schools communications supervisor Terry Lazarou told the Regina Leader-Post.

The motion in Saskatoon comes just months after an Ottawa minor football club scrapped the team name "Nepean Redskins" for "Nepean Eagles" in response to the public outcry over the "offensive" and "divisive" name.

"It's about the entitlement of being able to label an oppressed people, to call somebody they have no ties to ... that word," said Ojibway musician Ian Campeau, who filed a human rights complaint against the team last year.

The NFL's Washington Redskins have been under pressure to change its controversial name for years.

Most recently, the team fired back in response to lawmakers pushing the issue:

"Senator Cantwell [who wrote a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in which she accused the league of being on the "wrong side of history"] should be aware that there are many challenges facing Native Americans, including an extremely cold winter with high energy bills, high unemployment, life threatening health problems, inadequate education and many other issues more pressing than the name of a football team which has received strong support from Native Americans," the statement said.

"Surely, with all the issues Congress is supposed to work on such as the economy, jobs, war and health care, the Senator must have more important things to do."