Native American group joins fight against NY's logo ban in public schools
The Native American Guardians Association filed a preliminary injunction against the state Board of Regents — as its representative said members are tired of people telling Native Americans how they should view their own culture.
'It violates the First Amendment,' said Chip Paterson, an attorney for the association.
3 The Post has learned that The Native American Guardians Association has filed a preliminary injunction against the New York Board of Regents' ban on Native American team names and logos in public schools.
REUTERS
'You're banning words, you're banning phrases, you are banning ideas.'
'It's completely against both the spirit and the letter of the First Amendment,' he told The Post.
'Obviously, the Board of Regents is a state agency, and so it's bound by the US Constitution.'
The group, which consists of 85,000 Native Americans across the country, is also pressing New York on violations of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause from racial classifications, according to their legal counsel.
3 An attorney for the organization, Chip Paterson, claims, 'It violates the First Amendment.'
Heather Khalifa for the NY Post
Public schools that don't comply with the logo ban face the loss of state funding and other sanctions.
NAGA has been fiercely opposed to the 2023 ban, as vocal supporters of the Massapequa Chiefs in keeping its team name, since the issue exploded earlier this year when President Trump sided with the town.
Representatives from the association stood alongside Secretary of Education Linda McMahon when she toured Massapequa High School in May and announced that she viewed the ban as a Title VI civil rights violation — one now being pursued by the Justice Department.
Meanwhile, Petersen said his clients represent 'the silent majority' among Native Americans who favor their culture being represented in names like Chiefs, Warriors and Thunderbirds.
The latter two are under siege on Long Island in the districts of Wantagh and Connetquot.
He also pointed to a 2016 poll showing that nine in 10 Native Americans are not offended by the term 'Redskins.'
'What they're doing is they're trying to erase history…a key piece of American culture,' he said.
'My clients are tired of it. They're tired of people pretending to speak for the Native American population — and they're tired of people trying to erase their history. It's unconstitutional, and we're not gonna put up with it.'
3 The group consists of 85,000 Native Americans across the nation, as the latest legal action in New York State involves Massapequa High School, as they fight against a rebrand that taxpayers say could cost them up to $1 million.
Heather Khalifa for the NY Post
The latest legal action has Chiefs Nation in Massapequa eager to fight against a rebrand, which school officials say could cost taxpayers $1 million.
The Long Island town entered into a contract with NAGA in May, in which the group approved the district's use of Chiefs and committed to teaching additional curriculum on Native American history.
'In Massapequa, we're proud to stand by our Native American history and partners,' said school board president Kerry Wachter, who has been involved in legal action against New York as well.
'The NAGA's lawsuit makes it unequivocally clear: the state's Native American Ban discriminates against Native Americans.'
Massapequa lawyer Oliver Roberts added that the 'sad and disgraceful' ban should and will be invalidated by the court proceedings.
New York has already begun softening its position in Connetquot, where a rebrand from Thunderbirds is estimated to cost the district more than $23 million.
A compromise has been floated between the state and the school to condense its team name to 'T-Birds' — a phrase the school was previously told was included in the ban.
'It's not even a state law. It's an ordinance,' Petersen said of the controversial ban.
'It could be as innocuous as Thunderbirds and as a result, you could lose your school funding…I just think that people have had it with this.'
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