WISCASSET

A private road in Wiscasset newly named “Redskin’s Drive” has rekindled the debate over the controversial former Wiscasset High School mascot.

At the Board of Selectmen’s Aug. 19 meeting, a request came to the selectmen from a homeowner in a new subdivision off Bradford Road to approve one of five proposed names for the road, with Redskin’s Drive being the homeowner’s preference.

In January 2011, the Regional School Unit 12 Board of Directors voted to cease using the Wiscasset High School “Redskins” mascot. This decision came at the request of the Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission that several schools in the state drop the term that MITSC Executive Director John Dieffenbacher-Krall said is considered offensive.

The divided selectboard approved the name, with vice chairperson Ben Rines Jr., and selectmen Bill Barnes and Tim Merry in favor, chairperson Pam Dunning opposed, and Jeff Slack abstaining. “I am a native of Wiscasset and graduate of Wiscasset High School,” said Rines in a phone interview with The Times Record Thursday. “I don’t find the name ‘Redskins’ offensive. That name, to me, is synonymous with Wiscasset.

“We have always been ‘Wiscasset Redskins’ and proud of it,” said Rines. At the selectmen’s meeting, Rines noted that the road in question is a private road, and that there were no other roads of a similar name in the area that could confuse emergency services.

“It’s not derogatory — I was born and raised with that name and until the last few years you never hear anything negative put forward about it,” said Rines. “It’s like someone saying ‘I find Morse Shipbuilders offensive — get rid of it.’”

Maine statute prohibits that any place in the state “have or be given an offensive name,” according to Title 1, section 1102 regarding the names of places.

Under this law, any “natural geographic feature or any street, alley or other road” in Maine is barred from bearing “the designation ‘nigger’ or ‘squaw’ or any derivation of ‘squaw’ as a separate word or as part of a word or phrase.”

“Unfortunately ‘Redskin’ was not included in the statute,” said Dieffenbacher- Krall. “It is an offensive term to indigenous people, and it’s unfortunate that the people of Wiscasset have made this decision.”

The Wiscasset Newspaper reported Tuesday that Ashley Gagnon, the 2002 Wiscasset High School graduate who requested the street name, said she has “Native American ancestry” and was not offended by the name. Gagnon said she chose the name as a way of “showing pride for the school and town,” the article stated.

“I don’t think there is any issue where you can say there is 100 percent consensus. That person has her opinion,” said Dieffenbacher Krall of Gagnon, “but that is not the opinion of the tribal governments of Maine. … Their chiefs have all been on record about the offensive nature of that term.”

The term “Redskins” is not an epithet of pride or an honor to the tribes, said Dieffenbacher-Krall.

“This is a recurring theme, that people who are in support of these offensive terms are honoring our culture by using them,” said Dieffenbacher-Krall. “How do you honor someone without their consent or approval?”

Wiscasset Town Manager Marian Anderson said Thursday that she has heard no input from the public either for or against the street name since Tuesday’s meeting. Approximately five members of the public attended the meeting.

“E911 is regulated by the state and we follow their policies and procedures,” regarding street names, said Anderson. “Typically they check for duplication of a name, and there was none.”

rgargiulo@timesrecord.com