List of secondary school sports team names and mascots derived from indigenous peoples

Among the categories of names for sports teams in the United States and Canada, those referring to Indigenous peoples are lesser in popularity only to the names of various animals. In a list of the top 100 team names, "Indians" is 14th, "Braves" is 38th, "Chiefs" is 57th. The typical logo is an image of a stereotypical Native American man in profile, wearing a Plains Indians headdress; and are often cartoons or caricatures. Other imagery include dreamcatchers, feathers, spears, and arrows. Individual schools may have performance traditions, such as the tomahawk chop, a mascot or cheerleaders in stereotypical Native attire, and chants adapted from Hollywood movies. These fictional representations stand in the way of any authentic understanding of contemporary Indigenous peoples, and promote racism.

The documents often cited to justifying the trend for change are an advisory opinion by the United States Commission on Civil Rights in 2001 and a resolution by the American Psychological Association in 2005. Both support the views of Native American organizations and individuals that such mascots maintain harmful stereotypes that are discriminatory and cause harm by distorting the past and preventing understanding of Native American/First Nations peoples in the present.

The trend towards the elimination of Indigenous names and mascots in local schools has been steady, with two-thirds having been eliminated during the 50 years prior to 2013 according to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). In more recent years, the trend has accelerated, particularly in July 2020, following a wave of racial awareness and reforms in wake of national protests after the murder of George Floyd, and the decision by the Washington Commanders to change their Redskins name and logo.

In a few states with significant Native American populations; such as Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon,
Washington, and Wisconsin, change has been mandated by law. A law was passed in Connecticut which withholds tribal funding provided by casino revenue from any school that retains a Native mascots after July 1, 2022. Most have complied, but four school districts have decided to keep their mascots; Derby Red Raiders, Killingly Redmen, Windsor Warriors and Nonnewaug High School Chiefs.

The school board in Cambridge, New York voted in June 2021 to eliminate the name and logo of the Cambridge High School "Indians". After the seating of two new members, the board voted to reverse this decision in July 2021. A group of parents favoring removal filed an appeal to the New York State Department of Education which issued an order requiring removal of the mascot or lose state funding. This order applies only to Cambridge, although there are 70 schools in the state that have Native mascots. In a final order, the state Education Commissioner ordered the school to entirely eliminate the mascot by July 1, 2022, citing the evidence that Native mascots "inhibits the creation of 'a safe and supportive environment' for all students". The school board voted 3-2 to file an appeal with the state Supreme Court, arguing that the state Education Commissioner's order singles out Cambridge while allowing other schools to maintain their mascots. It is the state's position that the order to remove the Cambridge mascot alone is in support of the prior board's decision.

The list below for secondary schools in the United States and Canada remains substantial, with 358 teams currently calling themselves "Indians", 113 "Braves", 66 "Chiefs", 156 "Warriors" using Indigenous imagery (there are many with the name using generic, Greek or Roman mascots), and 36 "Redskins". The latter has shown the greatest decline, due to an association with the Washington Redskins name controversy. Since the NFL team began the process of changing its name to the Washington Commanders, nine additional high schools previously using the name also changed. Snell Middle School in Bayard, New Mexico also dropped the name.

Current usage

The following schools are listed in alphabetical order by team name:

Apaches

* Antonian College Preparatory High School, San Antonio, Texas – a co-educational Catholic high school
* Arcadia High School, Arcadia, California
* Arcola Intermediate School, Eagleville, Pennsylvania
* Arlington Country Day School, Jacksonville, Florida – private college-prep K–12
* Centennial High School, Compton, California
* Fairview High School, Sherwood, Defiance County, Ohio
* Fort Thomas High School, Fort Thomas, Arizona – 93% Native American, adjacent to San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation
* Glenbrook School, Minden, Louisiana – The school was established as a segregation academy when the public Minden High School was desegregated in 1966. While now asserting its nondiscriminatory status, the school remains 92.8 percent white, with no Native American students. Glenbrook has an annual "Apache Princess" pageant.
* Gonzales High School, Gonzales, Texas
* Nogales High School, Nogales, Arizona
* Pottsville High School, Pottsville, Arkansas
* Sanger Union High School, Sanger, California
* Wabash High School, Wabash, Indiana

Arrows

The following use Native American arrows, feathers, or arrowheads in their logos:
* Ashland High School, Ashland, Ohio
* Clinton High School, Clinton, Mississippi
* Lancaster High School, Lancaster, Wisconsin - All schools in the district are the "Flying Arrows".
* Pipestone Area High School, Pipestone, Minnesota - Entire school district is the Arrows with a crossed-arrow logo.
* Preble Shawnee High School, Camden, Ohio - Entire school district is the Arrows.
* Sachem High School East, Farmingville, New York
* Sachem High School North, Lake Ronkonkoma, New York - (Flaming Arrows)
* Tecumseh High School, New Carlisle, Ohio
* Watertown High School, Watertown, South Dakota – The prior use of faux Native American costumes was removed from the homecoming festival in 2016, but the arrow in some logos remains.

Aztec(s)

* Ánimo Leadership Charter High School, Inglewood, California
* Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, Marlborough, Massachusetts
* Azusa High School, Azusa, California - Azusa Unified School District is debating mascot.
* Barstow High School, Barstow, California
* Copper Canyon High School, Glendale, Arizona
* Corona del Sol High School, Tempe, Arizona
* El Dorado High School, El Paso, Texas
* Esperanza High School, Anaheim, California
* Farmersville High School, Farmersville, California
* Frontier High School, Whittier, California
* La Quinta High School, Westminster, California
* Mark Keppel High School, Alhambra, California
* Mendota Junior High School, Mendota, California
* Montgomery High School, San Diego, California
* Palm Desert High School, Palm Desert, California
* Soledad High School, Soledad, California
* Yerba Buena High School, San Jose, California – mascot: Aztec Warrior
* William Moreno Junior High School, Calexico, California

Big Reds

* Bellaire High School, Bellaire, Ohio - Uses Indian head logo
* Centerville High School, Centerville, Iowa
* Chippewa Valley High School, Clinton Township, Macomb County, Michigan
* Missouri Valley High School, Missouri Valley, Iowa
* Parkersburg High School, Parkersburg, West Virginia
* West Middlesex Jr/Sr High School, West Middlesex, Pennsylvania - Logo is a Native American in a headdress. Girls teams are Ms. Reds.

Blackhawks

Most of the schools with the name use a bird logo, therefore are not directly derived from an Indigenous people although there may be an indirect reference to Chief Black Hawk. The following use Native American images/symbols:
* Adrian High School, Adrian, Missouri
* Baldwin-Woodville Area High School, Baldwin, Wisconsin
* Cheney High School, Cheney, Washington
* Cowan High School, Muncie, Indiana
* Fort Atkinson High School, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin
* Prairie du Chien High School, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin
* Stockton High School, Stockton, Illinois
* West Aurora High School, Aurora, Illinois
* Westville High School, New Durham Township, LaPorte County, Indiana

Brave(s)

Brownies

*Agawam High School, Agawam, Massachusetts - With controversy going back decades, the Town Council again voted to retain the Native American imagery associated with their mascot in 2020, disregarding the national trend.

Cherokees

* Greenback High School, Greenback, Tennessee
* Kendrick High School, Columbus, Georgia
* McMinn County High School, Athens, Tennessee
* Morgan Township Middle-High School, Valparaiso, Indiana
* South-Doyle High School, Knoxville, Tennessee

Chickasaws

* Blytheville High School, Blytheville, Arkansas
* New Hampton High School, New Hampton, Iowa

Chiefs

Chieftains

Chippewas/Chippewa Raiders

* Chippewa Secondary School, North Bay, Ontario

Choctaws

* Bibb County High School, Centreville, Alabama
* Dyer County High School, Newbern, Tennessee
* West Tallahatchie High School, Webb, Mississippi

Comanche(s)

* Cahokia High School, Cahokia Heights, Illinois
* Canyon High School, Anaheim Hills, Anaheim, California
* Cahokia High School, Cahokia, Illinois
* Shiner High School, Shiner, Texas
* West Texas High School, Stinnett, Texas

Dine' Warriors

* Tse Yi Gai High School, Cuba, New Mexico – town is 26% Native American

Eskimos or Eskymos

* Bowbells High School, Bowbells, North Dakota
* Escanaba Area Public Schools, Escanaba, Michigan – The public schools are all the ''Eskymos'', and have an Indian education program.
* Town of Webb High School, Old Forge, New York

Halfbreeds

* Aniak Jr/Sr High School, Aniak, Alaska

Hurons

* Rogers City High School, Rogers City, Michigan

Indian(s)

A-E

F-L

M-R

S-Z

Marauders

* Monache High School, Porterville, California – There is a large mural of a Native American on the side of the school's gym, created by Adam Sanchez, class of 2002. This refers to the high school's mascot, the "Marauder".

Mohawk(s)

* Bethune-Bowman Middle/High School, Rowesville, South Carolina
* Colebrook Academy, Colebrook, New Hampshire
* James Madison Middle School, Titusville, Florida
* Madison High School, Middletown, Ohio
* McAuley High School, Cincinnati, Ohio
* Marquette High School, Bellevue, Iowa
* Medicine Hat High School, Medicine Hat, Alberta – In 2015 a grade-12 student started a petition to change the name.
* Millis High School, Millis, Massachusetts
* Moravia High School, Moravia, Iowa
* Morley-Stanwood High School, Morley, Michigan
* Morrisonville Jr./Sr. High School, Morrisonville, Illinois
* Northwest High School, McDermott, Ohio
* Piggott High School, Piggott, Arkansas
* St. Wendelin High School, Fostoria, Ohio
* Waldron Junior-Senior High School, Waldron, Indiana

Mohigans

* Morgantown High School, Morgantown, West Virginia

Red Raiders/Raiders

Redmen

* Arnprior District High School, Arnprior, Ontario
* Bellevue High School, Bellevue, Ohio
* Bucyrus High School, Bucyrus, Ohio
* Denis Morris Catholic High School, St. Catharines, Ontario
* East Islip High School, Islip Terrace, New York
* Fostoria High School, Fostoria, Ohio
* Killingly High School, Killingly, Connecticut - Renewed discussion in 2019 of whether the mascot is offensive was prompted by a student initiative. After input from the Nipmuc Tribal Council that no Native mascots are flattering, the school board decided to change the name. In October, "Red Hawks" was chosen initially as the new mascot by the Board of Education. However, the name change became an issue in the 2019 municipal elections, leading to record turnout and Republican victories. In December after a contentious meeting the Board decided to have no mascot. In January, 2020 the new school board, now with a Republican majority, voted to reinstate the Redmen mascot. Calling the change and reversion "a mockery of the process", Connecticut Speaker of the House Joe Aresimowicz announced the consideration of legislation to ban all Native American nicknames and logos statewide which would effect 19 high schools, including Killingly.
* Marquette Senior High School, Marquette, Michigan - During a discussion of changing the name Bill Saunders, Superintendent of the Marquette Area Public Schools said “Regardless of what side of that issue you're on, as educators, we see within the school was is a certain amount of bullying and harassment f Native American studentsthat's taking place.”
* Parma Senior High School, Parma, Ohio
* Rock Hill Senior High School, Ironton, Ohio
* Sisseton High School, Sisseton, South Dakota
* Smith Center High School, Smith Center, Kansas
* Tewksbury Memorial High School, Tewksbury, Massachusetts

Reds

* Calaveras High School, San Andreas, California - When a state law required dropping the Redskins, no new name was selected in 2016 and their Native logo was retained. They are now "The Mighty Reds"
* Eaton High School, Eaton, Colorado

Redskins

Renegades

The term "renegade" was historically used to describe Native Americans who refused to live on reservations and continued to follow traditional lifestyles.
* Shawnee High School, Burlington County, New Jersey

Sachems

* Middleborough High School, Middleborough, Massachusetts
* Saugus High School, Saugus, Massachusetts
* Laconia High School, Laconia, New Hampshire

Sauras

* South Stokes High School, Walnut Cove, North Carolina

Savages

* Broken Bow High School, Broken Bow, Oklahoma
* Leflore High School, Leflore, Oklahoma
* Quinton High School, Quinton, Oklahoma
* Salmon High School, Salmon, Idaho
* Salmon River High School, Salmon River, Idaho
* Savannah High School, Savannah, Missouri - The school board voted in 2021 to phase out imagery, but retain the name.
* Sigourney Junior/Senior High School, Sigourney, Iowa
* Tecumseh High School, Tecumseh, Oklahoma
* Wynnewood High School, Wynnewood, Oklahoma

Scouts

* Lake Forest High School, Lake Forest, Illinois – Some logos use Native American images or spear

Seminoles

* Creekside High School, Fairburn, Georgia
* Monroe Central High School, Woodsfield, Ohio
* Osceola High School, Osceola, Arkansas
* Salem High School, Conyers, Georgia
* Southeast High School, Bradenton, Florida
* Westside High School, Macon, Georgia
* Toms River Intermediate School South, Beachwood, New Jersey

Senecas

* Calvert High School, Tiffin, Ohio

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