Missouri town divided by move to change its 'Savages' mascot

SAVANNAH, Mo. (AP) — A nearly all-white northwest Missouri town is divided over an effort to change its high school's “Savages” mascot that depicts a Native American amid a nationwide movement calling for racial justice.

The high school had a “Savannah Savages” mascot since at least 1926 and the name and the image of a Native American are emblazoned around the community. Savannah, a town of about 5,000 residents about 65 miles (104.61 kilometers) north of Kansas City, was built on land that once belonged to several Native American tribes.

“You literally can’t miss it if you drive through town. It’s everywhere,” said Savannah High School graduate Amanda Barr, who started a petition to change the name in response to racial injustice protests that have spurred other towns and sports teams to reconsider mascots or names considered racially offensive.

Barr's petition prompted a second petition by people who want to keep the name. The issue is so divisive that a meeting of the Savannah School District's school board in July had to be moved to a gymnasium because the crowd was so large. Speakers were evenly divided on the issue, The Kansas City Star reported.

Kendra Haag, 29, a member of the Kickapoo Tribe of Kansas who graduated from Savanna High School in 2009, notes that “savages is a racial slur against Native Americans”

“Redskins, savages, squaw: Those are all racial slurs. And the imagery is a Native American head that plays into racial stereotypes that reduces an entire living culture to one people see on movies and what is misrepresented in media,” said Haag, who now lives in Arizona.

Barr, 36, who now lives in Missoula, Montana, said she the mascot made her “feel ill” when she was in school.

“Tomahawk chops at all the sports games....