Editorial: Moving on from the Chieftain name

By Cynthia Prairie
©2023 Telegraph Publishing

It’s time to move on from the chaos and drama that has plagued the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District since last March, when a reconstituted board took over and a volcano of anger and distrust over the future of the “Chieftain” name upended the normal flow of work.

As we reported today, on Thursday night:

  • Board member Steve Perani of Cavendish apologized for creating anti-chieftain posters that some took as offensive but were never supposed to hit public view;
  • Member Scott Kendall of Andover, who also faced complaints of his own for his social media posts criticizing members of the public who had appealed to the state the board’s earlier vote upholding the name, made a motion not to censure Perani;
  • Embattled board chair Deb Brown of Chester, who has been allowing vice chair Adrienne Williams to lead many of the recent meetings, resigned, citing the effects of a concussion she suffered weeks ago;
  • And the board took a re-vote on the Chieftains name and finally jettisoned it on a 6-3 vote. This happened after a member of the Abenaki nation said that her tribal council had no problem with the name “Chieftain” since Abenaki leaders are known as “chiefs.”

Now, the principal of Green Mountain Union High can concentrate on developing a plan to find a new name and maybe a new mascot to represent its sports teams.  Or maybe not. Are they really necessary?

Either way, let the current and future GM students decide. We adults have certainly made a mess of the whole situation, acting more like children than the children themselves. If only we fought for school funding as hard as some fought to keep a contrived name that for years has been controversial.

Forget rebranding. The pro-Chieftains faction has made it clear with the clothes they wear that for them the Indian head and the name are forever tied together.

The name is further tainted by months of board dysfunction, not just because — as the Abenaki member Cindy Wubbenhorst pointed out — the Abenaki  use Chief, not Chieftain, and the discarded mascot image was of a Plains Indian. Pretty ridiculous all the way around, isn’t it?  Who said education was better “back then.”

But one of the most damaging consequences of the Chieftains fight has been the loss of Two Rivers Supervisory Union Superintendent Lauren Fierman who, after the first botched vote that kept the Chieftains name in May of this year, resigned because as she said she could not support it. Having the superintendent and three board members resign over this particular subject should have been enough of a hint to the remaining members that this issue needed a temperate reconsideration.

Fierman has been a knowledgeable, forthright, thoughtful and stabilizing figure for much of the school community. She has faced difficult situations from the moment she became principal at Green Mountain High in 2018: the 2018 flood at Chester-Andover Elementary that forced GM to make room for 240 young students and the February 2019 school threats, one of which forced police to lockdown, then evacuate the the school and its grounds. Then in 2020, when she became superintendent, she had to manage remote education when the Covid lockdown hit the schools. Her decision-making skills in crisis have been her strong suit.

Fierman’s background in law has brought a clear-eyed common sense to the board. And her understanding of the school community has surpassed that of her predecessors. It may have something to do with the fact that she actually bought into the community when she became principal of Green Mountain. Unlike other principals and superintendents, she purchased a home and moved into the community.  Just living in our school community affords her special insight into our children’s needs.

She will be missed.

Speaking of being missed: Where was the state Agency of Education in this whole mess?  It was supposed to hold hearings and make a decision before the fall 2023 start of school on whether the board violated the law by saying that the Chieftains name was not racist. There have been months of delays.

Then for months, the state and the AOE ghosted not only The Chester Telegraph but all those who appealed the GM board decision. At this point, the AOE seems to be an unreliable and feckless partner. But Thursday night’s decision by the board to jettison the name won’t mean that the AOE is freed from the issue. Stay tuned.

Filed Under: CommentaryTelegraph Editorial

About the Author: Cynthia Prairie has been a newspaper editor more than 40 years. Cynthia has worked at such publications as the Raleigh Times, the Baltimore News American, the Buffalo Courier Express, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Patuxent Publishing chain of community newspapers in Maryland, and has won numerous state awards for her reporting. As an editor, she has overseen her staffs to win many awards for indepth coverage. She and her family moved to Chester, Vermont in 2004.

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  1. Yea, a chieftan to the highlands bound –
    young folk, chieftains witless, aye poor ones
    with their warbling minds on the green.

    Sing of the sporty arms of all chieftains –
    chiefs of time, chosen chieftains, those olden
    chieftains who have by now left the fields.

    Yea, at length, weary chieftains sink to rest:
    remember all the chieftains the poets counted.
    Now, let each knee bend to reach new earth.

    . . . . .

    Union First Line Index of English Verse
    13th-19th Century (Bulk 1500-1800) https://firstlines.folger.edu/search.php?val1=chieftain#results

  2. Evan Parks says:

    Thank you for the excellent and thorough coverage of this sordid saga, and thank you to the school board for choosing love and compassion.

    Now our schools students, staff, and our little mountain community can move bravely forward, into the future, with the respect, dignity, and kindness, that is required for a proper education.

  3. Randy Miles says:

    Yes, the we group of 6 + 1 had there dictator way finally. It took them banding against the rest of the board. By any means. They took out democracy by over riding the State to rule. Must of been an insider with the State maybe to get the information from them? There are over 700 students citizens and alumni who signed petition stating they do not feel Chieftain is a problem or raciest and that the problem was fixed by all in 2021. Yes the we 6 + 1 even had to ignore the 19 true facts that I had given them .Any one want a copy? Maybe they could not understand is or I guess I don’t know why?? Lets also not over look the point that we were all done with this in 2021 and or if you choose when this was sent to the State to decide on. No, non of this was good enough. We even had some really good raciest stuff going back and forth by the we group. Good thing they are still there should a real raciest problem comes up? People Look up the real truth. Chieftain means leader. Image of Native american headdress. We removed in 2021 1 + years before our E5 Policy. They even payed no attention to the Native American woman who is Abenaki and said they as a tribal nation had 2 meeting about this and found no problem with them other then the fact that Abenaki do not use headdress. Once again we speak and act for another race and culture? We never learn. What have we learned from this all? What did we show our kids as a teaching moment and our community? To not follow democracy but act as you want. Not follow information and true facts. Give Hissy fits walk out and insult public and board members. Exchange very bad raciest literature between board members. Vote against mass majority of over 700. As the group of 6 + 1 said they do not feel Chieftain is raciest or bad. But because it is not used much, THEY must retire it.? As well as protecting some who find it raciest? Just after they said it was not raciest. This is a board of controlling members and agendas. Not what is right and wrong and the truth and facts. yes we all learned that if there is a problem? Get rid of it any way or means? All information can be looked at by anyone in the public. Meetings can be seen on SAPA for free. Superintendent can give you public email correspondence between board members. The real truth is right out there in front of you if you care? This was the worst teaching moment ever that I have ever seen. May higher powers help us all when the big problems come. Or may the 6 + 1 go now Please. Ending: There are some really good smart members on the board that we are going to loose who could really do a great job for us. But not in a dictatorship.

  4. Alfred Marro says:

    As a GMUHS graduate I hate this stupid decision !!!! … I will always be a Chieftain no matter what some Liberal board butts say!!! .. This & taxes is why I left my home state of Vt. … I as Alumni will no longer contribute to anything that GMUHS needs and if all of us Alumni did that then maybe we can effect change .

    I still say the students education is more important then a damn logo. Teach the children first!!!!

  5. Amy Hamblett says:

    I could not agree more with the comments about Lauren Fierman. As a teacher in the SU I will miss her steady hand, fairness, flexibility and kindness. Never before have I felt so free to have open conversations with a superintendent. While I understand and respect her decision to extricate herself from this SU following such a debacle, I will miss her very much. I wish her well.

  6. RAYMOND E MAKUL says:

    I am giving up watching the Boston NBA team with its “Celtics” name and ridiculous caricature of an Irish person.

    And boycotting baseball games where the Pittsburgh Pirates participate. A team that identifies with terrorists and thieves of the high seas?

    And the St. Louis Cardinals and Nee Orleans Saints? Offensive to all Roman Catholics. Along with the Los Angeles Angels and San Diego Padres.

    The Cincinnati Reds temporarily changed their name during the Cold War so as to not be identified as Communists.

    And Milwaukee Brewers encourage alcohol consumption by young fans.

    And Atlanta Braves? Oy!!

  7. WTH , REALLY . OF ALL THE ISSUES WE HAVE .
    ABUSE ,NEGLECT . INABILITY TO GRADUATE .
    COVID BACKLASH ..
    CANT WE AGREE TO A SYMBOL OF PRIDE AND UNITY ?
    ISNT THE CHIEFTAIN SYMBOL ALL ABOUT JUST THAT ?
    WHY ARE WE WASTING WORDS AND ACTIONS ON A MUTE !
    POINT …
    LEAVE THE SYMBOL STAND AS OR SCHOOL MASCOT .BUT ALSO A SYBOL OF UNITY AND PRIDE …
    WE HURT YOUR FEELINS. GOOD THEN YOU ARE PAYING ATTENTION .
    THIS NEW SOCIAL NORM .ISNT
    NORMAL . . .
    PLEASE GO BACK IN HISTORY AND HAVE A PUFF PUFF PASS OF PEACE PIPE AND ENJOY COMMUNITY … NOT MORONITY !
    MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL .. GOOO CHIEFTAINS !!!!!!

  8. Randy R Stevens says:

    Vermont needs to grow a set of balls. Lot more important issues than a damn name. Been Chieftains for ever. Has anybody been killed over it? I think not. Hurts someone’s feelings, revert back to 1st sentence.

    Chester High School
    1966