A sign with a Native American Chief is seen through a fence, where according to media reports the Trump administration has launched an investigation into New York officials threatening to withhold state funding for the town of Massapequa for failure to comply with a state mandate removing Native American names from school logos, outside the Big Chief Lewis building in Massapequa, New York, U.S., May 1, 2025. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
(Massapequa, NY) – New York State has been facing challenges in court when it comes to their 2023 law barring school districts that take state funding from using any Native American inspired mascots or team names. One school in particular has been at the center of that fight to keep their team name, the Massapequa Chiefs out on Long Island. The Nassau County district even earned a special shoutout from President Trump on Truth. However, the person leading the legal charge is switching gears and may run for State Senate.
Massapequa’s Chief Battle
The mascot ban in New York is nearly decades in the making as the state recognizes a 2001 memo from then Education Commissioner Richard Mills as the beginning of the effort. The memo suggested communities with Native American mascots reconsider their team representation and even called the mascots a “barrier to building a safe and nurturing school community”. Massapequa, however, largely disagrees. Many locals voiced outrage when the mascot ban passed unanimously by the Board of Regents in April 2023. The district school board sent a letter to parents saying they would not erase the history of Chief Tackapausha who is said to have sold the local land to settlers in 1658.
The letter was only the beginning, as the district then partnered with North-Dakota based Indigenous group, Native American Guardians Association (NAGA), to file a legal complaint against the state in federal court. The district and NAGA argued the mascot ban discriminates against Native Americans and the use of iconography associated with their culture. District Court Judge Sanket J. Bulsara tossed the complaint. Bulsara was skeptical of the legality of the ban itself, however claimed NAGA had no right to claim ownership of the Chiefs logo more than “any random member of the public”. A complaint was also filed with the U.S. Department of Education. Education Secretary Linda McMahon paid Massapequa schools a visit, after which she urged federal prosecutors to act. NAGA told the NY Post it plans on taking the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the New York mascot ban.
Back in April, WABC and Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, a Massapequa native, was on the Sid and Friends in the Morning Show where the two talked about the mascot ban
School Board President Eyeing Office State Senate Run
Since 2020, Massapequa’s school board has filed 8 lawsuits on various issues from the mascot ban to state policy when it comes to restrictions on bathroom use by transgender students. Those have earned a lot of press for Massapequa Board of Education President, Kerry Wachter. Wachter is now eyeing a run for an open seat in the State Senate. She tells the NY Post she is strongly considering running for the district that covers the south shore of the island from Massapequa to Bohemia. Incumbent Republican Alexis Weik announced she was not seeking reelection, and no one else has yet to officially announce their candidacy.
Other NY Mascot Battles
As the Massapequa fight is going on, there are also other mascot ban battles in the background. Another school district on Long Island, Connetquot, was just found in violation of the Civil Rights Act by the DOJ for changing their name in compliance with the ban. The mascot was formerly known as the “Thunderbirds”, and the school changed the mascot to “T-Birds” and got rid of any imagery featuring Native Americans as part of the team logo. Now the federal government says that the mascot ban is a discriminatory law violating the rights of Native Americans and Title VI. Pressure is now on the town from the feds to reverse what they claim is Native American erasure.
Just in: Connetquot Central School District is in violation of Title VI for erasing its Native American ‘Thunderbirds’ mascot to comply with a discriminatory New York regulation.
We will not allow ideologues to dictate which cultures are acceptable.
— U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) January 22, 2026
