Indians soon to be Islanders? Board of Ed releases survey; vote pending on teams’ name change
Results are in from a wide-ranging survey of students, alumni, teachers and staff, parents and community members, calling for Shelter Island School teams, now known as the Indians, to become the Islanders. The next step is a vote by the Board of Education (BOE) to make it a fact.
The large symbol on the gymnasium floor of an American Indian is expected to be replaced by the image of a Shelter Island map outline.
No vote occurred at Monday night’s BOE meeting to allow members time to consider results of the survey implemented by Todd Gulluscio, director of athletics, physical education, health, wellness and personnel.
Aside from the original Indians and the chosen Islanders, other names considered were Ospreys, Bucks, Fish Hawks, Seahawks, Manhansetts, and Hareleggers, and several more.
The debate was sparked by Facebook pages and discussed at BOE meetings after suggestions that it was insensitive to Native Americans to continue to call teams Indians, no matter how much some argued that it was intended to honor those who originally occupied Shelter Island.
The survey was sent to recipients on Oct. 8 with requested responses by Oct. 22. The breakdown of respondents showed parents weighing in with their choice at 33.6% of the total, and teachers and staff representing 18.4%. Community members were at 17.6% of respondents; current students at 16.8% and alumni at 13.6%.
It fell to a stakeholders group to review results and make recommendations, Mr. Gulluscio said. They chose Islanders, which in most surveys was the most popular name. Initial results from all groups showed 39.2% preferred Islanders, while Indians came in at 16%. Others were Ospreys at 13.6%; Fish Hawks, 12%; Seahawks, 3.2%; Manhansetts and Hareleggers at 2.4% each.
With the Indian name removed from consideration, Islanders was chosen overall by 46.7% of respondents. Ospreys placed second at 16.2%.
Alumni responders felt strongly that the Indian name should be retained with 52% calling to retain the name, while only 23.5% wanted to see a change to Islanders. Without the alternative of keeping the present name, the alumni gave Islanders 50% of their votes.
Current students were less wedded to the Indian name, choosing Islanders with 23.8% of their votes. With the Indians name removed from consideration, the students chose Islanders by a vote of 29.4% compared with a tie for second place between Ospreys and Fish Hawks, each picking up 23.5%.
Teachers and school staff members chose Islanders with 56.5% of their votes compared with Indians weighing in at only 4.3%.
Parents chose Islanders at 52.4% compared with retaining the Indians name, which pulled only 9.5%. With Indians taken out of the running, the parents selected Islanders with 57.9% of their votes and runners up were Ospreys or Fish Hawks, each of which received 10.5% of votes cast.
