A controversial village seal in New York state has many upset. Unfortunately, all who find great fault with the seal don’t live in Whitesboro. On Monday, Jan. 11, Whitesboro residents voted overwhelmingly to keep the town emblem, which appears to depict a white man choking a Native American man.
Throughout the United States, others see it as the epitome of racism and violence. And on Facebook groups and personal pages of Facebook members, especially pages of American Indians, the past couple of weeks has been rampant with fury over this town’s refusal to replace its village seal. Nobody in Indian Land knew or cared about Whitesboro in 2015, but early in 2016 things sure changed — it’s a place of controversy and contempt right now.
Ronday Thornton, a Creek Indian from Alabama, told this writer a few days ago, “Sure, that seal is racist. It shows what these F***’ing Europeans did to us and keep doing to us. I don’t know how to put it, Sam, are these people from Russia originally? Just the name of the town is racist.”
AIM Lancaster, Pa., takes an active role in fighting for American Indians in the Northeastern U.S.A. and throughout Turtle Island.
In a prepared written statement, Autonomous AIM Lancaster (Pa.) said, “Yes, we at The American Indian Movement of Lancaster, Pa., feel that the emblem for Whitesboro, N.Y., is racially offensive and should be removed and changed. It is no secret that we are against racial discrimination and mascotry. That’s why we feel that symbol and flag should be changed at the earliest opportunity.”
The borough has around 3,700 residents and the vote Monday night was 157 in favor of keeping the seal of a total of 212 votes cast. With such a poor voter turnout for this special election, to call the townsfolk apathetic about this issue sort of hits the nail on the head. But there may be other reaons, too, like many of the town’s residents claiming that they were not aware that Whitesboro even had an official seal.
"Whitesboro views this seal as a moment in time when good relations were fostered," Dana Nimey-Olney, the village clerk, told the Associated Press.
The seal has had an ugly, yet cryptic, history. According to the town's website, Hugh White moved to Sedaquate, which is now Whitesboro, in 1784. He was the first white settler in the area which now encompasses the little village caught in the net of wrangling. And this land was inhabited by the Oneida Indian tribe during pioneering days, and still is today.
Legend has it that one day an Oneida chief visited White and challenged him to a wrestling match. "(Hugh) White dared not risk being browbeaten by an Indian nor did he want to be called a coward," according to the story posted to the town’s website. "In early manhood, he had been a wrestler, but of late felt he was out of practice."
The image is supposedly the moment that White defeated the Oneida chief in a "friendly" wrestling match.
"Portrayals such as this cause psychological harm to Native American youth," said Native American advocate and educator Molly Sunshine Manning in an open letter to the town. "I do acknowledge the cultural practice among the Oneida who did traditionally engage in friendly wrestling matches. I get it. There is a historical context. But that's beside the point. There is also a history of slavery in America, but glorifying that on a town seal would never be deemed appropriate, no matter how historically accurate.
“Yes, I know, I know. White is the last name of [the] founder," Manning added. "But the combination of all of the different elements on the seal, together, evoke a soup of emotions among outsiders looking in, conjuring up discomfort, defensiveness, and even pain. Images matter, and your image is harmful."
Canupa Gluha Mani, leader of the Strongheart Warrior Society, busies himself with issues in the Black Hills of South Dakota, on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and frequently travels to meet with other tribes and often visits federal officials in Wash9ngton, D.C.
“I don’t care whether they change it or not,” said Canupa Gluha Mani, leader of the Strongheart Warrior Society and also a Lakota Indian from South Dakota. “It’s just another glaring example that white America does whatever it wants. Why all this hate? That white man choking the Indian, — that mountain man - that happened way back when. Nothing’s changed. This is an example of how white America has ruled this country for so long,” Mani told this writer in a telephone interview on Thursday, Jan. 14. “I don’t care. it’s not our problem, That sign does not promote anything for me but hate. If white people don’t want to change it, it’s just a symbol of white supremacy. If they want to remove it, remove it. Go ahead. It doesn’t matter to me, They’ll continue to choke us just like they’ve always done. It’s not even a moral issue to me,” said Mani, whose Strongheart Warrior Society fights for the rights of American Indians throughout North America and is also involved with legal issues on the state and national levels.
.
“I’m fighting for human rights, especially for my elders back home (on the Pine Ridge Reservation in iSouth Dakota). The federal officials from South Dakota – especially Sen. Michael Rounds — said when he got elected, Native American issues would be one of his priorities. So when you give that statement, you must stand on that. We finally got Sen. Rounds to look at the conditions of our people back home, particularly the grandmas and grandfathers. My grandmas are dying and my grandpas are dying. They need help. I’m a lot more concerned about the welfare of our Native elders in South Dakota than some stupid seal on some little city in New York. It’s stressful fighting all the time and proving all this all the time,” Mani said. Still, Whitesboro town leaders don’t see what all the fuss is about and even justify their town’s emblem: “It’s a seal that takes a little explaining,” Whitesboro Mayor Richard Pugh said about the image that dates back to at least the early 1900s, the Mayor is quoted as saying in
uticaOD.com.
Pugh seems adamant that the village’s seal is a depiction of a friendly wrestling match that borough founder Hugo White won. By being the victor, local folklore in this provincial community contends that White gained the respect of the Oneida Indians in the area, the mayor said.
Village trustee Margaret Stephenson was on the village board in 1999 when it was suggested that a contest to replace the village’s seal with another image should be a priority of the town’s leaders. No alternatives were put forward. The board chose to keep the original symbol, though, Board Member Stephenson told uticaOD.com.
“I think it was because some of the residents brought it up that they wanted it changed. But the board voted it down. And I think that once we explained it to some of the people, they accepted it,” Stephenson told uticaOD.com.
Startlingly, most Whitesboro residents recently asked about the seal said they didn’t know what it looked like. Many said they had no opinion once the image was described to them, according to uticaOD.com.
So the poor voter turnout in Whitesboro on Monday, Jan. 11, may be more the fault of ignorance of the townsfolk and not lethargy or disinterest. But the fact that many who were explained what the seal looked like may also be marked down as being apathetic about it all.
James Magaska Swan, a Lakota Indian and founder of the United Urban Warrior Society, headquartered in South Dakota, told this writer in a telephone interview earlier this week: “It’s ridiculous that we’re well into the 2000s and this is still going on. They don’t get it or they don’t care. That’s the trouble with New York. It’s always been that way.”
When Swan was asked if there is any way the illustration on the city’s seal could be seen as two grown men involved with horseplay, he said, “No. Here’s an analogy that works. A couple years ago, the VA Hospital in South Dakota had a Confederate flag flying at the hospital. It got a lot of complaints and was taken down. Then others complained it was a part of history and should be flown on the hospital grounds. So they flew it again.
“Anyhow, I was talking to the VA’s head guy and I told him that the Confederate flag is a banner, Nothing more. It is not a flag. I told him this: Put the flag aside and what do you see? Most would say today they see this flag as a symbol of the KKK, white supremacy, racism and hate. And although at one time, the Confederate flag may have stood for southern sovereignty and southern pride, the banner’s meaning has changed since the days of the Civil War.
“These people didn’t involve themselves with friendly wrestling matches at the time. These pioneers killed our people and took our land. It blows me away that they say they’re just wrestling and having fun,” Swan said.
“This city is supposed to be progressive and New York state is a gateway to America. Let’s stop this and not do this anymore. How’s about having a village seal with a white man and an Indian man shaking hands? It shows two different races trying to work with one another for common goals,” Swan said.
And as far as the historical depiction of the Indian on the seal, Swan said the Oneida chief is not portrayed correctly: “Native Americans would not wear turkey feathers in their hair. Most tribes I’ve ever known only wear eagle or hawk feathers. And that native guy, it looks like he’s wearing some other kind of feather besides eagle or hawk feathers. And if he was involved in a ‘friendly wrestling match’, he would never let that feather drop on the ground,” he said.
“If you go to a real, traditional Indian powwow and if a feather falls on the ground — if an eagle father or a hawk feather falls on the ground, that is — the person lifting the feather has to a military veteran or an esteemed elder – somebody of stature, in other words. And before the feather is even lifted off the ground, a ceremony has to be initiated, which includes prayers and songs,” Swan noted.
The United Urban Warrior Society is involved with bettering the living conditions on South Dakota’s reservations. It has many social service events and activities that are ongoing and this society also has more than 30 affiliated branches throughout the U.S.A.