CHANNAHON — Chief Wahoo is finally stepping aside.
The large-toothed, big-nosed caricature, a longtime symbol and mascot for athletic teams in Channahon's Elementary School District 17 is being replaced with a more politically correct Native American symbol, said Channahon Middle School Principal Tom Lesniak.
The school board last week voted to drop the logo associated with the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball team, part of a trend to discard mascots offensive to Native Americans. The usage rights were obtained from the ball club decades ago by a former district official.
"The Cleveland Indian character is not the least bit flattering to Native Americans," said Lesniak. "As we educate our children, we teach them there is a proud and strong heritage relative to Native Americans, and we should respect that. This is a change we should make."
The nickname used by the district's athletic teams, the Channahon Indians, will remain intact, Lesniak said.
Indian heritage is a key part of Channahon's history. In fact, Channahon is the Indian word for "between the waters." Lesniak said. (The village is located where the Kankakee, DuPage and Des Plaines Rivers meet to form the Illinois River.) In the weeks ahead, the school board plans to replace Chief Wahoo with a more politically correct Indian symbol, Lesniak noted. A list of three or four appropriate symbols will be put together by administrators, and students will vote on which one should be adopted.
Last year, McHenry County's Huntley School District 158 dropped its Redskins nickname and mascot after a lawsuit was filed by the Native American Bar Association. Two years ago, Niles West High School in Skokie got rid of both of its Indians nickname and mascot.
And, in the late 1990s, Marist Catholic High School on Chicago Southwest Side changed its nickname and mascot from the Redskins to the RedHawks.