Endorsements

Thank you, NAGA, I’ve enjoyed going through your Facebook page. It is inspiring to have your support to maintain our Tewksbury Redmen name & logo. The Redmen name, for me, has many meanings. We are Tewksbury, we are the Redmen. What does it mean to be a Tewksbury Redmen? To be a Tewksbury Redmen, as a resident, local sports fan, teacher student, athlete or coach you never quit. You stare adversity in the face & never back down, you drive forward toward success. Redmen have pride, passion, honor, commitment & tradition. As Redmen we support each other. We will never forget our Wamesit Indian history or our history as the town of Tewksbury. I am a first generation Redmen class of 89. My two children are being raised as Tewksbury Redmen. I have always tried to educate my kids & make sure they understood how special Tewksbury is. It is tragic that we need to fight for our namesake; however, this challenge has reinforced & strengthened the Redmen community’s faith in the Redmen name. With the help of Heidi Tomasi Desisto our community has done a great thing for the Tewksbury Food Pantry. We will continue to stand proud wearing our REDMEN HERE TO STAY shirts as often as possible! I am proud of my fellow REDMEN. Thank you, Native American Guardian’s Association, for your help in educating our community and stood with our community members in preserving our Redmen name and logo.

Chris Pinardi & Bob Payne
Gill Montague Regional School district, Montague Ma 01351

Forest Hills Anderson High School Redskins

For the fifth time in the last 30 years, our High School Team name, “The Anderson Redskins” came under attack by a few Native American Activists, including Guy Jones, who has been involved in all previous attacks. With the exception of one individual who is a Native American who lives in our area, and who is actively involved with the NCAI and employed by them, no other Native American living in this area spoke out against our Redskins name.

We couldn’t have won our “battle” this time without the advice and support of the individuals at NAGA, specifically Tony Henson and Eunice Davidson. They gave us what we lacked – insight into the true thoughts and feelings of “rank and file” Native Americans, not activists, who live throughout the United States. Their involvement with us on our very active Facebook page, and even Tony and Eunice taking the time to travel to our community – bolstered our belief that our fight was a good and honorable one.
Thanks to NAGA and to very engaged members of our community, we remain “The Anderson Redskins”.

Sue Veldkamp
Forest River Hills, Cincinnati Ohio

Why is N.A.G.A. important?

As a member of N.A.G.A. (Native American Guardian’s Association) I can tell you that the many schools and communities that we have worked with and represented have benefited greatly from our presence. I personally have represented and worked with dozens of schools nationwide that were under attack from outside radical groups who were dead-set on seeing these peaceful communities become havens of division and anger. When you have these outside groups come into a small town and wreak havoc upon innocent people, there has to be someone that can stand for those who may not be able to stand for themselves. Many people in these towns are in positions that they stand to lose their jobs or worse if they publicly speak against the eradication and elimination of positive Native American imagery in schools and the such. I remember working with the town of McLoud, Oklahoma where I helped the town keep their name, the Redskins. Many people I met with were so overwhelmed by the possible loss of their name and identity to outside groups of people who didn’t live in McLoud or were even from there. I was able to gain their confidence by coming to them with resources, support and the ability to take the hits where they could not. We fight for those who stand to lose the most. By doing so I was able to prevent many individuals from losing their jobs or being singled out for attacks. I watched as people cried and thanked me and our organization for being there for them and for being able to fight back. It’s easy to look at a situation and make a decision without ever really considering that there is another side to the story, as many in the press tend to do. It's difficult to fight back sometimes, but we believe in what we stand for and will continue to stand behind these communities. We cannot allow the mob rule mentality to become the standard of today. Since sealing a win for this particular town, I have received countless thank you’s and pourings of gratitude for being there in a very tense situation.

We need organizations Like N.A.G.A. We need pushback against over the top, outlandish and downright despicable actions. This is where we find our strength and we show it proudly. I stand with N.A.G.A. and will continue to stand for communities who are unfairly attacked simply for voicing support for positive Native imagery.
Education not eradication.

Steve Peters
N.A.G.A. Education Specialist and former co-host of The Beating Drum podcast show

Neshaminy High School Redskins

As the mother and supporter of a Neshaminy High School REDSKINS student, I can say with emphasis that our peaceful community was devastated when the “Not Your Mascot” hate group sponsored a student who then made racial grievance claims against our long-held honorable Native American teaching and celebratory traditions.

We requested the assistance of the Native American Guardian’s Association and they went to work immediately in conducting outreach to our local community and servicing media outlets as to our region’s historic and important Lenape Redskin Warrior traditions. This fact rich output bolstered our community and gave us hope and a rejuvenated pride in having the honor of being a native themed school; so NAGA also gave us the support to fight back on behalf of our honorable native traditions and teachings.

Moreover, NAGA complied our multi-grade-level Native American education curriculum and paired it with our region’s Redskin history report which was used in tandem with
an official investigation into the charge of the school being “racist”.

Armed with NAGAs report support, the school district did not capitulate but instead invested in an investigation. The school discovered that the claims made against the aggrieved student were actually contrived and marketed on social media by the “victim” himself, so the that case was dropped.

However, the state’s office of Civil Rights (is that the office?) has continued to pursue the school district to change several of their native themed schools. To this end, NAGA has fended off the state for years now and is sending representatives to assist our schools in January 2019 during a state hearing on the topic.

Molly Brandon-Krywopusk
Neshaminy Redskins, PA

Lancaster/Conrad Redskins

When I look back at this three years ago we are left without the Conrad Redskins, but we will ALWAYS be Conrad Redskins and never be the Red Wolves., Thank the Lord! We have made so many good friends across the United States! We must remember all that, Eunice Davidson, Andre Billeaudeaux and Brenda Piskun Christopher did for us and how hard they tried! NAGA will always be our friend and we need to support them.

NAGA gave us a new outlook at how the world is not filled with hate instead there are good people especially in Indian country that have an understanding that non-Indian communities only want to honor their people by using their names and images as strength, honor, and respect. Whomever is reading this testimony please support and help Native American Guardian’s Association to educate not eradicate as their motto simply states.

Theresa Giuliani Satterfield Administrator
Community of Conrad Alumni Redskins Forever!
Wilmington, Delaware

Paw Paw Redskins High School

As the Paw Paw Redskins High School name and image and the community came under assault by outsiders, we became desperate as we stood alone till NAGA came to our aid with letters of support for our community. Immediately NAGA and its members came under attack by this outside group and school board members who were on the verge of jettisoning over 80 years of tradition and thumbing their nose at the citizens of Paw Paw. It wasn’t till Eunice Davidson and Andre Billeaudeaux spoke to the School Board personally countering the accusation Eunice was not Native American and Andre gave a historical presentation with facts that even the surrounding American Indians did not know that the tide turned, and the School Board voted to keep the Paw Paw Redskins in place. Without their personal appearance we in Paw Paw know it would have been changed. Our community still comes under attack today, with NAGA’s support we are grateful to have them still write letters to the ACLU, & Walmart who was told to pull our Redskin’s wearables off their store shelves, only to have NAGA send them letters in return supporting our community and Walmart putting them back on the shelves.

Kim Vargas Jones

Algood Redskins

As founder of the Tennessee Freedom Force and a proud Algood School alumnus, I want to thank the

Native American Guardian’s Association (NAGA) for assisting us in our fight to keep the Algood Redskins (middle) and Algood Braves (elementary) logos in place.

Growing up in Algood, TN, I had friends from many different races, cultures, and backgrounds, yet as diverse as our lives may have been, all the Algood students were honored to be identified by the Redskin name. There was never any disrespect directed from my fellow students toward the Native Americans, as we saw our Redskin as a strong and powerful warrior. When we faced an opponent in a sporting event, our goal was to live up to our Redskin’s name.

I was disappointed last year when a small group of newcomers decided that the Redskins and Braves logos were offensive and racist, and needed to be replaced. Cancel Culture had found its way to Algood, TN. I felt I had to do something to protect my community’s beloved logos, so I turned to NAGA for advice. After speaking with Eunice Davidson, I learned that the Native Americans were proud of their heritage and did not find school logos depicting Native Americans offensive at all. What is offensive is the removal of Native American logos, mascots and culture nationwide, essentially cancelling the existence of Native American people.

That conversation with Eunice led me to the conclusion that I was on the right track. I addressed all aspects of the issue with the members of Tennessee Freedom Force, and the response from our membership was extremely positive. Together we started a grassroots movement to gather signatures from residents living within the Algood school zoning boundaries, and the support we received from that community was overwhelming. When it was time to present these signatures to the school board, members from NAGA travelled across the nation to help us save our logo. Together, we presented these signatures along with documentation from NAGA to our local school board, and that school board voted 6 to 0 to keep the logos in place. We are truly blessed to have a great school board with members who were willing to listen to the voices of those who were being cancelled, as well as the citizens who took the time to sign a petition. I would like to thank the Tennessee Freedom Force members for their enthusiasm in obtaining signatures. This would not have been possible without their hard work and dedication.

The members of the Tennessee Freedom Force appreciate the support and friendship we have with the wonderful people of NAGA and offer our continued support as you educate communities on ways to halt the systematic eradication of the Native American culture.

Jeffrey Birdwell

Tennessee Freedom Force

South Point Red Raiders

To our friends at NAGA, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! Our fight in Belmont, NC to keep our beloved Red Raider name and logo at South Point High School began, like most do with an attempt by a former alum with zero Native American affiliation, to attack our school, students and community with false claims that our name and logo was offensive to the Native American population. As a former alum myself, parent of a SPHS student and staunch supporter of common sense, I quickly assembled a team of Red Raider supporters and one of the first calls we made was to NAGA leadership.

An 18-month fight ensued where the opposition attempted to reduce our name and logo to a “mascot” and cited the handful of typical and flawed studies stating that all Native-themed names and logos should be eradicated. To them, we stand with NAGA to say, “EDUCATE NOT ERADICATE!” To this end, NAGA helped us strengthen our school’s statement of understanding that our Red Raider logo, in existence for almost 80 years, respectfully depicted the eastern Woodlands Indians which included both the Cherokee and Catawba tribes. Importantly, these two tribes, who fought each other for many years, reached a historic truce in an area we have always known as South Point.

After appearances by both sides before our school board, local press and state legislators and most importantly, an onsite visit from the leadership at NAGA, we are proud to report that we have successfully defeated the small, but loud, opposition once and for all! We also garnered support from over 70 local businesses and a resolution of support for the Red Raider from our local City Council. Further, our high school was certified by NAGA as a “Center of Excellence” for Native American remembrance and education. Our school and our community will forever be grateful to NAGA for your tremendous support and stand for accurate and proper recognition of Native American culture in school and professional sports!

Jason Rumfelt

Cedar High Redmen

Southwestern Utah has an illustrious Native American heritage - both modern and ancient. There are nearly 3,000 petroglyphs and pictographs in the area. The ancient ones lived here and left visible reminders, so we don’t forget. On the mountain looking over Cedar City is a medicine wheel that is significantly unique.

In 2018 rumors began spreading that the School Board wanted to eradicate the REDMEN. This was an election year with a $90,000,000.00 bond on the ballot. Citizens came together and reached out for help. NAGA came to Cedar in January of 2019 and spoke to a full CHS auditorium. They taught Educate don’t Eradicate. Only one school board member took the time to talk with NAGA and exchanged emails and phone calls. This member voted to keep the REDMEN, but it was a 2/3 decision to eradicate. The bond failed. Then as well as now the school district is controlled by those not from this area and who are tied to the University which has been a supporter of critical race theory and DEI. In fact, the school board president at the time was and is the administrator for inclusion and the Confucius Institute.

VOICE (Voices of Iron County Education) was formed immediately after the eradication vote on February 5, 2019. We began to research.

One of the most dismal discoveries was a recording of a school board meeting on Aug. 28, 2018, where the board planned how to eradicate the name deceptively. They connived to form a committee stacked with those they know would dismiss the name. They then disseminated only one-sided information – largely proven to be false, so that a recommendation from the committee was to eradicate. Their scheme worked as planned and Cedar has never been the same.

Within a short time, funds were raised to repaint the REDMEN water tank to serve as a reminder of who we really are and who we will always be. Students still wear REDMEN gear to school and the school district has lost 2 of the last three bonds they have proposed. One loss was by 25 votes, yet VOICE can give many more names of citizens who will not give the school board any more money as all trust has been lost.

REDMEN is still a topic of conversation, every day. NAGA has been with us every step of the way for 5 years. In the spring of 2024, we thought we had the votes to reinstate, and NAGA helped us with information, campaign support, ideas on signage, and discussion points. However, apparently it was a smoke screen with one board member saying she would side with the other 3 solid votes on a now 7-member school board. It was not to be. It became obvious that board member never intended to reinstate but wanted to put it to rest so bringing it to a vote again, they voted no. The school board member who represents the reservation area in Iron County went door to door asking for resident’s opinions. His survey resulted in the same statistics as is found nationally. 80-85% of those questioned wanted REDMEN.

NAGA has watched our school board meetings and answered calls and queries and provided information and research showing how important it is to keep Native American names and images in the forefront. They have talked with school board members and district personnel.

The Cedar High REDMEN was a casualty of the cancel culture/CRT craze sweeping the country. That mindset has now proven to be not only wrong but damaging.

NAGA stands in solidarity with all schools which have suffered the same fate as CHS. Other schools have returned their names - it can be done and can be unifying. REDMEN reflects the history, tradition, and culture of the area better than any other name could. It was a slap in the face when someone decided to rename the school REDS! What does it mean? Our once proud REDMEN are now called the “commies” by other schools. The students and townspeople all wanted REDMEN and still do.

In December of 2024, we were grateful when Crystal Tso, representing NAGA attended the ICSB meeting to recognize two retiring board members who worked tirelessly to recognize and honor Native Americans and return the name.

We stand with NAGA and they stand with us. For some eradicators this issue is water-under the bridge, but for VOICE, the people of Cedar City, Utah, and the majority of Native Americans – We have only just begun to fight.

Sincerely,

VOICE

Sheryl Stratton – President

Lisa Davis – Vice-President

Andrea Nelson – Secretary