New York plans a partial rollback of its Native American school logo ban, handing Massapequa Chiefs a hard-fought win after years of state pressure and legal pushback.
Court documents show the Board of Regents “intends to repeal” a section of its 2023 mandate that barred school officers and employees from “utilizing or promoting any Indigenous name, logo, or mascot” on campus or at school functions, the New York Post reported.
The shift arrives days before legal arguments set for Nov. 4 and marks a retreat from a rule that put public schools at risk of losing state funds. Massapequa, the Long Island district that has fought to keep its Chiefs identity, is calling it a major breakthrough.
State Education Department spokesperson JP O’Hare confirmed the department will recommend that the Regents leave decisions about “employee clothing, including apparel displaying offensive indigenous imagery” to local school districts, the same authority those boards already hold on other attire and personnel matters.
Regents plan to announce the partial repeal formally at a November meeting and take a final vote in February. For Massapequa families who refused to scrap a name tied to local history, the timeline is long overdue.
Massapequa does not field an official mascot and keeps Native American imagery off team uniforms. Some merchandise has featured the head of a Native American chief. District leaders estimated a full rebrand would cost nearly $1 million.
Neighboring Amityville, home of the Warriors, was priced out of the fight as months dragged into years. Massapequa and several other districts sued, arguing the state committed a civil rights violation by targeting only Native American imagery while leaving other ethnic symbols untouched.
Massapequa Board of Education President Kerry Wachter did not hedge.
Wachter told reporters:
"After years of fighting to keep the Chiefs, we’re proud of this victory,"
She pressed further:
"We encourage the Board of Regents to take the next step and repeal the regulation in its entirety. Once a Chief, always a Chief."
Massapequa’s lawyer, Oliver Roberts, who was raised in the town, framed the state’s climbdown in constitutional terms.
Roberts said:
"The State has realized that its attempts to erase Massapequa’s history and tradition are patently unconstitutional,"
He sees the initial rollback as a sign of more to come.
President Trump backed the district in 2025 with a Truth Social post reading “LONG LIVE THE MASSAPEQUA CHIEFS!” and posed in the Oval Office wearing a Massapequa sweatshirt. He assigned Education Secretary Linda McMahon to look into the ban.
After visiting Massapequa High School in May that year, McMahon turned civil rights-related findings over to the Justice Department. The Native American Guardians Association also sued New York over the rule and has signaled willingness to take the case to the Supreme Court. Its lawyer, Chap Petersen, called the measure “the dumbest law of all time” in January.
O’Hare noted that legal challenges from Long Island school boards had been unsuccessful to that point. The coming court dates and the Regents’ own repeal schedule now sit side by side.
Republican gubernatorial candidate and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has made the logo a live political issue against Gov. Kathy Hochul. At a recent Pequa football game, he held up Chiefs gear with a clear message for the governor.
Earlier reporting captured Blakeman at the Massapequa High School merchandise stand during a game, lifting a Chiefs sweatshirt and addressing Hochul directly: “Hey Kathy Hochul, you see what this says? It says Chiefs... Once a Chief, always a Chief. You tried to take that away from Massapequa, no way.”
That night the Chiefs beat Garden City 21-14, ending a 68-game win streak in front of nearly 6,000 fans. Students have kept the pressure on with shirts from the senior class of 2027 reading “2till 7he Chiefs!” Community pushback has included murals and alumni support as well.
Wachter summed up the local stance in that coverage: people are “not willing to give up their identity, their history, who we are.” Blakeman has pledged to preserve the name and logo if elected.
The 2023 Board of Regents mandate reached beyond team names. It barred school officers and employees from using or promoting any Indigenous name, logo, or mascot while on campus or at a school function. Non-compliant districts risked state funding.
The partial repeal does not erase the entire rule. It does restore district authority over employee clothing, including apparel the state once labeled offensive indigenous imagery. That is the same discretion boards already exercise on other dress and personnel questions.
Massapequa’s lawsuit and parallel cases from other districts forced the issue into court. The Regents’ stated intent to repeal the employee section appears in documents reviewed ahead of the November announcement and the February final vote. Legal arguments from both sides remain scheduled to begin Nov. 4.
For taxpayers, the nearly $1 million rebrand price tag Massapequa faced was never abstract. Amityville’s exit from litigation showed how cost alone could end resistance. The state’s selective ban, Native American imagery restricted, other ethnic symbols left alone, gave districts a civil-rights argument that state lawyers now appear less eager to defend in full.
Wachter and Roberts want the rest of the regulation gone. The Board of Regents has so far committed only to the employee-apparel slice. Whether the broader ban survives the next round of votes and court filings will decide if “Once a Chief, always a Chief” remains a motto or becomes a court exhibit again.
Albany’s cultural mandates ran into local history, federal scrutiny, and voters who still fill the stands. The partial climbdown shows what happens when communities refuse to let bureaucrats rewrite their traditions on a deadline.
