WISCASSET, Maine — A decision by officials in Wiscasset to rename a road in town after the local high school's former sports team nickname — changed because some people found it offensive — is drawing criticism from Native Americans.
Three members of the board of selectmen voted this week to grant a resident's request to rename her street "Redskin's Drive."
The move comes four years after the high school abandoned the nickname after vigorous lobbying from Maine's Native American community.
Ben Rines, one of the selectmen who approved the change, tells the Portland Press Herald the name honors generations of Wiscasset High School graduates who identify with the word Redskins, himself included.
But Newell Lewey, a Passamaquoddy Tribal Councilor, called the name change racist and "disgraceful."