A proposal to retire the use of Native American words and imagery in the Cheyenne Mountain School District — including its controversial Indian mascot — has been postponed until spring, with officials citing more pressing concerns like the pandemic.

The district’s Board of Education decided this week to  hold off on further discussion until March on a draft resolution that would immediately retire Indians as the high school’s team name.

The draft, introduced at a board meeting in September, would also require the removal of nicknames, images, logos and school materials containing such names or images by Aug. 1. Additionally, it would ban the use of phrases such as “smoke signals,” “pow wow,” “tribe” and other “instances of Native American appropriation.”

“The board reached consensus that they currently have more pressing items that demand their attention, and they also want to ensure an opportunity for further engagement with the school community, which they acknowledge is very difficult under current restrictions,” Superintendent Walt Cooper wrote in an email to The Gazette this week.

Dozens of protesters rallied outside the Cheyenne Mountain School District administration building before a board work session last month that included discussion of the draft.

At that meeting, attended by The Gazette via phone, one board member equated the school’s use of Native American words and imagery to racial segregation in schools.

“It was fine because we didn’t really think about it in those terms,” she said. “Now we know better.”

Another board member said the district’s use of Native American names and imagery was in conflict with its nondiscrimination policy and could pose legal problems. It could also potentially result in the loss of federal funding, she said.

And another board member said the volume of communication he has received on the issue has been overwhelming, “to the point where people are having a rally outside of our building.”

“We can say no to these folks who want it to change,” he said. “Or maybe we don’t. But I’m not ready.”

Cooper in September cited former principal Lloyd “Pappy”‘ Shaw, who worked in the district from 1916-1951, in defense of the district’s actions. Shaw had “a great appreciation for Native American culture and art, and for the values on which this culture was based.”

“It is in the spirit of Pappy Shaw’s legacy and his appreciation for Native American culture that we continue to proudly display the name Indians,” a document provided by Cooper stated.

The district eliminated the practice of the “tomahawk chop,” a hand motion students and other enthusiasts made during football games, in 2006. It also banned war-painted faces, feathered headdresses and other Native American apparel that some supporters wore to athletic events.