On Tuesday night, P-CCS retired the Canton Chiefs’ mascot and arrowhead logo. This came after a school board meeting involving a 6-1 vote-based referendum after calls of racism and cultural appropriation against Native Americans and Indigenous Americans, mainly from the student body. 

While the district has a small Native American and Indigenous population as a whole, the move led to vocal reactions both in support and against the decision.

The meeting featured many community speakers from many different ethnicities, including Native American and Indigenous students and recent graduates, to show support or discontent with the potential mascot change.  

The decision comes after many Michigan schools and institutions have changed their mascot due to concerns of cultural appropriation of Indigenous peoples’ culture including Saranac High School, J.W. Sexton High School, the Chippewa Hills School District, and Hartford Public Schools. According to ClickOnDetroit, all of these schools were incentivized with donations by The Native American Heritage Fund.

The district has not announced a replacement logo for the arrowhead. Plans involve a vote by the student body at Canton High School. A survey was sent out to P-CEP students for input on May 9.