‼ When they perform at President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural parade, the band members, the only high school musicians from Michigan playing, will be called the Roosevelt High School Marching Band. Patches will be sewn over the Indian logos on the band uniform sleeves and the band's Marching Chiefs banner will be retired for the day.
Hail to the non-Chiefs!Wyandotte's Roosevelt High School marching band, known as the Marching Chiefs since the 1950s, will drop the American Indian moniker on Jan. 20.
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The band is covering up for the day in response to a letter from Harvey Gunderson, president of Religious Americans Against Indian Nicknames and Logos, who protested the nickname of The Chiefs.
"We just don't want to bring any negative publicity," said Mark D'Angelo, the band's director.
The Wyandot tribe of the Huron Indians settled along the Detroit River in the early 1700s in an area now bounded by Oak Street and Eureka Avenue. The tribe, led by Chief Walks-in-the-Water, lived in the area until 1818.
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