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The town of Whitesboro, N.Y. claims that the seal depicts the results of a friendly wrestling match between the first white settler and an Oneida indian chief. Others feel the image is that of a white man choking a Native American to death.
Residents in Whitesboro, NY voted overwhelming to keep the town emblem, which, appears to depict a white man choking a Native American man.
According to the New York Times, some residents have balked at the image for over four decades but very little has been done and that tradition continued after a viral push to remove the image led to an actual vote Monday.
Oneida County which has roughly 3700 residents voted overwhelmingly as some 157 of 212 votes cast were in favor of letting the image represent community.
“Whitesboro views this seal as a moment in time when good relations were fostered,” Dana Nimey-Olney, the village clerk, told the Associated Press.
The story behind the seal might be more devastating than the image.
According to the town’s website, in 1784 Hugh White moved to Sedaquate, now Whitesboro and was the first white inhabitant of the area which was the Oneida Indians home. One day, an Oneida chief visited Mr. Whitesboro and challenged him to a wrestling match.
“White dared not risk being browbeaten by an Indian nor did he want to be called a coward,” according to the story posted to the site. “In early manhood, he had been a wrestler, but of late felt he was out of practice.”
The image is supposedly the moment that White defeated the Oneida chief in a “friendly” wrestling match.
“Portrayals such as this cause psychological harm to Native American youth,” said Native American advocate and educator Molly Sunshine in an open letter to the town of Whitesboro.
“I do acknowledge the cultural practice among the Oneida who did traditionally engage in friendly wrestling matches. I get it. There is a historical context. But that’s beside the point. There is also a history of slavery in America, but glorifying that on a town seal would never be deemed appropriate, no matter how historically accurate.”
“I know, I know. White is the last name of founder,” she added. “But the combination of all of the different elements on the seal, together, evoke a soup of emotions among outsiders looking in, conjuring up discomfort, defensiveness, and even pain. Images matter, and your image is harmful.”
Read more at the New York Times.
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