The Tribe: Tulare Union gets new mascot after state law bans Redskins name

TULARE, Calif. (KFSN) -- There were 3 choices to pick from.

In the end, the Tulare Joint Union board voted 3 to 2 to change their name from the Redskins to the Tribe after almost a century of calling themselves the Redskins.

Change is hard to accept.

"I'm going to be a senior and I've always been Redskin," student Sydney Brown said. "My brother and my sister also went to Union."

In just seconds Thursday, the district board erased decades of history.

"I think it's going to be difficult for all of us at Union to start saying tribe," Brown said.

For the past several months, kids and parents have tried stopping the inevitable.

They were protesting a state law that prohibits public high schools from using Redskins as a mascot, and it's a law local Native-American elders say is more offensive than the name.

"We've had no one in Tulare stand up and ask the board to change the name," Corky Mills of the Lakota tribe said.

The district board had no choice but to vote for a new name Thursday, picking from three choices, The Tribe, Legends, or Renegades.

Community opinion was split, but all agreed they wanted to preserve the spirit of the community.

"I like Tribe because it keeps the native theme at our school and it keeps us alive," student Cassidy Dolin said.

The new mascot may be decided but kids says it will take a long time before they truly embrace their new name.

The same goes for Native-American leaders.

The Redskins symbolized the great people in their history and at the school, never to be forgotten.

There is only one high school left in California with the Redskin mascot.

Chowchilla will wait until November to pick a new mascot after it celebrates its 100th anniversary.