Tulare High team name to be Tribe, Legends or Renegades

A selection committee has chosen three finalists as the possible new mascot and team name for Tulare Union High School.

The finalists are Tribe, Legends and Renegades, ranked in order of preference as voted on by the committee.

Under a state law passed this year, Tulare Union must abandon its longstanding Redskins mascot by Jan. 1.

The law was enacted in the wake of a controversy that the Redskins name is offensive to Native Americans and affects four public high schools in California that have the mascot, also including Gustine, Chowchilla and Calaveras.

The new names for Tulare will be forwarded to the Tulare Joint Union High School District school board, which has the authority to make the final choice. The next school board meeting is April 21.

“The name is legal action we have to take,” said school board President Frank Fernandes. “We don’t have the flexibility of local control.”

The mascot committee included students, parents, staff members, alumni and local native Americans.

Meeting Monday, the committee reviewed a list of 24 mascot names generated from a survey in which 4,224 people participated, most of them online.

Options in the survey were Braves, Tribe, Crimson Tribe, Legends, Sentinels, Tulare Union (no mascot) and a place to write in a recommendation. In the survey, Braves got the most votes, with Tribe a close second.

The committee eliminated half of the names before voting on the rest.

Tribe and Legends came in first and second. Renegades and Pride tied for third, but another round of voting left Renegades in third place.

Also-rans included Sentinels, Crimson Tribe, Warriors, Natives, Chiefs and Titans. Red Wolves as a last minute write-in was also considered.

A representative of the Tule Indian reservation was contacted Tuesday and voiced support for the final three names, Principal Michelle Nunley said in a memo.

The committee also recommended that the new name be put into use at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year.

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Tulare High team name to be Tribe, Legends or Renegades."