Esko eschews 'Eskomos' moniker

By unanimous vote of the school board Monday night, the Esko school nickname will no longer be "the Eskomos" as of June 30. The change, which has been urged for at least three years by some in the community, comes as a new state law goes into effect that prohibits school districts from using names, symbols, or images that refer to American Indian tribes.

The board told parents and the community that they were still researching options about the nickname at its meeting on May 8 and planned to talk about the issue after the school year. It voted to discontinue the nickname at its first summer meeting.

Superintendent Aaron Fischer said, "We do have some timelines to do some work with the state to understand how that affects our current imagery, but we do need to be aware of this new change."

Board members did not comment on any future plans for Esko's mascot and imagery. The statute requires all districts to be in compliance by Sept 1, 2025.

Esko sports teams and other groups will use just "Esko," Fischer said, as in Esko football team or Esko softball team.

According to the new law, districts can file for an exemption by submitting a request in writing to the Tribal Nations Education Committee and Indian Affairs Council. But, with the board's vote to discontinue the mascot, it will be looking for further direction from the state on where to go from here.

Call for change

Serious discussion about changing the nickname began in the community in 2020, when a petition duel took place on the website Change.org, considering the use of the nickname. Both were started by students at Esko High School. One petition said a name change should be considered, while the other said to leave the name alone.

At the time, there was a chorus of debate specifically about the name the Esko nickname mimics. The Canadian Football League team in Edmonton announced it would stop using its Eskimos nickname (they are now the Elks), and the company that made Eskimo Pies ice cream treats said it would drop the name after having used it for a century. The company now calls the treat "Edy's Pie."

Following the news out of Edmonton, a group in Alaska called out four schools in the United States that use "Eskimo" or a version of it as nicknames, including Esko. While the school has used depictions of Inuit people in the past, it has used only an igloo for several years. Some districts still use caricatures of native people. Escanaba, Michigan seems to have muted the imagery around its nickname, which employs the shortened version of the city name in calling its teams the "Eskymos."

A local response

Karin Anderson posted her Esko petition in July 2020, saying even a "watered-down version of 'Eskimo' is still offensive. Using indigenous people as a mascot is dehumanizing and racist."

Fellow Esko student Alex Bourgeault posted a petition in response, asking that the name be left alone. He said the issue "really ain't that deep." He said the Finnish tradition behind the name should stand.

After the internet dustup, the debate quieted until this past school year, when the issue was brought up at school board meetings.

"Esko" was used in the school name after a post office was established under the name in 1935, in what until then had been informally Esko's Corner, derived from the Esko family store.

Teams before then had played with the Lincoln moniker, from the name of the high school, or as the Tommies, after Thomson township, which the school district covered.

In the Esko Historical Society's definitive book on Esko area history, "Esko's Corner," it is noted that the term Esko-Mo came from legendary coach and later athletic director Les Knuti with the dash later removed. Around the same time, Otto Juntunen sold eggs in the area known as Eskomo Brand Eggs.

Latest push

In March and April, Esko parent Rachel Gilbertson brought this issue before the board, with the language of the new state law being formed. "Even though the mascot evolved over time and wasn't created with ill intent, we now know it's harmful," she said in April.

In May, with the law being passed, she said more and more people were coming to her side. "Within the last two months, I've received an outpouring of support from people throughout this community," Gilbertson said. "Many are afraid of being visible and vocal about their support due to fear of backlash to their children and potential retaliation they themselves could face."

Aside from the loss of a tradition, a change to the school's mascot and iconography will not come without a price, board member Frederick said this spring. "We've talked a lot about finance with this; it isn't something that's free, as far as the district is concerned. There are going to be a lot of things that have to go into it," he said.

The school would eventually need to change a lot, including signage, areas of flooring in the school that include the igloo logo, the football field turf, uniforms and numerous other things in and around the school - including padding and clocks in the gymnasium.

At this point, Fischer said, school and state officials are still digesting all the legislative changes, including the new state law regarding mascots. "We don't know the guidelines and requirements for existing items," Fischer said Wednesday.

According to Esko parent Vannessa Carol, school districts who have had to change their mascots in other states have spent, on average, $100,000.