BOHEMIA, N.Y. (AP) — A school district in New York City’s suburbs agreed this week to change its “Thunderbirds” nickname to simply the “T-Birds” in order to comply with the state’s mandate to retire all Native American sports names and mascots.

According to the deal , Connetquot Central School District on Long Island would be allowed to continue using imagery such as an eagle, thunderbolt or lightning bolt, so long as it can attest the “T-Birds” moniker has “never been associated with any Indigenous imagery of any kind.”

But Native American advocates complain the proposed name change still falls short of the spirit of a 2023 state regulation , which districts had to comply with by the end of June.

John Kane, a member of the Mohawk tribe of upstate New York, argues there’s no other et

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