Next month the Sanford School Committee will decide whether to permanently retire the high school mascot. Sanford is the only Maine high school that still uses the "Redskins" moniker, something that deeply offends Native Americans. For them, the word is derogatory, associated with the scalping of native people by non-natives for a bounty. But for some residents of Sanford, the name will always remain a source of pride. A dialogue has begun about how to reconcile the two points of view.

They called it "a peace-building conversation." Last night the North Parish Congregational Church in Sanford threw open its doors. In the basement organizers set out punch and plates of cookies. Folding, metal chairs were arranged in a circle. About 50 people turned out to hear several Maine tribal leaders and native elders discuss history, culture and the origins of what some simply call the "R word." Tribal Councilor Richard Silliboy of the Aroostook Band of Micmacs puts it in the same category as "squaw," the most derogatory slang word used to describe a native woman. "Squaw" has been removed from all public place names in Maine. And Silliboy said there are plenty of other ways he's been insulted in his life.

"Dirty Indian, stinkin' Indian, drunken Indian and a "no-good-for-nothing Indian," and the only good Indian's a dead Indian," Silliboy said.

Sanford has been calling its high school teams the "Redskins" since the 1940s. High School history teacher Paul Auger has researched the subject for more than a dozen years. He said use of the mascot started with a local sports editor nicknamed "Red" who wanted to add some excitement to local sports at a time when popular culture was obsessed with Indians in books and movies.

"And what better mascot could you pick for people to rally around and identify with then an Indian mascot? And Redskin was fearsome!"

Auger said it was especially fearsome given that the high school baseball team had previously been known as "the Plushtowners," a reference to Sanford's manufacture of mohair plush material. Auger said no one ever asked for Native American input before the name was adopted. He's come to see what a harmful oversight that was. One commonly held misconception is that "Redskin" is an innocuous word referring to warpaint or the color of native skin. But for the few native families that lived in Sanford the mascot and the name are a symbol of something else entirely, a bloody scalp.

"Going and living in this town and having the name...how do you think that made me feel?" asked Brenton Allaire, a Native American who grew up in Sanford.

One woman brushed away tears as Allaire described his struggles growing up in Sanford as a Native American. Before he dropped out of school in the eighth grade he said he was picked on every day.

"Same thing when I went in the Service. I had a fight. Why? Because I was native," said Allaire. "I was forbidden to use my language. So I lost alot. Because I wasn't accepted."

The Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission has asked the Sanford School Committee to stop using the Redskins mascot. The high school has already removed the insignia from team uniforms and replaced it with the letter S. Last year Wiscasset replaced a similarly named mascot. Sanford is the lone hold-out.

"My question is what's taking 'em so long to do the rest of it?" asked Gary Wood. He describes himself as a new resident in Sanford who won't vote for a single member of the School Committee until they resolve the mascot issue.

"It still comes down to one thing," Wood said. "The term we all know is institutionalized racism."

"I like to say something if I may. My name is Roland Cote and I was born and raised in Sanford my whole life. I taught in Sanford school systems and so on," said Roland Cote. He is a retired teacher and coach from Sanford who still clings to his identity as a Sanford Redskin. He said no one in Sanford has ever meant any disrespect by the use of the mascot.

"So let me make this very, very clear: No one in Sanford has ever been a racist. No one, as far as I know, has ever degraded the term Redskin," Cote said. "We've always been very, very proud of it. I was born a Redskin. I"m gonna die a Redskin."

But Coach Cote said he's also flexible. If the School Committee decides to change the name...he'll live with it. And if the committee members don't, so will Maine's tribal members. They say it takes time to heal relationships. And Sanford, said Micmac councilor Richard Silliboy, will not be the last place to have the conversation, since one prominent professional football team still uses the name.

"You're not last -- the Washington Redskins -- we're hoping that they will open the stadium as generous as you opened this church," said Silliboy.

The Sanford School Committee will vote on whether to keep the name at a May 7 meeting.