Among the categories of names for sports teams in the United States and Canada, those referring to Indigenous peoples are lesser in popularity only to the names of various animals. In a list of the top 100 team names, "Indians" is 15th, "Braves" is 40th, "Chiefs" is 60th. The typical logo is an image of a stereotypical Native American man in profile, wearing a Plains Indians headdress; and are often cartoons or caricatures. Other imagery include dreamcatchers, feathers, spears, and arrows. Individual schools may have performance traditions, such as the tomahawk chop, a mascot or cheerleaders in stereotypical Native attire, and chants adapted from Hollywood movies. These fictional representations stand in the way of any authentic understanding of contemporary Indigenous peoples, and promote racism.

The documents often cited to justifying the trend for change are an advisory opinion by the United States Commission on Civil Rights in 2001 and a resolution by the American Psychological Association in 2005. Both support the views of Native American organizations and individuals that such mascots maintain harmful stereotypes that are discriminatory and cause harm by distorting the past and preventing understanding of Native American/First Nations peoples in the present.

The trend towards the elimination of Indigenous names and mascots in local schools has been steady, with two-thirds having been eliminated during the 50 years prior to 2013 according to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). In more recent years, the trend has accelerated, particularly in July 2020, following a wave of racial awareness and reforms in wake of national protests after the murder of George Floyd, and the decision by the Washington Commanders to change their Redskins name and logo.

In a few states with significant Native American populations; such as Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin, change has been mandated by law. A law was passed in Connecticut which withholds tribal funding provided by casino revenue from any school that retains a Native mascots after July 1, 2022. Most have complied, but as of 2025, three school districts had decided to keep their mascots; Derby Red Raiders, Windsor Warriors and Nonnewaug High School Chiefs.

The school board in Cambridge, New York voted in June 2021 to eliminate the name and logo of the Cambridge High School "Indians". After the seating of two new members, the board voted to reverse this decision in July 2021. A group of parents favoring removal filed an appeal to the New York State Department of Education which issued an order requiring removal of the mascot or lose state funding. This order applies only to Cambridge, although there are 70 schools in the state that have Native mascots. In a final order, the state Education Commissioner ordered the school to eliminate the mascot by July 1, 2022, citing the evidence that Native mascots "inhibits the creation of 'a safe and supportive environment' for all students". The school board voted 3–2 to file an appeal with the state Supreme Court, arguing that the state Education Commissioner's order singles out Cambridge while allowing other schools to maintain their mascots. It is the state's position that the order to remove the Cambridge mascot alone is in support of the prior board's decision. In December 2023, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division unanimously dismissed the appeal as "moot."

The list below for secondary schools in the United States and Canada remains substantial, with 358 teams currently calling themselves "Indians", 158 "Warriors" using Indigenous imagery (there are many with the name using generic, Greek or Roman mascots), 108 "Braves", 61 "Chiefs", and 33 "Redskins". The latter has shown the greatest decline, due to an association with the Washington Redskins name controversy. Since the NFL team began the process of changing its name to the Washington Commanders, twelve high schools previously using the name also changed. Snell Middle School in Bayard, New Mexico also dropped the name.

Current usage The following schools are listed in alphabetical order by team name:

Apaches

Antonian College Preparatory High School, San Antonio, Texas – a co-educational Catholic high school Arcadia High School, Arcadia, California Arcola Intermediate School, Eagleville, Pennsylvania Arlington Country Day School, Jacksonville, Florida – private college-prep K–12 Centennial High School, Compton, California Fairview High School, Sherwood, Defiance County, Ohio Fort Thomas High School, Fort Thomas, Arizona – 93% Native American, adjacent to San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation Glenbrook School, Minden, Louisiana – The school was established as a segregation academy when the public Minden High School was desegregated in 1966. While now asserting its nondiscriminatory status, the school remains 92.8 percent white, with no Native American students. Glenbrook has an annual "Apache Princess" pageant. Gonzales High School, Gonzales, Texas Nogales High School, Nogales, Arizona Pottsville High School, Pottsville, Arkansas Sanger Union High School, Sanger, California Wabash High School, Wabash, Indiana

Arrows The following use Native American arrows, feathers, or arrowheads in their logos: Ashland High School, Ashland, Ohio Clinton High School, Clinton, Mississippi Lancaster High School, Lancaster, Wisconsin - All schools in the district are the "Flying Arrows". Pipestone Area High School, Pipestone, Minnesota - Entire school district is the Arrows with a crossed-arrow logo. Preble Shawnee High School, Camden, Ohio - Entire school district is the Arrows. Sachem High School East, Farmingville, New York Sachem High School North, Lake Ronkonkoma, New York - (Flaming Arrows) Tecumseh High School, New Carlisle, Ohio Watertown High School, Watertown, South Dakota – The prior use of faux Native American costumes was removed from the homecoming festival in 2016, but the arrow in some logos remains.

Aztec(s)

Ánimo Leadership Charter High School, Inglewood, California Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, Marlborough, Massachusetts Azusa High School, Azusa, California - Azusa Unified School District is debating mascot. Barstow High School, Barstow, California Copper Canyon High School, Glendale, Arizona Corona del Sol High School, Tempe, Arizona El Dorado High School, El Paso, Texas Esperanza High School, Anaheim, California Farmersville High School, Farmersville, California Frontier High School, Whittier, California La Quinta High School, Westminster, California Mark Keppel High School, Alhambra, California Mendota Junior High School, Mendota, California Montgomery High School, San Diego, California Palm Desert High School, Palm Desert, California Soledad High School, Soledad, California Yerba Buena High School, San Jose, California – mascot: Aztec Warrior William Moreno Junior High School, Calexico, California

Big Reds Bellaire High School, Bellaire, Ohio - Uses Indian head logo Centerville High School, Centerville, Iowa Chippewa Valley High School, Clinton Township, Macomb County, Michigan Missouri Valley High School, Missouri Valley, Iowa Parkersburg High School, Parkersburg, West Virginia West Middlesex Jr/Sr High School, West Middlesex, Pennsylvania - Logo is a Native American in a headdress. Girls teams are Ms. Reds.

Blackhawks

Most of the schools with the name use a bird logo, therefore are not directly derived from an Indigenous people although there may be an indirect reference to Chief Black Hawk. The following use Native American images/symbols: Adrian High School, Adrian, Missouri Baldwin-Woodville Area High School, Baldwin, Wisconsin Cheney High School, Cheney, Washington Cowan High School, Muncie, Indiana Fort Atkinson High School, Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin Prairie du Chien High School, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin Stockton High School, Stockton, Illinois West Aurora High School, Aurora, Illinois Westville High School, New Durham Township, LaPorte County, Indiana

Brave(s)

Brownies Agawam High School, Agawam, Massachusetts - With controversy going back decades, the Town Council again voted to retain the Native American imagery associated with their mascot in 2020, disregarding the national trend.

Cherokees

Greenback High School, Greenback, Tennessee Kendrick High School, Columbus, Georgia McMinn County High School, Athens, Tennessee Morgan Township Middle-High School, Valparaiso, Indiana South-Doyle High School, Knoxville, Tennessee

Chickasaws

Blytheville High School, Blytheville, Arkansas New Hampton High School, New Hampton, Iowa

Chiefs

Chieftains

Chippewas/Chippewa Raiders

Chippewa Secondary School, North Bay, Ontario

Choctaws

Bibb County High School, Centreville, Alabama Dyer County High School, Newbern, Tennessee West Tallahatchie High School, Webb, Mississippi

Comanche(s)

Cahokia High School, Cahokia Heights, Illinois Canyon High School, Anaheim Hills, Anaheim, California Shiner High School, Shiner, Texas West Texas High School, Stinnett, Texas

Dine' Warriors

Tse Yi Gai High School, Cuba, New Mexico – town is 26% Native American

Eskimos or Eskymos

Bowbells High School, Bowbells, North Dakota Escanaba Area Public Schools, Escanaba, Michigan – The public schools are all the Eskymos, and have an Indian education program. Town of Webb High School, Old Forge, New York

Halfbreeds Aniak Jr/Sr High School, Aniak, Alaska

Hurons

Rogers City High School, Rogers City, Michigan

Indian(s)

A-E

F-L

M-R

S-Z

Kahoks Collinsville High School, Collinsville, Illinois

Little Green Manchester High School Central, Manchester, New Hampshire

Maidens Waynesboro Area Senior High School, Waynesboro, Pennsylvania Boys' teams are "Indians"

Marauders Monache High School, Porterville, California – There was a large mural of a Native American on the side of the school's gym, created by Adam Sanchez, class of 2002. This referred to the high school's mascot, the "Marauder".

Mohawk(s)

Bethune-Bowman Middle/High School, Rowesville, South Carolina Colebrook Academy, Colebrook, New Hampshire James Madison Middle School, Titusville, Florida Madison High School, Middletown, Ohio McAuley High School, Cincinnati, Ohio Marquette High School, Bellevue, Iowa Medicine Hat High School, Medicine Hat, Alberta – In 2015 a grade-12 student started a petition to change the name. Millis High School, Millis, Massachusetts Moravia High School, Moravia, Iowa Morley-Stanwood High School, Morley, Michigan Morrisonville Jr./Sr. High School, Morrisonville, Illinois Northwest High School, McDermott, Ohio Piggott High School, Piggott, Arkansas Waldron Junior-Senior High School, Waldron, Indiana

Mohigans Morgantown High School, Morgantown, West Virginia

Red Devils Springville High School (Utah) — a local community group, with the support of the Navajo Nation, attempted unsuccessfully in 2002 to advocate for a change in the school mascot name on the basis of the dual racist and religious connotations.

Red Raiders/Raiders

Redmen

Arnprior District High School, Arnprior, Ontario Bellevue High School, Bellevue, Ohio Bucyrus High School, Bucyrus, Ohio Denis Morris Catholic High School, St. Catharines, Ontario East Islip High School, Islip Terrace, New York Fostoria High School, Fostoria, Ohio Parma Senior High School, Parma, Ohio Rock Hill Senior High School, Ironton, Ohio Sisseton High School, Sisseton, South Dakota – Located on the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation Smith Center High School, Smith Center, Kansas Tewksbury Memorial High School, Tewksbury, Massachusetts

Reds Calaveras High School, San Andreas, California - When a state law required dropping the Redskins, no new name was selected in 2016 and their Native logo was retained. They are now "The Mighty Reds" Eaton High School, Eaton, Colorado

Redskins