It’s hard to miss the Native American imagery around Massapequa, a coastal hamlet 40 miles (64 kilometers) east of Manhattan where roughly 90% of the residents are white.

New York education officials won’t rescind the state’s ban on Native American mascots and team names, despite threats from the Trump administration that it risks losing federal funding.

New York has been trying to rid schools of Native American mascots going back more than two decades. A Big Chief Lewis statue is surrounded by a fence in Massapequa, N.Y., on April 25, 2025.