For Native American students, exposure to Native American mascots reduces self-esteem, their ability to imagine future accomplishments, and belief that Native American communities can make a difference, according to Laurel Davis-Delano, a professor of sociology at Springfield College who has studied the effect of such imagery on students .

The Department of Education launched an investigation Friday into New York state’s own Education Department and its Board of Regents for threatening to pull funding from a Long Island high school that refused to change its Native American mascot.