# Whitesboro--now, with less Indian strangling! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 6, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitesboro-now-with-less-indian-strangling/798081 "2017-10-06T03:49:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitesboro-now-with-less-indian-strangling/798081/1 "2017-10-06T03:49:48Z")
I did a search before posting this and was surprise that nobody mentioned back when it was in the news a year or two ago. The village of _Whites_boro, with a town seal that looks like a white guy choking a Native American, [now has an updated version](http://www.cracked.com/article_25145_a-villages-controversial-official-seal-got-changed-kinda.html). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitesboro-now-with-less-indian-strangling/798081/2 "2017-10-06T03:55:28Z")
Huh, that South Park episode was real. On the town flag, a bunch of white stick figures are hanging a black one. They fix the flag by making some of the white people different races but still hanging the guy. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitesboro-now-with-less-indian-strangling/798081/3 "2017-10-06T09:58:11Z")
Not sure what it signifies, but it’s sort of interesting that they swapped out the leather outfit on the European man in favor of something foppish. And it’s interesting that the European man, in the original, was wearing a very Native American inspired outfit at the same time as he is attacking the Native American. Apparently, the town’s founders were neither big on gratitude nor did they understand irony. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitesboro-now-with-less-indian-strangling/798081/4 "2017-10-06T10:16:34Z")
Apparently the settler in the seal is actually supposed to be a dude by the name of [Hugh White](http://www.onlinebiographies.info/ny/onei/white-h.htm) who started the settlement. So … pretty funny all round, but at least they come by the town name honestly ETA: Read the bio with your 1950s goggles on - it’s pretty … hmmm … \*colonial \*is probably the best adjective ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitesboro-now-with-less-indian-strangling/798081/5 "2017-10-06T11:58:19Z")
A lot of state and town seals still fossilize old images and attitudes, and it’s about time they were changed. The old Massachusetts state seal used to have an Indian and the words “Come Over and Help Us”, but that disappeared long ago. Nonetheless, the current seal still depicts an inappropriately-dressed Indian with a logo he probably wouldn’t approve of, and a European sword above. > **[What Is the History of the State Seal of Massachusetts?](https://www.unitedstatesnow.org/what-is-the-history-of-the-state-seal-of-massachusetts.htm)** > > The history of the state seal of Massachusetts dates back to 1629, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony was still a British royal... > **[Seal of Massachusetts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_of_Massachusetts)** > > The Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts contains the coat of arms of Massachusetts. The coat of arms is encircled by the Latin text "Sigillum Reipublicæ Massachusettensis" (literally, The Seal of the Republic of Massachusetts). The Massachusetts Constitution designates the form of government a "commonwealth", for which Respublica is the correct Latin term. The Seal uses as its central element the Coat of Arms of Massachusetts. An official emblem of the State, the Coat of Arms was ad... Interesting takedown of several state seals, including Massachusetts’: [http://www.tmealf.com/ICV-23.pdf](http://www.tmealf.com/ICV-23.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitesboro-now-with-less-indian-strangling/798081/6 "2017-10-06T15:27:03Z")
Seems like this was a running gag in “Parks and Recreation”, where murals in the Pawnee city hall often appeared to celebrate mistreatment of the native Wamapoke (?) tribe by the white settlers.