As I clean out the last of my mother's SMC memory box I am filled with such sweet memories of my own. There are class lists, pictures, letters and the high school handbook (mimeographed of course) from 1964. I was 13 years old - only in 7th grade at the time.
As I browsed through it (one reason going through this box of memories has taken me two weeks) I was filled with pride to see the explanation of our team name, symbol and colors. There are so many people that want the Indian Tribe names to be discontinued from use at the many colleges that I think the explanations have been lost. Central Michigan University still uses the Chippewas with full support from the local Tribal Council. That is because the University has classes about the Chippewas and uses the team name with pride and history behind it. St. Mary Cathedral had that same pride.
STUDENT HANDBOOK
ST. MARY CATHEDRAL
HIGH SCHOOL
SAGINAW, MICHIGAN
1964-65
TEAM NAME
The athletic teams of Cathedral High are nicknamed the
"Red Raiders," a sobriquet which has its origin in the Indian
lore of the Saginaw Valley.
Four or more centuries ago, the Sauk Indians made their
homes, built their campfires, held their councils and smoked the calumet along
the Saginaw River and its tributaries and gave the area their name,
"Saug-e-nah," "Land of the Sauks."
The powerful Chippewas to the North, with envious eye on
the beautiful Sauk country, its rich hunting grounds, its beautiful rivers and
valleys with abundance of game and fish, longed to gain it by conquest. In their counterattacks against the forays of
the enemy, the peace-loving Sauks, became a formidable foe in the defense of
their homeland. Their young braves in
sudden thrusts penetrated the land of the Chippewas as far North as Thunder Bay
with such ferocity that they were given the name, "misk-maiadjitad," "Red Raiders."
SYMBOL
The symbol of Cathedral High is the Tomahawk, the light
ax used not only as a missile and as a hand weapon by the Sauks and other North
American Indian tribes, but also as an implement of peace. It is a small hand-hewn stone fastened to a
forked stick by strong leather thongs.
The Indians used it to loosen the soil to plant corn and beans, to drive
blackbirds from the field, to break weeds, and in due time, to gather the
harvest. With it, they cut wood for the
campfire, cut animal skins for their clothing and their tepee dwellings and
also fashioned boats out of the trees with the help of it and fire. Truly that little stone hatchet to them was a
symbol of protection from enemies and of provision for the necessities of life.
COLORS
The school colors at Cathedral are red and white, both
appropriate from the fact that its colors were once maroon and white and its
team were called "Maroons" and from the fact that they are now named
the "Red Raiders."
