Prestigious £26,421-a-year Dulwich College whose former pupils include Reform UK leader Nigel Farage drops use of tribe names over fears of ‘cultural appropriation’
He may not quite be the last of the Mohicans, but… BBC Veteran John Simpson targeted his old school last night after it was demolished, using Native American tribes as a housing system.
Dulwich preparation London, a fee-paying boys’ school, believes the old names constitute ‘cultural appropriation’. It says the changes are due to concerns raised by some parents.
But critics have denounced the rebranding. Students at the school since 1916 – whose alumni include actors Hugh Bonneville – are placed in one of the four houses. Mr Simpson, BBC world affairs editor, was at the Mohican house.
Another house, Deerfeet, was named in honor of an Indian runner known as Deerfoot. The others, Chippeway and Ojibwas, were named in honor of the U.S. Great Lakes Ojibwa people and Canadaalso called the Chippewa.
Deer feet will now be called Lamassu, a mythical creature from Mesopotamia with a human head and the body of a bull. The other three houses are Phoenix, Pegasus and Gryphon.
Mr Simpson told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I’m really depressed about something fundamental to the experience of every Dulwich Prep child – who among us doesn’t remember whether he was a Chippeway, Deerfeet, Mohican or Ojibwa? – is abolished.
He may not quite be the last of the Mohicans, but BBC veteran John Simpson (pictured) last night targeted his old school after it was demolished, using Native American tribes as a housing system
Dulwich Prep London (pictured), a fee-paying boys’ school, believes its long-standing names constitute ‘cultural appropriation’. It says the changes are due to concerns raised by some parents
Since 1916, the school’s students – whose alumni include actor Hugh Bonneville – have been placed in one of four houses. Mr Simpson, BBC world affairs editor, was at the Mohican house (pictured)
‘Being a Mohican – a home for smart, but clumsy and not very sporty children – marked my future. I don’t think it matters to what is now a very nice school, but it does matter to everyone who was there, no matter how old they are now.
‘And for what purpose? So Native Americans won’t accuse Dulwich of cultural appropriation? Please. They have better things to do.”
Historian Lord Andrew Roberts said: ‘How racist of Dulwich. Prepare to abolish these noble tribal names that celebrate Native American culture and replace them with pure Harry Potter names like Gryphon.”
In her letter to former students, Louise Davidson, the school’s principal, wrote: ‘For more than a century, the school has looked at Native American culture as an inspiration and a way to help our students understand how to live well. The reason for their adoption was one of appreciation and hope, which remains at their core today.
“We recognize that as understanding of the society’s history evolves and research has included advice from the National Congress of American Indians, we have decided to move away from using tribes as our home system.”
