Prep school drops Native American names for fear of ‘cultural appropriation’

A prestigious boys’ school has scrapped its tribal house names over fears about cultural insensitivity.

Dulwich Prep School in south London boasts a number of famous alumni, including Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville and veteran BBC correspondent John Simpson, who were sorted into houses with names inspired by Native Americans.

House names like “Mohican” have now been dropped by the school.

Former pupils of the school, which has fees of up to £8,000 per term, have been informed that their old houses have been rebranded with names unrelated to ethnic groups.

The Daily Mail reports that alumni were informed by the school’s leadership that “we have decided to move away from using tribes as our house system”, as “society’s understanding of history evolves”.

Boys were traditionally grouped into the Mohicans, named for a tribe in the north-east of the United States, the Chippewas, a tribe based north of the Great Lakes, and the Ojibwa – another name for the Chippewas.

A fourth house was named Deerfoot in honour of a 19th-century Native American runner.

These will now be named after mythological creatures, including Phoenix, Pegasus, Gryphon and Lamassu, a winged lion or bull with a human head which was central to the art of ancient Mesopotamia.

John Simpson has complained about the move, telling the Daily Mail: “I’m really depressed that something fundamental to the experience of every Dulwich Prep kid – which of us doesn’t remember whether he was a Chippeway, Deerfeet, Mohican or Ojibwa? – is being done away with.”

He added: “ I don’t suppose it’ll matter to what is nowadays a very fine school, but it matters to everyone who was there, no matter how old they are now.

“And to what end? So indigenous Americans won’t accuse Dulwich of cultural appropriation? Please. They’ve got better things to do.”

The decision by Dulwich Prep follows a number of reforms made across fee-paying schools in the heightened cultural sensitivity following Black Lives Matter protests.

Merchant Taylors’ School in Rickmansworth, Herts, changed the name of Clive House, named for former pupil Robert Clive – better known as Clive of India – over concerns about “his actions in India”.

Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls and Haberdashers’ Aske’s Boys’ School in Elstree, Herts, dropped the surname of Robert Aske, as he was an investor in the slave trade.

Dulwich Prep has been contacted for comment.