The recent decision to change the name of Sutter Middle School to Miwok Middle School has received a lukewarm response from former Miners attending Rio Americano. 

The Sacramento City school board voted in June to change the school name and that of two other schools because the board members felt the old names had racist associations. In the case of John Sutter, his complicated legacy included cruel treatment of Native Americans.

Although Miwok, located in East Sacramento, is in a different district, many students who went there attend Rio. Of the former students interviewed for this article, most thought the name change was unnecessary, even if they did not defend the historical Sutter. 

”Sutter represents a huge part of Sacramento and I think changing the name is unnecessary,” freshman Mason Mclure said.

Freshman Braden Lue was even more emphatic.

  “Sutter [Middle School] is supposed to be the pride of the city, and I believe changing this iconic and traditional name is disrespectful,” he said.

Junior Harkin Turner sees the issue in practical terms.

“I think the renaming of Sutter to Miwok Middle School has no real point or benefits,” he said. “I think the money and time going toward changing the name could be going toward better things that could actually benefit students.”

But not everyone opposed the name change.

“I believe that the name change is good,” freshman Bailey Toler said. “It’s good honoring the Miwok because John Sutter was a slave owner. I don’t think anybody is going to miss [the name]. It’s not a major university. It’s just a middle school. The school name didn’t impact anything that we did as a community.”

 Overall, it was the SCUSD board that had the final say.

“Our school sites sit on indigenous land. It is our duty to build inclusive and welcoming schools, and in many ways, that begins with the name,” school board member Jasjit Singh said in a statement.

Kit Carson International Academy has been renamed to Umoja National Academy, after the Umoja tribe; Peter Burnett has become Suy:u Elementary, which means “hawk” in the Miwok language.