He may not quite be the last of the Mohicans, but BBC veteran John Simpson last night took aim at his old school after it scrapped using Native American tribes for its house system.
Dulwich Prep London, a fee-paying all-boys school, feels the long-standing names constitute ‘cultural appropriation’. It says the changes follow concerns raised by some parents.
But critics have denounced the rebranding. Since 1916, pupils at the school – whose alumni also includes actor Hugh Bonneville – have been placed in one of four houses. Mr Simpson, BBC world affairs editor, was in Mohican house.
Another house, Deerfeet, was named in honour of an Indian runner known as Deerfoot. The others, Chippeway and Ojibwas, were named in celebration of the Ojibwa people from the Great Lakes in the US and Canada, also referred to as the Chippewa.
Deerfeet will now be called Lamassu, a mythical creature from Mesopotamia which had a human head and a bull’s body. The other three houses will be Phoenix, Pegasus and Gryphon.
Mr Simpson told The Mail on Sunday: ‘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.
‘Being a Mohican – a house for bright but awkward and not terribly sporty kids – marked my future. 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.’
Historian Lord Andrew Roberts said: ‘How racist of Dulwich Prep to do away with these noble tribal names that celebrate Native American culture, and replace them with pure Harry Potter names like Gryphon.’
In her letter to former pupils, Louise Davidson, the school’s head, wrote: ‘For over a century, the school has looked to Native American culture as an inspiration and a way of helping our pupils understand how to lead a good life. The reason for their adoption was one of appreciation and hope, which is still their core today.
‘We recognise that, as society’s understanding of history evolves, and research that has included advice from the National Congress of American Indians, we have decided to move away from using tribes as our house system.’