A public hearing was held Monday on bill in the state Senate that would prohibit the use of Native American mascots in Massachusetts public schools.

State Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Hampshire, Franklin & Worcester, filed the bill. She said indigenous leaders and the indigenous legislative agenda are calling for an end to the appropriation of Native American images, symbols and language for athletic mascots in public schools.

Some local schools, like Grafton and Algonquin, have already made changes in recent years. Supporters of the bill said at Monday’s hearing that it's an issue of racism.

"It's a racist way of looking at us indigenous people,” said Faries Gray, a member of the Massachusetts Tribe of the Ponkapoag. “This crop of racism, we cannot just wave a magic wand at and get rid of. We can't do that. We can take away pieces at a time. This is one of those pieces. This is a place where it has to happen. We can't continue to go to these schools."

Wahconah Regional High School also moved on from its Native American mascot in recent years.

The school said they removed all native imagery from team uniforms. They still use the "warriors" nickname and said the New England Anti-Mascot Coalition hasn't updated its data, because they still list the school as having native imagery.