BOISE -- What was once a symbol of Boise High School is now a blank space.
The school district decided to paint over the mural on their old gym a few weeks ago - a painting that some found offensive and disrespectful. They say it doesn't reflect the current culture of Boise schools.
Boise high schoolers will still be "Braves," but the school hasn't used the painting on the gym as a logo for 25 years.
Many students and alumni feel the Native American is a great representation of who they are: brave and proud. Others feel the painting of a red-skinned Native American dressed in a cloth with a knife and tomahawk in hand wasn't the best way to portray that pride.
"There's a number of Boise High School logos that we currently use that we feel better represent dignity and respect for Native American culture and heritage," Boise schools spokesman Dan Hollar told KTVB.
With guidance on school mascots from tribal leaders across the state, that painting is now wiped away. Hollar says it will be replaced by one of Boise High's more recent logos.
"It's been offensive for a long time," Idaho State Senator and Boise High Alumni Cherie Buckner-Webb said. "It's not newly offensive."
Debbie Flandro, a Boisean and member of the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, says it is offensive when Native Americans are portrayed as caricatures.
"Over time we just become really jaded. So I'm actually happy that they took it down," Flandro said. "I still think it's questionable that we use ethnic groups as mascots. I think people would be up in arms if we decided we were going to have a mascot that was the "African Americans" or the "Hispanics". I don't know why we find it okay to use a Native American."
One Boise high student told KTVB some kids didn't like the mural - among other logos - and were active in getting it removed. But a few recent graduates we spoke with said most students liked the painting on the old gym, or didn't mind it.
"I'm not sure what it meant to other people, but for Boise High it represented bravery," graduate Sasha Daniels said.
One alumni, Madison Hardy, said no one at the school was ever trying to be offensive.
"Actually a lot of people think it represents us as a school and our founding values which are compassion, trust, honesty and friendliness."
Other graduates say the painting was historic and removing it was unnecessary for the sake of political correctness.
However, Boise High isn't getting rid of the "Brave" mascot, they say they are just doing away with negative representations of it.
"It's proud and powerful. And that's what I think of the Indian nations as," Sen. Buckner-Webb said.
Buckner-Webb adds while she was attending the high school and the representations of their mascot were done in a way that elevated Native Americans, she could handle it.
"Sometimes it was. But many times it was not," she said.
Students we spoke to say the school got rid of the Native American head on their spirit gear last year and the physical mascot no longer wears garnishing.