RED LODGE, Mont. (AP) — The Red Lodge School District board of trustees has unanimously voted to change the high school's mascot, the Redskins, amid criticism that it is a derogatory term referring to Native Americans.

Before Tuesday night's vote was taken, schools Superintendent Mark Brajcich warned that changing the mascot was going to have a divisive effect. Meanwhile, Trustee John Elsberry asked the district to "embrace the Redskins mascot" until a new one is chosen by students and the community.

The board voted amid raucous cheers and a standing ovation from most of the roughly 100 people who attended the meeting.

Some in the community supported the 60-year tradition of the Redskins mascot, but others said it put down Native Americans.

A letter from the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council asking the school to change its mascot weighed heavily on the trustees before the vote.