‘It will never go away’

The Chiefs are in charge.

Students at Massapequa High School sent a message loud and clear to Gov. Kathy Hochul — whose administration is trying to force them to ditch their long-standing team name: “Once a Chief, Always a Chief.”

The defiant motto was freshly painted onto a massive mural outside the Long Island campus and aimed at state education officials threatening to revoke the Chiefs nickname thanks to a 2023 ban on Native American logos by the Board of Regents.

“Everyone loves the Chiefs,” 12th grader Brodie Smith told The Post with a paintbrush in hand Friday. 

“This Chief pride — we’re very proud of our school. We’re proud of our staff and everything. We’ve got people honking all the time in support when they drive by.”

Massapequa art classes have been etching fun, lighthearted designs on the wall directly adjacent to the school as an end-of-the-semester project for decades — but this year was different. 

The students instead spoke loudly, creating a statement piece and response to Albany’s ultimatum for the district to fork over nearly $1 million to rebrand their mascot or risk losing out on state funding.

“This is theirs. They design, they pick, they vote, and they paint it,” said school board president Kerry Wachter.

“It’s not being imposed on them. This is who they feel they are, and it just makes us want to fight that much harder for them.”

Massapequa has been mired in a lengthy legal battle with Albany that remains ongoing in both federal and state courts.

But the school district also has its notable backers. The anti-woke Native American Guardians Association supports them and the conservative town’s don’t-tread-on-me attitude even won the support of President Trump.

“LONG LIVE THE MASSAPEQUA CHIEFS!” Trump, who held up a navy Chiefs sweatshirt in the Oval Office, posted to Truth Social last year.

Education Sec. Linda McMahon also visited the Long Island campus last May and was left with a lasting impression of how seriously Massapequa is battling to keep the locally adored moniker.

“They’re incredibly behind their school, behind their Chiefs,” McMahon told The Post at the high school.

She also emphasized that chief is synonymous with leadership — a message that resonates with 11th grade artist Rowan Silva.

“Once you go to the school, you become a Chief,” he said. 

“You leave the school, you’re always going to be a Chief. It’s really that simple.”

Even if New York leveraged Massapequa into dropping the name, the students’ masterpiece couldn’t be touched by the state since the wall sits on private property of an adjoining shopping center.

Wachter said that’s a symbol of how moot Albany’s efforts are.

“They may take it from the sports teams, but it’s everywhere in the community. It’s our fire department, it’s our village of Massapequa Park [emblem], everybody’s still going to be wearing their Chief sweatshirts,” she added. 

“It will never go away … they can never extinguish it. Their objective will never be reached.”

But if it is the Chiefs’ curtain call, Smith, the 12th grader, can’t think of a better legacy than what he and dozens of other students have sweated over and will likely complete by the week’s end.

“I would feel so honored if this were a lasting memory for the Chiefs,” he said.