Okemos school district near Lansing drops Chiefs nickname May 25, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail OKEMOS, Mich. (AP) A Lansing-area school district named for a Native American leader is dropping its Chiefs nickname, following similar changes at other Michigan schools. The Okemos school board voted Monday to stop using Chiefs or Chieftains and pick a new nickname in a few years. The switch could cost more than $400,000 to remove the name and image from buildings, uniforms and other school properties, the Lansing State Journal reported. Okemos is an unincorporated community in Meridian Township. It is named for Chief Okemos, who lived in the area and led the Saginaw Chippewas. He died in 1858.