WEST MICHIGAN -- Three West Michigan cities are among the first recipients of a fund to remove imagery offensive to Native Americans.

At its July meeting, the board of the Native American Heritage Fund granted almost $415,000 to defray the costs of projects in Kalamazoo, Battle Creek and Belding. A fountain, mascot and stained glass window deemed to be insensitive, historically inaccurate and offensive to the relationship between settlers and indigenous people will be removed.

The fund, created in 2016, allocates a portion of Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi state gaming revenue to projects that promote positive relationships and accurate information about the history and role of Michigan's Indian tribes and Native Americans in the state. Michigan's K-12 schools, colleges, universities, and local units of government are eligible to receive the fund.

Kalamazoo will receive $76,765 for to cover half the cost of removing the 78-year-old Fountain of the Pioneers complex in Bronson Park, which was completed this summer.

Kalamazoo's City Commission voted 5-1 to relocate the Fountain of the Pioneers in March, recognizing residents who said the controversial statue is inappropriate, hurtful and unwelcoming to indigenous people.

Though public debate has persisted since the monument was established, City Commissioners said the figures of a Native American in headdress head-to-head with a westward-gazing pioneer do more harm than good.

The vote was a victory for activists who brought renewed vigor to the effort, but critics said it steps on the fountain's great historic and artistic value.

In March, Tribal Council Chairperson Jamie Stuck said the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi supports Kalamazoo's decision to remove the fountain. Stuck suggested the city apply for the fund, which was unknown to city officials at the time.

Deputy City Manager Jeff Chamberlain said it cost $153,500 to remove the Fountain of the Pioneers from Bronson Park.

For 78 years, the unnamed settler and indigenous person faced one another in Bronson Park; locked in opposing directions and never seeing eye-to-eye.

Chamberlain said the removal process went "very smoothly," and the artistic sections of the fountain were disassembled without damage. They remain together now, but share a storage space in the city's Stockbridge Avenue facility instead of across from City Hall.

The statue figures await relocation to a museum or art gallery. Chamberlain said discussions are ongoing with the Kalamazoo County Public Art Commission to find a permanent home.

Nearly $335,000 will support the replacement of equipment, apparel and signage in Belding Area Schools as the district changes its mascot from the Redskins to the Black Knights.

In December 2016, the Belding school board unanimously voted to abandon its Redskins mascot after months of discussions in the community. Over the years, the logo was replaced Old English B, but parents asked the board to take a stance on the mascot.

The city of Battle Creek will receive $3,377 to remove and replace a stained glass window medallion in City Hall, which depicts a white surveyor preparing to club a Native American. Battle Creek derives its name from a historic skirmish between settlers and Potawatomi Indians.

In early June, the board began accepting applications from Michigan's K-12 schools, colleges, universities, and local governments.

Six other applications are still under consideration for funding in 2018.