A Massachusetts man is suing to stop the state from using the official seal because it depicts an American Indian with a sword hanging over his head.

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Daniel DeGuglielmo of Cambridge said he wants a judge to force the retirement of the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from official state flags, buildings and papers, the Boston Herald reported Wednesday.

"It's unfair to the native peoples," DeGuglielmo said of the deal.

A Suffolk Superior Court judge dismissed DeGuglielmo's request for a temporary restraining order to force the removal of the seal Jan. 5.

John Peters, a Mashpee Wampanoag and head of the state's Commission on Indian Affairs, said he supports the goal of the lawsuit, to have the seal re-examined, but he does not support the suit itself because it is seeking $24 million in damages.

DeGuglielmo said the money would go toward developing arts and history programs in schools.