Controversy+Surrounding+Native+American+Mascots

“Controversy surrounding Native American Mascots”         The controversy concerning Native American mascots has become a popular subject over the past 10 years. From High Schools to professional sports teams, many use Native American's as a mascot. The problem? Well usually the mascot is filled with negative stereotypes that follow Native American’s. The bigger problem is in our society it is accepted and supported. Our society does not see how offensive these mascot's are to native Americans. Many people attend sporting events where there are Indian mascots and you see fans wearing feathers or war paint. The question that can be raised from this is why are other cultural/ethnic groups not used as mascots? You don’t see many sports teams called the "Iowa whites" or the "New Mexico Mexican’s". At some point there has to be a line drawn between what is ok and what is offensive and can hurt the image of an existing culture. Native American’s have spent over 50 years trying to get the use of Native American mascots banned or at the least eliminate some of the negative stereotypes that many of the mascots portray.

Professional sports teams like the Washington Redskins, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indian’s, and College Universities like the Florida State Seminoles have been the most popular mascots discussed recently especially the Redskins and Seminoles. The term “Redskin” refers to the redness of the skin of Native American’s. Also it has been said that it could refer to the bloody skins of Native American's that were considered prizes after a battle. They could be sold and bought in neighboring towns.The Atlanta Braves do a tomahawk chop at their games where thousands of non-Indians fans are acting like they are Indian’s. Cleveland Indian’s mascot Chief Wahoo has distinct and offensive characteristics of Indian’s. The Florida State Seminoles have been a hot topic because of their close relationship with the Seminole tribe of Florida who supports them. The problem is the tribe in Florida is the only Seminole Tribe that supports Florida State. The NCAA has tried its best to try to eliminate the problem by banning the use of their mascots during postseason play along with other offensive Indian mascots. But the NCAA can only do so much at this point and currently it is the School’s option to get a new mascot or not if they feel it is too offensive. The NCAA is not the only one making an effort in trying to eliminate some of the offensive mascots. Bill’s have been passed to investigate schools whose mascot is considered offensive. In 1992 Native American’s filed a lawsuit against the Washington Redskins. So as you can see this has gotten a lot bigger than just conversation.



There are thousand's of schools that share this same problem. People say they understand why having a Native American as a mascot is offensive but do they really? Think about if Jesus Christ was a mascot. How would people feel about watching some guy dressed up with bloody hands and wreath around his neck dance around and try to energize a crowd? Well when you use an Indian chief as a mascot, the same problem arises with Native Americans. At the University of Illinois they actually retired their mascot Chief Illiniwek. Before he was retired a group was created on facebook called “if they get rid of the Chief I am becoming a racist”. Native American’s associated with the school demanded protection after receiving threats because of the issue. Simpson College Changed their mascot from Red men and Lady Reds to Storm. It is much easier for High Schools to change mascots because they won’t have as much of a financial defect if they switch. A professional sports team intern would have to get a new mascot, jersey’s, clothing, and merchandise for fans. Because of something simple like a mascot switch they could also lose part of their fan base. Also tradition runs deep with many of these sports teams for instances the Washington Redskins have been around for seventy years. As much as Native American’s have made strides in getting mascots banned Sports Illustrated did a survey asking if sports teams should stop using Indian nicknames. The results were unbelievable, 81% of Native American’s said no. On reservations 67% said we shouldn’t ban the use of Indian’s as mascots. Although not every Native American participated in this poll and most are probably sports fans you would think if it is something that they really consider offensive, then they would stick up for their culture. Also another problem is many Indian’s wear some of these sports team clothing or root for the teams who have Indian’s as their mascots.

Who really knows if someday all Native American mascots will be eliminated. The goal is not to eliminate them but to eliminate the offensive stereotypes associated with them. Some Indian mascots are not offensive and activists don’t have a problem with them. In fact they like them because this brings them a positive image. Some could make an argument that sports teams who use mascots that represent cultural groups like the USC Trojan’s, or the Michigan State Spartan’s could be in the same category. Well the difference is Native American’s are still an existing culture today unlike both of those. This is something that should really affect everyone. If you think of your own culture, think about how you would want to be remembered. Native American’s don’t want to go to a sporting event where there is an Indian mascot that portrays nothing of who they are. I wouldn’t want to go to a game where the mascot was a white person and he had a bunch of money in his back pocket and a gun in his hand. Native American activist will continue to fight and try to get all offensive Indian mascots removed, but until our society takes a minute to see how this is offensive then nothing will change and to be honest most will still not understand why it’s a big deal.            Annotated bibliography “NCAA American Indian Mascot Ban will begin Feb. 1” ESPN.com News Services August 12, 2005: <[]> NCAA American Indian Mascot ban. Starting on Feb. 1 the NCAA banned the use of American Indian mascots by sports teams during its postseason tournaments, but didn’t prohibit them to use them otherwise. They believed that these mascots are unacceptable for NCAA championship competition Florida State said that they were upset that they couldn’t use it because they have a close bond with the Seminole tribe in Florida and they don’t believe that it is culturally hostile and abusive. The Seminole tribe in Florida supports the school, but Seminole tribes elsewhere do not. A lot of schools have been asked to decide whether there mascot could be deemed offensive, but are unsure on how they should decide it. Some schools did remove the mascot.

Price, S.L. “The Indian War’s” March 4, 2002. <[]> What does thousands of people doing a tomahawk chomp at Atlanta braves stadium represent? In the article they talk about how it affects Native Americans and how America’s society doesn’t pay attention. Also brought up are key points on how Native American’s don’t help the cause by wearing some of the sports team’s clothing. And SI took a poll that included Native American’s that brought back some interesting results. Also discusses how it is easier for a high school to change their name because they don’t sell their merchandise like Professional sports teams.

Lapchick, Richard. “Mascots are a matter of respect” Page 2 ESPN. August 24, 2005: <[]> The problem that Native American Indians see is how the mascots are used. When you say something like “the Indian’s scalp the Braves” it does not look good on the Native American’s. What if schools were called the Buffalo Blacks, or the New Jersey Jew’s. Also talks about the responsibilities of the NCAA when trying to ban Indian Mascots and the Schools responsibilities.

Fox 11 online. “American Indian Mascots up for debate” February 25, 2009: < [] > This article posted discussed how a bill would be passed to further investigation into complaints regarding Indian Mascots. Also talks about how the goal is not to abolish all of the Indian mascots, but instead to get rid of mascots that show negative stereotypes towards Native American’s. Most of it deals with high schools and the effects it would have on them if they had to change. Or what it would take for them to change.

Kimberlin, Joanne. “Controversy over Indian names, mascots in sports” //The Virginian-Pilot//. June 10th, 2009: < []> This article gets feedback from the institutions who are being asked to change. Why they believe that they don’t need to change and how much of an effect it would have on them if they did change. Teams say that their mascots convey courage and spirit and the use of it honors the people they represent. In the article it refers to the Washington Redskins and states “The football team’s name is a racial slur on par with the N-word”

Paroli, Colleen. “Indian mascots insult”. The Telescope. October 16th, 2006. < []> Discusses distinct stereotypes that certain mascots portray that are considered insulting to Native American’s. Also it talks about how these stereotypes give American’s society a false image of native American’s and makes them believe that it is ok to think of them as this. In the article it states, “Indian mascots are offensive and dehumanizing to American Indian’s.

Dr. Kraatz, Chris. “__Abstract:__ The Truth about American Indian Mascots” Indiana University. <[]> As a society we need to listen to the Native American’s to get a clear Idea of what is ok to be considered a Indian mascot. As a society we haven’t paid attention to the Native American’s. Also talks about 3 specific things you have to do to “mascotize” a group of people. On top of that brings up points on how a mascot such as a Trojan or Spartan is far different from an Indian because Native Americans are an existing culture unlike Trojan’s or Spartan’s.

“Indian mascot controversy extends throughout the nation”. Tufts Dailey – Newspaper of Tufts University. March 8th, 2007: < [] > 18 schools could not host post season events until they altered offensive symbols in their mascots. The mascots could not be displayed on uniforms, cheerleaders, dance, teams or band uniforms.

Powell, Andrew. “The debate over Indian Mascots”. New York Times upfront. November 28, 2005. [] Discusses whether or not the ban on Indian mascots for post season tournaments goes too far or not far enough. Should the ban include regular season games too? And should all high schools be banned from using Native American Mascot’s?

Thacker, Paul. “Ugly Turn in Mascot Dispute” Inside Higher ED. January 10, 2007. <[]> The use Illinois mascot Chief Illiniwek have caused Native American’s associated with the school to demand protection after receiving threats and racist jibes against them. One group on facebook called “if they get rid of the chief I am becoming a racist” a guy said that he wasn’t racist before but now he is. This article really brings about how people hate change, even if it is for the right reason.

Martin, Joseph. “Team Spirits: The Native American Mascots Controversy” University of Nebraska Press. Charles Fruehling. C. Richard King. 2001. <[]> “If the perceived "truth" is that Indians do not exist or are vanishing, then it is safe to assume that Indians cannot speak for themselves, creating a false sense of a right to speak for, and define, American Indians.” This was a quote that I took out of the paper and found interesting. And on top of that discusses how an Indian mascot gives the wrong impression on our society. Jean, Terri. “ A time line on the fight to get rid of the offensive mascots” < [] > Article consists of a timeline which important actions regarding getting rid of Native American Mascots have occurred. I have listed a few that I thought struck me as noticeable actions. 1968- National Congress of American Indians launches campaign to address stereotypes. 1970- Oklahoma retires its little red mascot that had been traditional since 1940. And protest begin against Cleveland Indians baseball team – Chief Wahoo – Cleveland. 1992 – Native Americans filed a lawsuit against the Washington redskins. Simpson College drops its redmen and Lady Reds to storm. 1999- ESPN airs a special program on Native American’s in sports and which contains a segment on the mascot issue. 2002- Iowa Civil Rights commission passed a resolution opposing the use of Native American images, mascots and team names in Iowa.

Plonsey, Timothy. “Pros and Cons of Indian Names for Schools” < @http://indianschools.tripod.com/id2.html > This website just discusses the simple Pro’s and Con’s of Using Indian’s as Mascots. I found a lot of similar connections with past articles on both. The good thing is that having an Indian Mascot brings attention to Native Americans, but the downfall is it isn’t always a great representation of Native American’s.

Vedantam, Shankar. “Native American imagery as sports mascots: A new problem.” The Hidden Brain. March 25, 2010. < [] > The stereotypes of Native Americans mascots have led to stereotyping of other groups like Asians. The researchers found that volunteers shown the American Indian mascot were quicker to come up with stereotypes about Asians that suggested Asians were socially inept, overly competitive, and not fun-loving. Pretty much the article discusses how Native American Mascots don’t just affect Native American’s. It also goes into a discussion on how the University of Illinois retired their mascot because of these findings.

Homan, Christine. “Debate swirls around Native American mascots” Capital News service. April 30, 2010. < []> Discusses how the Civil rights commission will be examining its stance on Native American mascots. Those who support the use of mascots believe they aren’t doing anything wrong and they think that Native Americans should be happy to have someone honoring their culture and values.

Jacobs, Charolette. “Native American Mascots—what do you think?” November 6th, 2006. <[]> Just an example of how some believe Cleveland Indian’s mascot “Chief Wahoo” portrays Native American’s. Dignified, Honorable, respectful - or – Disgraceful, Shameful, Racist.



Schmdt, Rob. “Let’s stereotype everyone equally.” 25 September. 2008 < []> The picture below is something I found at this website which shows a what if scenario? What would happen if the Cleveland Indian’s were not the Indian’s but another ethnic group? Would society find this acceptable?



Watson, Whit. “What Would Chief Osceola Do?” 8 August. 2005: <[]> The picture speaks for itself but in reality this does not look like he is honoring anyone.

Allison, Scott. “Leave the Headdress at home”. __The Miami Student__. Miami of Ohio University. 17 January. 2011 <[]> As you can see these fans believe this is socially acceptable and it is to most. But if this was your ethnic group would you want someone mocking you?

“A few examples of public schools using “Indian” mascots”. [] This is an example of a Native American mascot at a high school. As you can see with the large nose, angry, and long hair you can see how these people view Native American’s.