Indian Mascots, Symbols, and Names in Sports:
A Brief History of the Controversy
Throughout history Native American likenesses have been used as mascots for many sports teams, both professional and in schools. In 1968 a movement began by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) to motivate these teams to change their mascots (1). According to the website, these activists claimed that the use of these mascots were derogatory and depicted the Native American as inferior, foolish and violent and ridiculed Natives’ dress, cultures and religions(1). Some teams went as far as using imitation tomahawks, facial paints and symbolic drums and pipes as well as dances(1). There have been some schools who have taken this seriously:
“The challenges have been met with some success: a growing number of federal, state, and local entities have found Indian mascots and logos to be disparaging, degrading, and detrimental. By 2010, more than 1,000 academic and professional sports institutions have responded to these challenges by changing or eliminating their use of American Indian imagery (1).
At the college level, Dartmouth, Marquette, Miami University of Ohio, San Jose State, St. John’s, Stanford, and Syracuse have all elected to adopt new mascots. Within the past five years, high school boards in California, Wisconsin, and Kansas have followed suit. In addition, some schools have implemented policies to not compete against others who use Indian nicknames. Nonetheless, approximately 2,000 American Indian mascots are still in uses - about 900 of which are high schools” (1).
Something that I found encouraging was that, according to USA Today, a group of high school students in upstate NY went to their school board and requested that the school cease using their logo as it is hurtful to Native Americans. When the Oneida Indian Nation heard about this, they were surprised and offered to pay the 10k for new uniforms (2). I find this encouraging to think that the world may become a better place.
