Let's take a look at sports team names in
general. There are
only three categories that
nearly all sports team names fall
into.
1. Animals 2. Objects
3. 'Professions'
Some examples:
ANIMALS
Eagles, Bears,
Falcons, Lions, Tigers, Ravens, Bulls,
Wolverines,
Cardinals,
Dolphins, Ducks, Jaguars etc.
OBJECTS
Pistons, Bullets,
Rockets, Suns, Jets, Red Sox, White
Sox, Stars,
Rockies
etc.
PROFESSIONS
Packers, Kings,
Steelers, Spartans, Buccaneers,
Vikings, 49ers,
Cowboys, Rangers, Lakers etc.
Obviously there are
exceptions.
Such as:
Bills (named after Buffalo
Bill), Redwings (could be an object
or an animal), Titans (a
large giant), Rockies (a mountain) etc.
But most sports team names fit into the 3
categories.
Now, a list
of 'Indian' team names/mascots....
Chiefs, Braves,
Indians, Redsk**s, Fighting Illini, Chippewas,
Savages,
Seminoles,
Warriors, Redmen, Chieftains etc.
So
which category do these fit
into?
Before we answer that, it needs to be fully
understood
that some of these so-called 'Indian' sports team names
are actually racial slurs. Obviously, a racial slur is an
completely unacceptable choice for a sports team name.
Here is a list of some of the racial slurs
which are still used as sports team names:
Savages
I don't think this one needs a whole lot
of explaining. Indian people are
not beasts,
and we never were. But we were considered
to be 'uncivilized', bloodthisty, demon
'savages' by european invaders
merely because our societies were foreign to
them.
Squaws
This is a word that has been used to
refer to Indian women. Used as a
name for many parks,
valleys, mountains etc. The term 'squaw' is
VERY offensive to Indian women. The term was
taken from an Algonquin word which made reference to female
genitalia. The word was
taken and twisted by those european immigrants who would rape Indian
women. They used
the term in much the same way the "C" word is used today, as a
denigrating term to women.
Redsk**s
Used as a name for many sports teams, this
word is offensive by its very nature. In it's
origin, it refers to the bloody scalps of Indian
children, women and men that were sold for
bounties aside animal skins in the USA. At
this sad period in american history, Indians
young and old, male and female, were hunted
like animals by bounty hunters. They were
killed, and then scalped.
When these bounty hunters would come to the trading
post, they
would receive payment for their deer-skins,
their, beaver-skins, their raccoon-skins,
and
their red-skins.
It is sickening that
this horrifying word is still used as a sports team
name.
Braves
This is a word that has been used to
denigrate Indian men. It dehumanizes the Indian male
and equates him to something less than
human. The terms 'buck' and 'doe' were also used
by early european immigrants as a way to refer to Indian men and
women. As you can see,
they also infer that the Indian person is in some way inhuman. We
are men, NOT 'braves'....
Chiefs
This is a word that is commonly given as a
nickname which insults Indian
men. The cultural equivelant would be to
nickname all white men 'Prez' or 'King'.
The term 'chief' itself is incorrect. Our
leaders were never 'chiefs', but headmen,
or clan mothers, and so on. Not 'chiefs'. Our leaders were highly disrespected by
the USA. So calling someone 'Chief', is just
a way to continue that disrespect....
So having
addressed that, which category do these
so-called 'Indian' sports team names fit
into?
Animals? Objects? Professions?
The answer of course, is simple, none
of the above! These
names/mascots fall into the
category: RACIAL.
It may be argued that the
names 'Chiefs', 'Warriors'
and 'Chieftains' fit
into the 'PROFESSIONS'
category. Allow me to
explain why they don't.
When
you think of a 'warrior', what's the first image that pops
into
your mind? How about a 'chief' or a 'chieftain'? These
3
terms are nearly always
applied to American Indian people.
Take
some time to investigate the antics and images of teams
that
use these names/mascots. I have yet to find one team
using
one of these names that isn't up to their ears in the use
of
highly offensive racially geared antics and images. It is
due
to this strong racially offensive connection that I tie
these
3 team names/mascots to the 'RACIAL' category.
American Indians are a race of people,
not
ANIMALS, OBJECTS, or 'PROFESSIONS'.
So how does this equate to racial oppression?
Allow me to explain....
Let
me begin by addressing the obvious first. The
terms
'reds**n' and 'brave' are, by their definition
alone,
racial slurs. 'Reds**n' is a historic word
which
came into use during the times when Indian
men,
women and children were hunted like animals
and
murdered, then scalped. These scalps or
'redsk**s'
were then turned in for a bounty. The
term
'brave' is a demeaning word used for many
centuries
in reference to Indian men. It stems
from
the once popular belief that Indians were
less
than human. Indian men were also referred
to as 'bucks', and Indian women as 'does.' These
terms dehumanize and insult. The continued use of
these
demeaning words leads me to believe that this
'less
than
human' belief still exists today....
These 'Indian'
mascots/team
names oppress Indian
people. They
oppress because they continue in the
use of extreme
negative
stereotypical antics, words
and images.
Antics like the 'tomahawk-chop', mock
'Indian war-chants',
non-Indians painting their faces
and dressing-up like
'Indians', mascots performing
mock 'Indian' dances
or throwing fiery spears etc..
Indian
children cannot possibly look at a stadium full of
thousands
of people mocking their ethnicity and making
fun
of their traditions and feel good about being Indian. This
is
what 'Indian mascots' do. They glorify all the stupid old
stereotypes
and steal the pride our children could have in
the
beauty of their race. They insult the entire Indian race.
Insulting
an entire race.... the very real definition of racism....
RACIAL should not be a sports team
name/mascot
category. Did you know that Irish people, not
so
long ago, fought Notre Dame about the harmful
use of the name 'Fighting Irish'? So
you see, this
issue is not exclusively an Indian issue. Many
thousands of institutions, grade-school, collegiate
and professional, have made the decision to do
the right thing and remove their RACIAL names
in exchange for names that fall into the three
categories above. It is the morally right
choice.
We
are people. Not objects for America's
amusement.
We have been idealized, demonized
and
romanticized by America long enough. It must
stop.
We are NOT 'honored'. We are DIS-honored
and
DISrespected. Treat us as people, not as
infallible,
mighty, powerful, glamorous romantic
'warriors'
straight out of a hollywood fantasy movie.
We're
just PEOPLE. And we demand to be treated so.
"I believe that the hidden agenda behind Indian
mascots
and logos is about cultural, spiritual, and intellectual
exploitation. It's an issue of power and
control.
These
negative ethnic images are driven by those that want
to define other ethnic groups and control their
images. To me, power and control is the ability
to
make you believe that someone's truth is the absolute
truth. Furthermore, it's the ability to define
a reality
and to get other people to affirm that reality as if
it
were their own. As long as such negative mascots
and logos remain within the arena of school
activities, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous
children are learning to tolerate racism in schools."
Excerpt from an article by Dr. Cornel Pewewardy
Comanche/Kiowa
It is my hope
that
these honest words have touched
your heart and made
common sense to you. Racism
is racism, no matter
how 'attractive' one makes it
look. Pilamaye
(Thank you) for taking the time to
read this
material.
Stop in again, as updates to this
section of Native
Circle will be made regularly.
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