People ask me why I don’t just let this go.  “It’s all in the past,” they say.  I tell them that there is no past tense in the Cheyenne language.  The past is not gone.  As I stand here before you, all of my ancestors stand with me.
                                                                                         ...Suzan Shown Harjo

Nonetheless, in the late 1960s, many American Indian students and activists intensified efforts to persuade college, professional, and high school teams to discontinue the use of Indian-related mascots, names, and logos.  They argued that racism permeated the use of stereotypical and derogatory mascots that depicted Indians as inferior, foolish, and violent and that mocked Natives’ appearances, dress, cultures, and religions.

Indian mascots exhibit either idealized or comical facial features and "native" dress ranging from body-length feathered (usually turkey) headdresses to more subtle fake buckskin attire and skimpy loincloths. Some teams and supporters display counterfeit Indigenous paraphernalia, including tomahawks, feathers, facial paints, symbolic drums and pipes, as well as mock-Indigenous behaviors, such as the "tomahawk chop," dances, chants, drumbeating, war-whooping and symbolic scalping.  (Pewewardy, 1999.)

The leading national Indian tribal organizations and professional associations of educators, journalists, artists, and youth have been at the forefront of efforts to put an end to using Indian mascots in sports.  The National Congress of American Indians  (NCAI) has helped shape the debate around the issues that mascots are derogatory and  not only harm Indian self images, but also negatively influence the non-Indian perception of Indian peoples. In his article, “Why Educators Can’t Ignore Indian Mascots,” Dr. Cornel Pewewardy explains how the use of racist stereotypes dramatically effects such perceptions.

So-called Indian mascots reduce hundreds of Indigenous tribes to generic cartoons. These "Wild West" figments of the white imagination distort both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children's attitudes toward an oppressed -- and diverse -- minority. Schools should be places where students come to unlearn the stereotypes such mascots represent. The Indigenous portrait of the moment may be bellicose or ludicrous or romantic, but almost never is the portrait we see of Indian mascots a real person. Most children in America do not have the faintest idea that "Indigenous Peoples" are real human beings.

Children's self images are very pliable and susceptible to external forces, especially if they are steeped in violent and negative images. Unfortunately, for Indigenous Peoples many false images of ethnicity still dominate the consciousness of the American psyche. I have found that many ethnic images have been manufactured and created in the image of other racial groups.  The manufactured "savage," "pagan," "retarded," "culturally deprived," non-European is the flipside of the European Civilization myth. Many ethnic images distort reality while creating new and seductive realities of their own. Students in schools cannot understand the realities of modern American life and the prospect for the next generations without understanding the popular images of the past and the present.  (Pewewardy, 1999.)

• describe the actions of some collegiate and high school athletic programs, as well as professional sports franchises, that have had and currently have Indian mascots;

• provide an overview of legal actions undertaken by American Indians against high school districts and professional sports franchises regarding their policies on Indian mascots; and

• explain some of the most common reasons that have been used to support the use of Indian mascots, symbols, and names in sports.

Beginning in 1970, colleges and universities began responding to the increasing pressure by Native Americans to discontinue the use of Indian mascots.   Some of the most important decisions include the following:

• In 1970, the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma discontinued the use of its “Little Red” mascot.
• In 1971, the Associated Students of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin accepted the request to retire their cartoon logo “Willie Wampum.”
• In 1972, students at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California voted on a resolution to retire the school’s “Indian” mascot. In 1973, the school returned to its original symbol, the color Cardinal.
• In 1974, Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire retired its “Indians” mascot and returned to its original “Big Green.”
• In 1975, Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York discontinued using the “Saltine Warrior” mascot.
• In 1980, Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon dropped its “Red Raiders” mascot,  along with other Native References associated with its usage.
• In 1988, the University of Minnesota’s campuses decided that their intercollegiate sports teams would not play at-home games with teams that continued to use American Indian references.
• In 1994, St. John’s, America’s largest Catholic university, replaced its “Redman” mascot with “Storm.”
• In 1996, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga stopped using it “Chief Moccanooga” mascot.
• In 1996, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio dropped its use of the “Redskin’s” team name.

At the University of Illinois, a white man dressed in “traditional Indian” clothing performs gymnastics for the fans at half-time.  Such clothing is actually a replication of 1890s Sioux clothing, but the mascot “Chief Illiniwek” portrays is supposedly an Illiwi Indian.  The effort to retire “Chief Illiniwek” was begun in the early 1980s by one of the students, Charlene Teeters, and has since been carried on by other American Indian students.  Despite continued protest by American Indians,, both schools insist that their mascots honor the Indian nations that originally inhabited the land upon which the universities were built.

High School Athletics

It was not until the late 1980s that many high school districts and individual schools began to address the effects on children in the public schools of stereotyping Indians in sports.   Such stereotyping can be quite harmful, according to a citizen of the Oneida Nation and a representative of the Wisconsin Indian Education Association:

"Indian" logos and nicknames create, support and maintain stereotypes of a race of people. When such cultural abuse is supported by one or many of society's institutions, it constitutes institutional racism.... The logos, along with other societal abuses and stereotypes separate, marginalize, confuse, intimidate and harm Native American children and create barriers to their learning throughout their school experience. Additionally, the logos teach non-Indian children that its all right to participate in culturally abusive behavior. Children spend a great deal of  their time in school, and schools have a very significant impact on their emotional, spiritual, physical and intellectual development. As long as such logos remain, both Native American and non-Indian children are learning to tolerate racism in our schools.  (Munson, 1999.)

• In 1988, Michigan State’s Civil Rights Commission denounced the use of mascots and images depicting American Indian people in Michigan’s educational institutions.
• In 1988, Minnesota’s State Board of Education passed a resolution stating that “the use of mascots, emblems, or symbols depicting American Indian culture or race [is] unacceptable.” It then encouraged all of its school districts to retire their Indian mascots.
• In 1988, public schools in Wisconsin began to retire its Indian mascots.  In 1993, the Wisconsin Assembly called on all their schools to abandon the Native references and by 1998, one-third (21) of its schools no longer had such mascots.
• In 1991, the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs called upon public schools to drop Indian-related names and motifs.
• In 1992, Central High School in Naperville, Illinois retired its “Redskins” mascot.
• In 1992, Grand Forks Central High School in North Dakota dropped the “Redskins” mascot and replaced it with the “Knights.”
• In 1992, the National Education Association (NEA) passed a resolution: “The National Education Association deplores prejudice based on race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or gender and rejects the use of names, symbols, caricatures, emblems, logos, and mascots that promote such prejudice.”
• In 1993, Arvada High School in Arvada, Colorado dropped its “Redskins” team name.
• In 1995, the Jefferson County Public Schools in Kentucky changed “Braves,” “Raiders,” and “Indians”  team names in Louisville schools.
• In 1996, Newton High School in Sandy Hook, Connecticut dropped “Indians” and adopted the new “Nighthawks” name.
• In 1996, Freemont High School in Sunnyvale, California retired the “Indians” name and replaced it with “Firebirds.”
• In 1997, the Los Angeles Unified School District in California passed a resolution ending the use of Indian mascots in its schools.
• In 1998, the Kansas Association for Native American Education issued a resolution calling for the retirement of all Indian mascots in the state’s public and private schools.
• In 1999, the State of Wisconsin submitted a Senate Bill that would forbid the use of ethnic names, nicknames, logos, and mascots by all school boards in the state.

Professional Sports

In the 1990s, the Indian mascot controversy has focused primarily on professional sports.  Indeed, the most resistance to retiring Indian references has come from professional teams - especially from Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves and the Cleveland Indians, as well as the National Football League’s (NFL) Washington Redskins.  Representatives from these teams consistently have argued the following points:

• professional teams are private entities and, therefore, are entitled to use a name, symbol, or mascot of their own choosing;
• Indian references in sports are actually used in reverence and honor; and
• Indian references are an important tradition to the fans, so much so that fans would never accept the change.

Following World War II, the use of Indian logos and mascots intensified.  The team’s owner released a promotional video entitled, "Take Me Out to the Wigwam."  In 1947, “Chief Wildhorse” - a man atop a horse in full Indian regalia - first appeared on the playing field for opening day.  Soon, a wigwam was erected in the bleachers near the field so that each time a homerun was hit by the Braves, the newly named “Chief Noc-A-Homa” could rush the field for a commemorative dance.  Chief Noc-A-Homa remained with the team throughout its stay in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and through the 1980s to the team’s present home in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Cleveland Indians organization claims that the team’s name originally was intended to honor the first American Indian to play major league baseball, Louis Sockalexis - who also played for the Cleveland Spiders from 1897-1899.   (When historians and journalists recently examined this claim, they could find no supportive facts.)  Around the turn of the century, the name was changed to the Cleveland Naps in honor of their team manager, Napolean Lajolais.  When Lajolais left the team in 1915, the search began for a new name.  A Cleveland newspaper held a contest and the Cleveland Indians was chosen, again in honor of Louis Sockalexis.  It was not until 1928 that the team began its use of a visual logo of an Indian on the sleeve of their jerseys, much like the Braves.  In the 1940s, today’s symbol of “Chief Wahoo” first appeared as a caricature in the local newspaper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Following World War II, the team’s owner Bill Veeck began to promote the team’s American Indian image as a source of entertainment for the team’s fans.  In 1951, the Chief Wahoo caricature was first displayed inside the “C” on the team’s caps.  Every year since, the symbol of Chief Wahoo has been on the front of the jersey or on the shirtsleeve.    Chief Wahoo is a grinning caricature which one Dakota academician, James Fenelon, described this way:

...[Chief Wahoo] depicts a Native American "Indian" nearly always painted bright red with overly huge front teeth, shifty eyes, and headband with a feather protruding from behind. While some symbols....bear some resemblance to actual "Native Americans" however generalized, the Wahoo does not even appear human. It is an unambiguous racial icon meant to symbolize stereotypical and usually negative images of Native people as ‘wild’ but ‘friendly’ savages.  (Fenelon, 1997.)

For decades, the fans of both these teams have smeared their face with “war paint,” dressed in “traditional” Indian garb, pounded on tom-toms to emulate the sounds of traditional Indian drums, sung “war songs” and practiced the “tomahawk chop.”  The most dramatic and offensive use of these “traditions” occurred during the 1995 World Series games, pitting the Atlanta Braves against the Cleveland Indians.  In response, many “real” Cleveland Indians increased their protest activities with support from outside Ohio. As the World Series progressed, conflict between the fans of the two sports teams and American Indian protesters  was so inflamed that  Native activists dubbed this nationally televised set of games as "The World Series of Racism."

To gain a clearer understanding of just what the “traditional” Indian symbols meant to the fans of the Cleveland Indians, Sociologist James Fenelon at John Carroll University in Cleveland conducted a detailed survey with local students during the 1995 World Series games.  He found seven important “sociological impacts from this particular form of symbolic racism”:

1. Native American children (and adults) face direct prejudice and discrimination because of the Wahoo and association with the name "Indians."

2. Native American adolescents and adults experience prejudice and discrimination in the forms of intimidation and suppression by local "officials."

3. Non-Indian racial minorities are forced to make hard choices on participation in racial rituals, or rejection by one's peers and/or associates.

4. Blacks, Latinos and Whites, when displaying, supporting or denying racial symbols and language, are perpetuating racism across the spectrum.

5. Whites, along with some racial minorities, are flaunting highly racialized rituals, racial symbols, and language against and directly in the face of protest, reifying racist discourse, actions, and ideologies.

6. The media, especially on television news, reproduces and displays all the above, directly approving of racial imagery through all sectors of society, including its defense and denial.

7. Therefore, and finally, there is both direct and indirect suppression of all criticism, from young kids to university professors, and their free speech, in all sectors and the social institutions of the Cleveland metropolitan area. Even my research results have been suppressed.  (Fenelon, 1997.)

During the 1990s, major ground was gained in the battle to abolish the use of mascots, from the United States Patent and Trademark Board (PTO) in Washington, D.C., to the Los Angeles Unified School District in California.  The legal case that has gained the most attention began in 1992 when seven American Indian leaders filed suit against the corporation that owns the Washington, Redskins, Pro Football Inc.  The petitioners asked the PTO to revoke the trademark held by Pro Football Inc. The Native American parties stated that the team’s name was derogatory to American Indians and brought them into contempt and disrespect.  In 1999, a three-judge panel unanimously agreed, deciding to cancel the trademarks.

It is believed that the ruling, if upheld on appeal to the federal district court for the District of Columbia, will result in the loss of millions of dollars for Pro Football, Inc., the NFL, and the member teams that profit from the sale of sports merchancdise imprinted with the logo.  Before the ruling, revenue generated by the trademark was about $5 million per member team.  In the meantime, the petitioners view the decision of the PTO as indicative of the growing awareness about the detrimental effects caused by the racism and stereotyping of Native Americans in sports.   According to lead petitioner, Suzan Harjo:

We are witnessing a mighty thing - society changing and coming to grips with one of the last vestiges of overt,  public racism.  This is not the first time that the team has been forced by the federal government to conform with public policy on racial equity.  Washington was, after all, the last team in the football league to be integrated, after a federal shove into the civil rights era in the 1960s.  This decision validates the views of the overwhelming majority of Native Peoples and an increasingly broad segment of American society that it is long past time for the Washington professional football team to drop its racist name in favor of one that does not offend any people.  (Harjo, 1999.)

Although this practice continues in a number of communities throughout the country, I hope that with this decision in our favor the Appeal Board will move America closer to a society free from publicly condoned racism and discrimination.  These mascots in no way honor Native Americans, they are an unnecessary element of today's society and represent the last vestiges of a time thought long past when such stereotypes were commonplace. These mascots and team names serve to perpetuate racism and bigotry toward Native Americans, just as “Sambo” served to perpetuate racism and bigotry toward the African American community. We hope other sports teams with similar mascots and team names recognize the merit of this important decision and respond accordingly.

The Rationale for Retaining Mascots, Symbols and Names

Some of the most common reasons for retaining mascots, symbols, and names in collegiate, high school,  and professional sports have been carefully articulated by the Wisconsin Indian Education Association (WIEA).

"We have always been proud of our ‘Indians’." When developing high school athletic traditions, most schools borrowed the sacred objects, ceremonial traditions and components of traditional dress that were most obvious, without understanding their origins, context, deep meaning, or appropriate use.  Thus, these high school traditions are replete with inaccurate depictions of Indian people, which, in turn, promote and maintain stereotypes and encourage young people to play at “being Indian.”

"We are honoring Indians; you should feel honored." But Native Peoples are saying that they don't feel honored by this symbolism and that, instead, they experience it as a mockery. They see sacred objects - such as the drum, eagle feathers, face paint and ceremonial dress - being used, not in sacred ceremony, or in any cultural setting, but in for another culture's sport.

"Why is an attractive depiction of an Indian warrior just as offensive as an ugly caricature?" Both depictions present and maintain stereotypes. Both firmly place Indian people in the past, separate from their contemporary life or cultural experience. It is difficult, at best, to be heard in the present when societal messages suggest that your real culture only exists in museums. The logos keep Indians marginalized and stand in the way of their contributions to the here and now.

"This is not an important issue." If it is not important, then why are schools willing to tie up their time and risk potential law suits rather than simply change the logos.  Most Indian adults have lived through the pain of prejudice and harassment in schools when they were growing up, and they don't want their children to experience the same attitudes and treatment.  This issue speaks to Indian children being able to form a positive Indian identity and to develop appropriate levels of self-esteem. In addition, it has legal ramifications with respect to pupil harassment and equal access to education.

"What if we drop derogatory comments and clip art and adopt pieces of REAL Indian culturally significant ceremony, like Pow-Wows and sacred songs?"  Though well-intended, these solutions are culturally naive and would exchange one pseudo-culture for another. Pow-wows are gatherings of Native people which provide the opportunity for cultural expression and a sense of Native American community.  Pow-wows have religious, as well as social, significance. To parody such ceremonial gatherings for the purpose of cheering on the team would multiply exponentially the current pseudo cultural offensiveness.

"We are helping you preserve your culture." The responsibility for the continuance of Indian cultures falls to Native Peoples. They accomplish this by surviving, living and thriving; and, in so doing, pass on to their children their histories, traditions, religions, values, arts, and languages.  Indian cultures are living cultures - they are passed on by Indian Peoples themselves, not "preserved" by non-Indians.

"This logo issue is just about political correctness." Using the term "political correctness" to describe the attempts of concerned American Indian parents, educators and leaders to remove stereotypes from the public schools trivializes a survival issue. A history of systematic genocide has obliterated over 95% of the indigenous people of the Americas. Today, the average life expectancy of Native American males is age 45. The teen suicide rate among Native people is four times higher than the national average. Stereotypes, ignorance, silent inaction and even naive innocence damage and destroy individual lives and whole cultures.

"What do you mean, there is hypocrisy involved in retaining an "Indian" logo?"  Imagine that you are a child in a society where your people are variously depicted as stoic, brave, honest, a mighty warrior, fierce, savage, stupid, dirty, drunken, and only good when dead. Imagine going to a school where many of your classmates refer to your people as "Dirty Squaws" and "Timber Niggers". Imagine hearing your peers freely, loudly and frequently say such things as "Spear an Indian, Save a Walleye", or more picturesquely proclaim "Spear a Pregnant Squaw, Save a Walleye". Imagine that the teachers and administration do not forbid this kind of behavior. Imagine that this same school holds aloft an attractive depiction of a Plains Indian Chieftain and cheers on its "Indian" team. Imagine that in homecoming displays, cheers, and artwork you see your people depicted inaccurately in ways that demean your cultural and religious practices. Imagine that when you bring your experiences to the attention of your school board and request change, they simply ignore you and decide to continue business as usual. Imagine that the same school board states publicly that it opposes discriminatory practices, provides equal educational opportunity and supports respect for cultural differences.

Conclusion

Since the 1940s, Native Americans in increasing numbers have consistently challenged the use of Indian references in collegiate, high school, and professional athletics.
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 mid-2001, more than 600 academic institutions have responded to these challenges by changing or eliminating their use of American Indian imagery in association with their athletic department.

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 1,400 high schools and more than 70 colleges and universities continue to use American Indian mascots.

Consequently, the struggle to end the use of Indian mascots continues.  In April 2001, the United States Commission on Civil Rights examined the issue and encouraged non-Native American schools to cease using Native American symbols and imagery. Also during the spring, New York State Education Commissioner Richard Mills urged superintendents of the 136 schools in New York that have American Indian mascots to immediately begin the process of change.

But these efforts have been countered by natural apprehensions about instituting such dramatic change and the impact it could have on a program and community. To help athletic departments that may be considering changing their mascot,  five steps have been offered by Ellen J. Staurowsky, EdD,  an Associate Professor of Sport Studies and Coordinator of the Sports Information and Communication Program at Ithaca College:

• Be leaders.
• Model behavior for athletes and other students.
• Understand that the cost of replacing logos and refurbishing facilities should not be an impediment to change.
• Think of changing a logo as a beginning and not an ending - a new beginning for the way in which issues relating to American Indians are taught within the school's curriculum.
• Avoid polls to determine if a mascot should be retained.

Briggs, Kara.  "Trademark Board Considering 'Redskins' Suit," Indian Country Today.  August 1998:1A,5A.

Brady, Eric.  "Term of Non-Endearment?"  USA Today Sports, May 21, 1999:1C.

_________.  "Cleveland Might Be Next in Line for Suit."  USA Today Sports, May 21, 1999.

_________.  "A Novel Approach Used in Arguments."  USA Today Sports, May 21, 1999.

Burghart, Tara.  "Illinois University Senate: Retire Chief Illiniwek." News From Indian Country: The Nation's NativeJournal.  April 1999.

Fenelon, James V.   "Symbolic Racism: Chief Wahoo and the Cleveland Indians."  June 1997. http://www1.jcu.edu/SOCIO/fenelon/WAHOO.htm

Harjo, Suzan.  Press Release from The Morning Star Institute, April 1999.

Hirshfelder, Arlene B.  American Indian Stereotypes in the World of Children.  Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1993.

Hinkle, Jeff.  "Proud Heritage or Institutional Racism." American Indian Report.  April 1998:24.

Martin, Phillip W.D.  "Bench This Team: The Offensive Anahronisms." Boston Globe.  April 19, 1998:G2.

Melmer, David.  "Chief Wahoo Hits the Road."  Indian Country Today.  January 1999:A2.

Mihesuah, Devon A.  American Indians: Stereotypes and Realities.  Clarity Press, Inc., 1996.

Moreno, Sylvia.  "'Redskins' Name Assailed at Hearing."  Washingtonpost.com. May 28, 1998.  http://wp4.washingtonpost.com/wps-rv/sports/redskhins/daily/may98/28.htm

Munson, Barbara, “Common Themes and Questions about the use of ‘Indian’ Logos,”   1998. Website of the Wisconsin Indian Education Association: http://pages.prodigy.net/munson/common_themes.htm

Pewewardy, Cornel, “Why Educators Can’t Ignore Indian Mascots,” 1999.  Website, “American Indian Sports Teams Mascots:” http://members.tripod.com/earnestman/1indexpage.htm

___________.  "Why Teachers Can't Ignore Indian Mascots." News From Indian Country: The Nation's Native Journal.  September, 1998:16.

Stanfield, Rochelle L.  "Banning Stereotypes."  National Journal, 24, 13 (1992):781.

Wilkins, David E.  "Of 'Tigers', 'Redskins,' 'Braves,' Ad Nauseum." News from Indian Country: The Nation's Native Journal.  May 1997.