Native American Team Names

Tyler Jackson

WR121

Today, both professional and collegiate teams are using Native American team names and mascots that are offensive. Indian team names and mascots should be banned because they are racist and dehumanize American Indians. Back in my home state of Arizona, I live both on the Navajo Reservation and in the city. None of the local school’s mascots have to do with the tribes who are in the surrounding area: they are mainly animals like the Bulldogs, Eagles, Panthers, and Roadrunners. A handful of schools that have a name that refers to the Native American culture, like the Tuba City Warriors. A Warrior means someone who fights for his or her people, will defend it and isn’t really offensive or based around Indians. The Native American people know better than to use any name will sound offensive because they are proud of their culture and would do nothing to damage it.

Today, the total percentage of Native American’s in 2010 in the United States is only 0.9%, but there are over 2.7 million that are alive and thriving. (US Census Bureau). That is better than the, ”fewer than 250,000 by the beginning of the 20th century.” (Churchill 1). The sad thing about this situation is that Native Americans were forced to live in foster homes earlier in the 20th century.

Some would say the team names and mascots should not be banned being that they are only embracing the idea that Native American people exist. Yet in actuality, team names like the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins are harmful. The word Indian comes from when Columbus first discovered the Americas. He mistakenly called these people Indians, when in fact they are Native Americans. Indians means a native person of India. Redskin also has many negative connotations attached to it. There are three main ones that the word can be applied to. One author said, “One is the war paint American Indians used to apply to themselves before they would go off to battle. Another is to emphasize the color of Native skin.” (Weidie). The Caucasian people thought that if you were ‘Red skinned’ you were not a real person, merely a thing or object. An additional meaning is the bloody scalp of a Native American.  “Bounties had been place on the scalps of Indians—any Indians—in places diverse as Georgia, Kentucky, Texas, the Dakotas, Oregon, and California, and had been maintained until resident Indian populations were decimated or disappeared altogether.” (Churchill 2). A Native American scalp was proof to show that a person had successfully killed one. It is racist because they are saying we are objects but if you are able to kill one and get their scalp, then they are trophies. Nothing is being done to get rid of these dehumanizing team names. If any other name would be used like the St. Louis Sluts or Wisconsin Wetbacks there would be an uproar, but the Indians, Braves, and other team names are still being used.