Name Game

Chief Illiniwek seems to represent

the culture in a positive light?

Many collegiate institutions have been urged by the National Collegiate

Athletic Association to drop their mascots,

names, or images pertaining to Native American tribes. The Indian nicknames debated about in college and professional sports originated from an era of forced assimilation in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Starting in the 1960’s, the Native American sports mascots began to be looked upon as racist. However, over the last ten years there have been actions stemming from the out cries from Native American tribes to change the "negative" connotations of the nicknames. Most notably, the National Congress of American Indians issued a resolution opposing continued usage of Native American team names, mascots, and logos.

Conversely, in recent years, teams such as the Utah Utes and Florida State Seminoles have received permission from nearby tribes to keep their respective names. Teams with Indian nicknames say these names are meant to honor the tribes and their heroism in battle. I feel that the voices in the debate have risen gradually, due to the trend of our society striving to be too politically correct. Furthermore, I’m not the only one who thinks so. According to Dexter Odom, Executive Director of the Newberry College booster club and proud N ative American, says "I think it's a lot of political craziness gone amok (Brady)." He shares the viewpoint that the recognition of the names are a source of positive acknowledgment, not disrespect.

Another statistic that contributes to the cause of keeping these traditional names is a poll that Sports Illustrated conducted. The survey found that "83% of American Indian respondents said that professional teams should not stop using Indian nicknames (Sports Illustrated)." With the majority of Native American sports fans agreeing upon their continued use, it would be erroneous to neglect their wishes. It is probably those who don’t care to follow sports that are insulted by the utilization of the names.

Regardless of where you stand on this subject there is no denying it is a major issue in sports, as well as where we stand as a society. Scholars have disputed the Sports Illustrated poll citing many different reasons. Richard C. King, author of Of Polls and Prejudice: Sports Illustrated's Errant ‘Indian Wars, argued:

(1) The SI poll is problematic because it serves to distract readers from the history and implications of mascots. (2) The survey features problematic sampling and identification issues produce non-representative and un-generalizable findings (for example, Snipp 1992) writes of the difficulty involved in any quantitative research on American Indians in national polling). (3) SI decontextualizes mascots and the controversy about them. (4) The article discussing the poll concludes that mascots are unproblematic merely because a

majority of polled Native people say they are, thus discounting the validity of a critical minority. Finally, (5) the consequences for public debate and social justice are ignored by the poll, which treats the issue as critically as SI treats sports injuries or debate over which teams will make the playoffs (King).

Anti-Tribal campaign logos found in different school in the West.

The excerpt from above is only one man's opinion of a statistic, and it is from the basis of many

Native Americans. King has failed to mention in his article on what proof he has to completley disregard the polling. I would always consider Sports Illustrated a credible source as well as a highly respected company in sports. The poll clearly shows to me that if in fact there are many Native Americans that are unhappy about the tribal names, that they are not seriously upset about it. It seems that a very small few in the Native American culture are making a lot of noise in the tribal name discussions and feel they speak for all Native Americans.If Native Americans gathered in larger numbers against the tribal nicknames, I feel their counter argument would be much stronger and change may have come sooner.

Those are all valid points, but it does not address the local tribes that find grea

t honor and respect by the teams near them, and their verbal approval. The Seminole tribe in Florida has always supported and been behind Florida State. Chief Osceola, the mascot of the university, is displayed as a fearless warrior and a source of inspiration.

This is a topic that effects more than just Native Americans, but all of us. If we as a society decide that these names are prejudice, then where do we stop? Is rebel a derogatory term? How about Ragin' Cajun? Why stop at just Native Americans when there are other names that could be called "controversial". In 1970, there

were over three thousand references to Native Americans in sports and now there is less than a thousand (Harjo). I feel that is an improvement and the ones that have stayed probably had justifiable reasons to keep the name.

I think that most teams that do not use offensive connotations towards their mascots should fight to keep the names. The NCAA's top ruling board, made up of school presidents, have been instituting the Native American policy, which puts pressure on schools with tribal names. Teams that are represented in the policy must cover any offending references on their uniforms at championships and championship events. With more challenges to the policy more Native Americans are displaying more concerns. "Yes, there is concern," said Tex Hall, President of the National Congress of American Indians (O'Toole). "We expect all mascots that are offensive to Native Americans be done away with, including and especially, worldwide recognized pro teams such as theWashington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians (O'Toole).

Most Indians say they don’t like the name representations but then go and root for the team. Countless tribe members have been spotted in attendance of games that have tribal mascots. Two men showed came in January to Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, for a con

ference on race relations wearing different forms of Washington Redskins paraphernalia. "They were speaking against the Indian nicknames, but they were wearing Redskins sweatshirts, and one had on a Redskins cap," says Betty Ann Gross, a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux tribe (Price). That right there represents the true disconnect I see with Native Americans and how much they truly care about the name change.

Some Native Americans have said that keeping the nicknames has led to more racism and prejudice to their people.I feel like that is false statement because the names have been around for a very longtime, and Native American should not feel new to racism. Native Americans today are probably more accepted today than in any other generation since we settled in these lands. One statistic that shows improvement is that over 70% of Native Americans live in urban areas (Cohen). This statistic would help show that more Native Americans are being accepted in areas populated by whites, and allowing them to leave the reservations.Also the federal government spends over three billion dollars each year in providing Native Americans the tools that will help them in urbanized jobs (Cohen). Native Americans are more widely accepted today and the numbers show that. If Native Americans are looking for better equality in the United States I think they should focus on other more glaring things other than sports nicknames. It could quite possibly be because of the sports nicknames, and how we now think of them in a more positive light.

The biggest and most enduring battle with Indian nicknames is taking place in North Dakota.

The University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux have carried the name proudly for 80 years, but now be forced to finally switch their name. One of two local Sioux tribes have given their support to keep the name, while the other one is strongly opposed and finds it offensive. “When you hear them announce the name at the start of a hockey game, it gives you goose bumps,” said Frank Black Cloud, a tribal member. “They are putting us up on a pinnacle" (Davey). The NCAA however has sided with the unhappy tribe and in doing so ha

s forced North Dakota to switch the name if they want to move to Division 1 athletics. The tribe who wants to keep it known as Spirit Lake is in the process of suing to keep the name and also accuses the naysayers of not even being Sioux. They have made statements that the other tribe is jealous and just looking for attention. Spirit Lake is hoping that the lawsuit can at least block the NCAA or the school from changing the name for awhile. The Board of Higher Education and the u

niversity have also sued the

NCAA and has reached a settlement to keep the name until November 2010 or until the tribes can agree.

I think that this is a glaring issue in our society that needs to get more attention.Our society is becoming too politically correct that we may not know when enough is enough.Tribal names may only be the beginning of a growing trend on things becoming more "Disney" like.Don't get me wrong, I like Disney as much as the next guy, but the real world is not that way.People seem to just think of this as a simple name change, but in turn it is much more.I can completely understand how people could get offend

ed by it, but there are a lot of things in the world that offend me.The reason that no one cares about the things that offend me is because I fall in the majority, and in the 21st century we don't care about the feelings of the majority.I'm not against our culture being more accepting and accommodating to other cultures by any means.My question is when and where do we draw the line?

Tribal names as sports nicknames is a great way to show respect and honor the great warriors of America's past.It is intended to get people riled up in a good way and bring people together under one name.People call themselves Sioux, Indians, Braves, and Redskins having no heritage of these specific groups, but they feel apart of that group.Sports and sports nicknames bring people of all ethnicity's together under one banner, and in some cases that banner is one of Native American culture.I personally consider myself a strong Cleveland Indians fan, which makes me a member of the symbolic tribe.It should not offend anyone when others want to be part of their group or to be associated with them.What makes us a great nation is that we

our a melting pot of many different cultures and ethnic groups, and Native Americans are apart of that.

These fans below seem pretty happy to be part of the Tribe!!!