Indigenous Culture in US Sport

Indigenous Cultures in US Sport

Sports teams have used mascots to help symbolize or represent a specific team. Some mascots include: animals such as the Florida Gators or Pacific Tigers, human like figures such as Texas Tech Red Raiders or Dallas Cowboys, and the imaginative such as Tennessee Titans or Arizona State Sun Devils. However the use of indigenous cultures, or commonly known as Native Americans in the United States, in sport has become a controversy. Having been raised in an ethnic community and actually participating in Pop Warner youth football team called the Redskins, it never crossed my mind that what were adopting and subconsciously promoting the negativity of indigenous cultures. We embraced ‘Redskin’ stereotype that was portrayed in media particularly in the film Last of the Mohicans film (or any Western genre film that portrayed Native Americans) as being a savage merciless warrior.

The use of indigenous cultures in US sport presents social issues that negatively affect those cultures. The stereotypes derived from use of these indigenous cultures continue create adverse effects (Kim-Prieto, Goldstein, Okazaki, & Kirschner, 2010). As previously mentioned, media depictions and educational misrepresentations create and drive the stereotype for this misinterpretation (Longwell-Grice, 2010). The use of Indians, chiefs, and braves is appealing since it provides a stereotype for coaches and players to embody the mindset and idea that they too could be a “chief” or “brave” (Longwell-Grice, 2010).

Objection from the Native American community periodically surfaces with arguably the most offensive use of a mascot, the Washington Redskins (Basu, 2013). Susan Harjo, the president for a national Native American rights organization, has referred to the word redskin as the R-word, and even compares it as derogatory as the N-word (Basu, 2013). Legislation to ban the term redskin was introduced to congress that would amend the Trademark Act of 1946 and if passed, the bill would force teams like Washington to ban the use of its trademarked name (Basu, 2013).

Proponents have a different viewpoint of Native American symbols for their athletic team. Dan Snyder, Washington football team owner, has claimed that he will never change the name and that it honors “where we came from, who we are” (Martinez, 2013). To Native Americans, this concept of ‘honoring’ is viewed as a mockery of their culture and viewed this as institutional racism (Munson, 2010; Muir, 2010). This is the common defense among the privileged, which are predominantly white, and are talking on behalf of the Native Americans (Muir, 2010).

The question comes up of how did white individuals develop this concept that they can simply use an Indian mascot and find it “honoring”? Native Americans have long been on the receiving end of this through United States history (Longwell-Grice, 2010).  When European settlers first began settling in America in the early 1700, Native American tribes were driven out of their lands. Many white settlers viewed Native Americans as unfamiliar and alien people who occupied land that white settlers wanted and felt that they deserved (Perdue & Green, 2005). The most notable advocate for the “Indian Removal” was President Andrew Jackson who signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which later paved way for the Trail of Tears and subsequent elimination of the an entire Indian tribe (Perdue & Green, 2005).

The media fuels this agenda with the classic violence between cowboys and Indians (watch any early Clint Eastwood films). This provides a false representation of the Native American community and further reaffirms white dominance among other cultures (Muir, 2010). The stereotypical symbols of the mascot appeals to fans of a professional organization and for alumni, community supporters, and students of an educational institution (Longwell-Grice, 2010). The logos utilize the mascot to create products to sell. Resistance to change the use of Native American mascots can negatively affect the status quo.

Getting rid of all Native American symbols in all aspects of professional and amateur sports is the socially just solution. This presents challenges to the status quo since the symbol provides marketing appeal for followers of a team. With a sports marketing perspective, having Native American symbols allow for easier revenue to be generated. Does the symbol necessarily have to be of an indigenous culture? Professional organizations should look and use the 2005 NCAA guidelines as a model for banning Native American symbols (Basu, 2013). The recent NCAA ban of the Native American mascots presents a move toward having a socially just sporting culture.

Taking a sidestep from Native Americans, does the University of Hawaii performing the haka dance viewed as socially just?

References

Basu, M. (2013). Native American mascots: Pride or prejudice? CNN. Inamerica.globs.cnn.com/2013/04/04/native-american-mascots-pride-or-prejudice.

Kim-Prieto, C., Goldstein, L., Okazaki, S., & Kirschner, B. (2010). Effect of exposure to an American Indian mascot on the tendency to stereotype a different minority group. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 40(3), 534-553.

Longwell-Grice, R. & Longwell-Grice, Hope. (2010). Chief, braves, and tomahawks: The use of American Indians as university mascots. C.R. King (Ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Martinez, M. (2013). A slur or term of ‘honor’? Controversy heightens about Washington Redskins. CNN. www.cnn.com/2013/10/12/us/redskins-controversy/.

Munson, B. (2010). Teach them respect not racism: Common themes and questions abut the use of “Indian” logos. C.R. King (Ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Muir, S. (2010). Native Americans as Sports Mascots. C.R. King (Ed.). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Perdue, T. & Green, M. (2005). The Cherokee removal: A brief history with documents. Boston: Bedford St. Martins.