Native American Mascot Research Paper

Teams in every sport, at every level of competition, have a mascot. It is the mascot that represents the competitive spirit and team identity, motivating players and fans alike. Does the symbol chosen have any impact on whether a team wins or loses? Unlikely. But the choice of a Native American mascot continues to ignite debate and controversy among athletes, fans and alumni, as well as those people who might otherwise be disinterested in sports. Utilizing an Indian mascot is nothing more than a veiled attempt at hate speech.

First you have to know what the agreement is all about. My research is found from the a article called "The battle over Indian mascot". Some say that when fans chant war crimes during games, it makes Native Americans seem like savages. Now first let me start by saying this I'm not trying to persuade you that teams should change their name, this quote is an agreement that could setup one side of an argument. People don't like the way teams make Indians appears, with the war chants and

One reading from Fivethirtyeight debates the argument to change the Native American mascot names. This is a valid argument because for example the name redskins, the name of the NFL football team located in Washington D.C, can be seen and viewed as disparaging to native americans. Naming teams and especially professional teams after native american tribes can become very controversial. (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-2128-native-american-mascots-people-arent-talking-about/)

Sports teams use "Indian," as well as many other mascots with related themes, to honor those who are native to

Many people believe that any sports team with a Native American mascot exhibits racism, however, in

“The use of the Redskins nickname was conducted among a random sample of 504 Native American adults. Ninety percent of respondents said they are not bothered by the Redskins name, and 73 percent of respondents said they do not find the name disrespectful” (Eitzen and Zinn). Native American logos are a very controversial topic but, what most people do not know is how the Native American population feels about these logos. Sports teams should not get rid of Native American logos because they represent Native Americans, the logos represent freedom of speech, and most Native Americans support the logos. “An agreement with local Native American tribes features a hockey arena, the Ralph Engelstad Arena, and the attached Betty Engelstad Sioux Center,

Sports teams across the country are all represented by a mascot. A mascot is used in a variety of ways, but mainly to represent a team’s identity and motivate both players and fans alike to bring out the competitive spirit. Many teams are represented with normal names and themes, while some are more controversial such as the Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Blackhawks, Cleveland Indians, Florida State Seminoles, Atlanta Braves, and Washington Redskins (to name a few). A prickly topic for years, even decades the usage of Native American mascots continues to strike controversy in fans, players, alumni, as well as disinterested fans. Depending on who you talk to, it’s a stain on the organizations it affects or is it a way of honoring those who

“As the nation’s oldest, largest, and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native advocacy organization, NCAI has long held a clear position against derogatory and harmful stereotypes of Native people—including sports mascots—in media and popular culture” (“Ending the Era of Harmful ’Indian’ Mascots” 1). Native Americans have been used as mascots and names for several high school, college, and professional teams such as the Washington Redskins with their Native American mascot. The term “Redskins” or any other term about Native Americans should not be used for any sports teams at any level, because it implies a snide nature, that it damages how people perceive their culture, and how Native American children perceive themselves.

The dispute over whether Native American mascots should be used as a team symbol dates back to the 1970’s (Price 2). There are those who are passionately against Native American mascots. These advocators insist that Native American mascots are degrading to

Chiefs, Redskins, and Braves. All names of popular, professional American sports teams, all are offensive terms for Native Americans. It is time for these teams to make a positive change. The names are insulting, not just to Native Americans, but to all Americans. Furthermore, the names and images of mascots encourages negative stereotypes that don’t represent our nation's history. Sports are supposed to bring us together, but the use of these names keeps us apart. It is in the best interest for all American sports team to abolish the use of ignorant names that are reminiscent of the mistreatment of Native Americans in our nation’s history.

     Many people do not consider themselves supporting Native American mascots that depict them in a bad manner. But when people walk around with a Atlanta Braves shirt on with a Indian with a tomahawk in his hand, it is degrading to the Indians. It is stereotyping them. School mascots and Sports team’s mascots are named after groups of people for no reason known. Notre Dame was founded by Irish Catholics, but their sports team was named the Fighting Irish. The name Fighting Irish has nothing to do with the Irish Catholics, it depicts them in a wrong way.(Price, 3). Team names can be changed to similar names that do not depict certain groups of people. Like the Redskins can be called the Red Hawks or the

For years Native Americans have been ridiculed, abused, oppressed, and much more. They’re typically the butt of everyone's jokes and have been for some time. Many try to argue that Native American mascots should be looked at as a symbol of respect and that they’re honoring their rich culture, some flat out say it’s senseless humor and that they shouldn’t be offended by it. But what many people fail to realize is that costumes, mascots, imitations, and jokes are all dehumanizing and extremely offensive. Sports teams with Native American mascots contribute heavily to the dehumanizing of Native Americans by associating them with savagery and war.

Almost everybody loves going to sporting events and seeing all the excited fans as well as the energized mascots. There has been quite a variety of mascots and logos seen in schools whether it be high schools or colleges and in professional leagues. According to a search done by an ESPN FiveThirtyEight reporter through a database known as MascotDB, out of the 42,624 teams in the database at the time there were 2,129 sports teams that have reference to Native Americans (Munguia). That’s about a five percent of all mascots while Native American only make up roughly two percent of the population of the United States in 2014 (US Census). There has been much debate and controversy around mascots and team names that reference Native American throughout the years and gaining more attention especially with the most public debate regarding National

Prior to looking at this section, if anyone were to ask me about my opinion on using a Native American logo or nickname for a sports team I would be indifferent. I wouldn’t feel right about having my own opinion because I have not been a part of a race or culture that has or is looked down upon. After reading Tim Wise’s article and going through the notes, I still feel like I do not have much say in whether or not these teams should be able to keep their logos and nicknames because I am not directly affected and it is hard to put myself into the position of the Native American people; although, I do understand where they are coming from. With that being said, teams should not have names and mascots that are going to offend other cultures.

My perspective with the Indian Mascot debate before reading and watching testimonies, indicates when high school, colleges, and also the Redskins professional football team using the logo of a Native American, or a Indian mascot, impression were not used has a oppress, but to be used in a positive way. When I think of a Native Americans I think the term warrior – “a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics.” Found from www.dictinary.com.