Samantha Shelton
Professor Barbaro
Anthropology 130
November 13, 2018
Native American Mascots
On many separate occasions, the Native American’s have been victimized by the way colleges, high schools, and professional sports team, use of their mascots. Some Native American tribes take offence to the fact that some mascots are chiefs and use them in a poorly manner. They do not understand the significant impact it has on the Native Americans.
The college Florida State is one of the rare colleges that use a mascot that comes from Native American culture and want them to be a part of it. Florida State is allowed to use the “Seminole” as their mascot because of its express endorsement of the Seminoles (Kehoe 156-177) . Meanwhile other colleges, such as Oklahoma Seminoles, were very forthcoming in expressing their anger towards Florida State for using the Seminoles as their mascot also. In 2005, the use of any Native American mascots was banned due to post game cruel nicknames that other colleges would give them when they lost. The difference of the Oklahoma State and the Florida State using the Seminole’s as their mascot, is that Florida State doesn’t look at is as a mascot. They look at it as an honor to call themselves “Seminoles”, because they are the only tribe to never be conquered by the United States government. In 2006, Florida State had a special Seminole tribute weekend reviling their large, bronze sculptures capturing a Seminole family (University Communications 1).
The Kansas City Chiefs are another good example in the way of which they encourage the natives to join their festivities. In class we talked about a young boy who was invited to march in the Kansas City marching band. Even though Kansas City uses the word “Chiefs” as part of their name, their mascot is a wolf. There are professional leagues that use native American names but never get the meaning behind it. Some examples of teams with native American names are; NHL team Chicago Blackhawks, MLB Cleveland Indians, NFL Washington Redskins.
In the state of Oregon, they banned all public high schools from using any Native American names and mascots. People who supported the protest of getting the names and mascots banned, say it is because the pictures, mascots, and names give an easy target for making stereotypes. The NCAA made some college schools change their nickname, the only way they could keep it is if the school can get physical approval from the local tribe. I believe that getting approval from the local tribe is a very effective way to decrease any disapproval from the NCAA. By getting approval, you are honoring the respect from the tribe and you can learn about their culture and where they got their name from. There are many stereotypes that derive from mascots. People will paint their face to show support for their team, but they’re actually making fun or mimicking the Native Americans (Sommers 1).
Scholars have observed two main stereotypes that come from mascots. The “bloodthirsty savages”, which makes the Native Americans look like wild, aggressive, violent, and brave. Another stereotype is that they are “noble savage”, which makes them seem like they are primitive, childlike, silent, and part of the natural world (Davis 1). The “bloodthirsty” stereotype led to schools choosing Native American mascots. One reason the protest to eliminate the use of Native American mascots is so emotional and important to the Native Americans is because they are criticizing a form of American history, which is linked to myths about the Western United States. Most of the stereotypes that associate with mascots are mostly related to the past, which is an issue because it brings up a negative time in the Native American past. Some Native Americans think that people who want to honor them really can’t because they don’t know the first thing about them and their culture. Some believe that when they chant and sing during games, they are mocking them and their burial rituals that they have for their beloved ones. Others say that people are only thinking about Native Americans as one culture and that there is no diversity between the individuals (Davis 2).
There have been some arguments that schools cannot help that students from other schools say cruel things and make stereotypes. Native Americans have no control over the way people in society view the mascots at schools and the community itself. It brings down the self-image of the Native Americans, but not only that it also brings down their self-esteem, especially on the children. Because of their low self-esteem, Native Americans turn to alcoholism, suicide, and teen pregnancy (Davis 3).
There are two types of problems with having a Native American mascot. One is that people who support it don’t see the impact it has on the Native Americans, they think they are honoring them and only a small percentage of the poll object to it. They don’t believe it have a significant impact because of the lack of education they have on the Native American past, and they have little to no contact with them, so they will never be able to learn how the mascot affects them. Some people also believe that just because the Native Americans make up such a small percentage of our population, that it doesn’t matter if their feelings get hurt or not. People should be more sensitive to subjects like this because they don’t know what happened in the past, and they never will because it has nothing to do with them and they have no one to teach them (Davis 4).
In some situation’s I can see that both point of views are right and wrong. The Native Americans should take the time to talk about their past and how the mascots influence them, and not try to demolish all Native American mascots all together. The people should want to make it a priority that the Native Americans are okay with them using a certain mascot or try to understand why it is such an impact on their lives, and not make stereotypes about them. In some parts of the world Native Americans are more populated and are able to educate everyone that’s around them and the media also. Because Native Americans only make up one percent on the United states population, they have a different perspective on the way’s things should be and because they only make up a small percentage, they will most likely not win the public approval. I don’t think people realize what their mascots mean when it has to do with the Native Americans. And other times, people don’t think about the repercussions that they inflict on the Native Americans.
I believe that if you have a mascot that has to do with the Native Americans, you should try and learn about their past and how the word came to be. If my culture and past was being attacked my student making stereotypes and mocking it, I would not be happy either. I believe it is all about respect. I went to Sachem High School east and our mascots were the flaming arrows. During our homecoming people would dress up, wear feathered hats, and paint their face, and no one knew what it stood for. On Long Island, Manhasset High School’s mascot is the Indians. A couple years ago the town held a meeting trying to rename their mascot. The poll was taken and the name “Indians” stood. If people could understand the significance of the mascot they would have more respect for the Native Americans and would have a better relationship with them so there would be no problem with using a Native American word as their mascot. In conclusion, the use of Native American mascots is very common these days, and people should not criticize it because of the Native American’s past.
Work Cited
University Communications. “Relationship with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.” Relationship with the Seminole Tribe of Florida | Messages | University Communications, unicomm.fsu.edu/messages/relationship-seminole-tribe-florida/.
Davis, Laurel R. “The Problems with Native American Mascots .” Ebs.b.ebscohost.com, 15 July 2002.
Kehoe, Alice B. 2005. North American Indians: A comprehensive Account. 3rd Edition. New York: Routledge.