THE Wichita White...the Kankakee Kikes...the Detroit Darkies...or the Johnstown Japs.
Would you be horrified if your favorite football, baseball or basketball team's nickname amounted to racial slur?
Of course.
But, most Americans take it in stride when they tune in to a Washington Redskins' football game, buy a ticket to an Atlanta Braves' baseball game or read a magazine article about the exploits of the Florida State Seminoles, Why?
The use and abuse of Native America mascots by high school, college, and professional sports teams - and the emotional controversy surrounding these images - are the target of a new book co-edited by an Illinois Wesleyan University Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Charles Fruehling Springwood.
"Team Spirits"
The book, "Team Spirits: The Native American Mascots Controversy," is the first comprehensive look at the debate over this issue. It's issue, It's hitting the bookstores at a time when a college like the University of Illinois-Urban/Champaign is grappling with the future of its sports team symbol, the controversial Chief Illiniwek, and as a case is on appeal in the courts involving the Native American-style trademark of the Washington Redskins.
In "Team Spirits," according to the publisher, the University of Nebraska Press, "activists and academics explore the origins of Native American mascots, the messages they convey, and the reasons for their persistence into the 21st century.
"The essays examine hotly contested uses of mascots, including the Washington Redskins, the Cleveland Indians, and the University of Illinois' Chief Illiniwek, as well as equally problematic but more complicated examples such as the Florida State Seminoles and the multitude of Native mascots at Marquette University. Also showcased are examples of successful oppositions, including an end to Native American mascots at Springfield College and in Los Angles public schools,"
Poses Powerful Questions
"Team Spirits" probes several powerful question, including: What does it mean to 'play Indian' at half-time?, Why are Native American mascots so common and other racially based mascots nearly non-existent: Why do these mascots persist?, and what do these mascots say about the changing role of Native Americans in Americans in public Culture?
"Team Spirits" also contains groundbreaking analyses of major universities, including Florida State, Marquette, and the University of Illinois and their Native American mascots. It also includes studies of important American Indians and their entanglements with mascots, namely Olympian and pro-football standout Jim Thorpe and the Oorang Indians.
Essentially, "Team Spirits" is about power, Springwood said in an interview on the eve of the book's publication." "White Americans," he explained, "have the power to name things and control them." The controversy over native American mascots, he added is about "who ought to be in control of popular symbols of Native American-the Native American aren't in control and they are fighting for it."
Springwood estimates that animals and Native American symbols are the two most common sports team mascots, respectively. But, why do some sports teams choose Native American symbols as team mascots?
"Supporters say it honors Native American," according to Springwood, who decries this notion pointing out that many of the mascots do not accurately depict Native American culture. "It is a repackaging of history," he added.
Vine Deloria, Jr., author of the acclaimed "Custer Died For Your Sins" wrote in the Foreword to "Team Spirits": "Sports mascots have come under increasing fire by American Indian as they try to achieve equal status as an identifiable ethnic group within American society...Why are Indian singled out as a group of people devoid of the sentiments that characterize other groups? No team in any sport has its logo or slogans used to demean another identifiable ethnic, religious, or economic group."
Deloria added: "And when a group...filed to cancel the trademark of the Washington Redskins, some sportswriters complained that now Bears, Dolphins, and Lions would all complain. This kind of racism is buried so deeply in the American psyche that is may be impossible to resolve."
Springwood describes Deloria as "the most famous Native American scholar" and a plaintiff in the Washington Redskins trademark case.
Progress Cited
Deloria and others concede some progress has been made in curtailing Native American images in American athletics. "Progress is being made in many places in this country," Deloria wrote in the Forewood to "Team Spirits," "as school after school, and college after college, changes its name and adopts neutral slogans and mascots."
The National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media reports that more than 80 colleges and universities still have Native American mascots. However, many campuses have scuttled use of these mascots: Dartmouth: changed its nickname from Indian to Big Green, Dickinson State (ND) changed from Savages to Blue Hawks, St. John's (NY) went from Redmen to the Red Storm, and Stanford adopted the nickname Cardinal, replacing the moniker, Indians
"As for high schools," Springwood says, "my professional guess is that several hundred such nicknames and mascots still exist, and a few hundred have been retired over the last 20 year."
Schools have been most successful in retiring their Native American mascots, Springwood pointed out, when change comes from the top. At Eastern Michigan University, for example, the president spurred the effort to switch the school's symbol from Hurons to the Eagles.
Resisting Change
However, some of the schools have resisted giving up their Native American mascots. Springwood notes that supporters of these symbols claim that changing them would trigger a loss of financial and other support from alumini, boosters, and fans.
While Springwood acknowledges the "emotional investment" boosters have in these Native American symbols, he also observes: "Perhaps there might be an initial decline in alum, contributions, but time seems to heal" such wounds "in perhaps as little as 5 years." He also notes that in 10-15 years a substantial numbers of alumni would have grown up with the new team name and symbol, making previous symbols antiquities.
Long-term interest
Springwood's interest in Native American mascots dates to his days as a student at the University of Illinois, where Chief Illiniwek, dressed in "authentic Indian attire" has symbolized the campus' varsity sports teams since the 1920s
As a native of Illinois Springwood said he was aware of the controversy swirling around Chief Illiniwek. However, he became persuaded to the position of the critics as he gathered information in connection with a piece that he wrote as a graduate student
"I began to interview people," Springwood explained, "and do library research. I spoke to Native Americans and people in the sports information department."
As time went on, Springwood was smitted by the subject and decided to team up with his coeditor to do a book with a divergent range of voices discussing Native American mascots. He also wants readers to understand the broad scope of issues affecting specific communities where these mascots are controversial
"I want people," he explained," to come away with a sense of the importance of these issues. People aren't fighting over a silly symbol. These mascots have histories that many people are unaware of.
"Probing Use of Native American Mascots By College, Pro Teams. " Chicago Independent Bulletin [Chicago, Ill.] 1 Feb. 2001,2. Ethnic NewsWatch (ENW). ProQuest. University Libraries, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green. 7 Oct. 2007
2. The article begins with some possible team names of ethnic groups that would be very disrespectful. It then explains how people never seem to notice these disrespectful names when they go to athletic events with Native American team names. It then previews a book called “Team Spirits: The Native American Mascots Controversy” It then stated that the two most common sports mascots used in professional, college, and high school sports are animals and Indians. Vine Deloria jr. states in the article, “This kind of racism is buried so deeply in the American psyche that it may be impossible to resolve.” But after that the article explains that progress is being made with some teams changing their names and lists a few teams who have changed their names in recent years. Finally it explains how the author of the book became interested in writing on this topic. I chose this article because I am a huge sports fan and also a huge Indians fan. I have always been back and forth on this issue, so I wanted to see if this article would change my thinking.
3. This item relates to class material because one day in class we had a discussion about the Cleveland Indians mascot and if it is poking fun at Native Americans. This article is in line with that discussion. It says that sports teams from high school to professional have this problem though. I think sometimes we always hear so much about the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves, and the Washington Redskins that we forget that there are even more high schools and colleges with these team names involving Indians. This article also brings the focus on the mascots of some of these teams. Teams like the Braves and the Indians have gone away from actual Indian mascots as the Indians mascot is now Slider. But colleges such as Illinois (Fighting Illini) and Florida State (Seminoles) still have their mascots try to imitate how the Indians looked and acted. This has become a big issued within the intercollegiate ranks.
4. Since this article was written six years ago, I think that I can recall some new developments regarding this issue since 2001. I believe in the last few years the NCAA has outlawed Indian mascots in their basketball tournaments. So the person that dresses up like and Indian and rides on to the field at Florida St. is not allowed to be in the arena when Florida makes it to the NCAA tournament. I also think that Illinois has done away with their mascot, Chief Illiniwek. I believe it would always be on the floor before basketball games, but now they don’t even allow it anymore. I think there have been other colleges that have changed their team names since then also. I usually go back and forth on the issue. I know that most of these names hurt the heritage that Native Americans have in their culture. In the article the statement was made that “Supporters say it honors Native American.” This is not true; in no way does a team name like the Redskins honor Native Americans. When people thought of these names they were trying to think of a tough mascot not about honoring Indians. I’ve been an Indians fan my whole life and I would hate for them to have to change their team name. I think what they have done by eliminating the Indian mascot for Slider and coming out with new uniforms with a cursive I cap are enough to allow them to keep their name. But I agree that teams should not have mascots running around making fun of the Native American heritage. This is a great debate and I don’t see it going away any time soon.
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