In the popular western movies of the 1950s and ’60s, the good guys lost if you were living on a rez. But when it came to who was the toughest, there was no doubt that Geronimo and Crazy Horse became romantic legends with images that inspired strength, teamwork, fear and fighting to the end.
Chiefs, warriors and a long list of words from Native American life made their way into sports. To someone living a remote life on the reservation, these mascots were at least something to identify with and rally around. Even in Idaho, if you were a Native American, it felt right to cheer for the Redskins. Is that so hard to understand?
Naturally, time moves on and things change – including human awareness. Time has revealed how many cultures have been stereotyped. The Frito Bandito (along with other typecasts) went away. Representation and diversity had taken root.
In 1994, Marquette University changed the name of its sports team. Members went from the Warriors to the Golden Eagles. It was no big deal. One high school kept its team name of Warriors, but changed the logo from an unknown native person to a modern robotic type of figure.
Redskins is kind of like the N-word. You have to have walked in those shoes to know how to say it right. No one wants to take away a community of sports fans rallying behind its team. It’s the imagery that is the problem!
In a now viral artwork by an Ojibwe artist, the Blackhawk logo has been redone in a culturally appropriate and beautiful way by changing the face from unknown native person to a hawk with fantastic feathers.
There are solutions. People just need to be open and willing to change if it means some random person stops asking some random Native American if they still live in teepees.
Good teams won’t lose their identity!
Catherine Higgins
Durango
