Native American Mascots AP Sythesis Essay October 2013 | Page 10

between the Piankashaws and Col. John Wilkins. Throughout the 1800s, the word was
frequently used by Native Americans as they negotiated with the French and later the
Americans. The phrase gained widespread usage among whites when James Fenimore Cooper
used it in his 1823 novel The Pioneers. In the book, Cooper has a dying Indian character
lament, "There will soon be no red-skin in the country."
J. Gordon Hylton found that team owners frequently began using words with indigenous
connections in the 1850s. "Native American names appear to have been chosen to emphasize
the 'Americanness' of the team and its patriotic character," writes Hylton….
…Boston Braves owner George Preston Marshall decided in 1933 to change the franchise's
name from the Braves (another name with a racial history) to the Redskins. Team lore says the
franchise adopted the name in honor of former coach William "Lone Star" Dietz, who
identified as Native American. Dietz brought several Native American players he had coached
at the Haskell Indian School with him to the team. Marshall also sought to strongly tie the
team to Native American imagery, occasionally requiring Dietz to wear a Sioux headdress on
the sidelines and telling players to wear war paint while on the field.
Five years later, the team unveiled its fight song, "Hail to the Redskins," with lyrics written by
Marshall's wife, actress Corinne Griffith. The original lyrics to the song included both
references to scalping and pidgin English, with the line "Scalp 'em, swamp 'em — we will take
'em big score / Read 'em, weep 'em, touchdown! — we want heap more!"
The word began to fade from everyday usage in the 1960s….
Members of Congress have also spoken out against the name, with a bipartisan group sending
a letter to the team urging a name change.
And when the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian hosted a symposium on
Indian mascots in February, museum director Kevin Gover, himself a Native American, said the
word was "the equivalent of the N-word." At the same event, former Colorado Sen. Ben
Nighthorse Campbell asked the crowd to consider an equally offensive name for the local
sports team: "How you would like for us to change the name of that team to the Washington
Darkies?"
For his part, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has been vocal in his support for the name and has
insisted that it's here to stay. "We'll never change the name," Snyder told USA Today in May.
"It's that simple. NEVER — you can use caps."
Native American activist Suzan Shown Harjo has been battling the Redskins over the name for
more than 20 years. "The name is one of the last vestiges of racism that is held right out in the
open in America," Harjo said in a recent phone conversation. "It's a toy of racism, and the
people who are holding on [to the name] for dear life, they know that."