Native American Mascots AP Sythesis Essay October 2013 | Page 5

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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Tribe supports Native American mascots
By Paul Lukas

The Saginaw Chippewa tribe has an agreement with Central Michigan to use the Chippewa name.

Last week I wrote about the recent symposium about Native American imagery in sports that took
place at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington. Everyone quoted in the
article was opposed to the use of such imagery, which led many readers to ask why I hadn't given
equal time to the other side.
The answer to that is simple: I was there to cover the symposium, and
every single speaker at the event -- about three times as many people as I ended up quoting in my
column -- was opposed to the use of Native American mascots, logos and team names. (The
Washington Redskins were invited to have a representative at the event, but they declined.)
But it's true that there are some Native Americans who are fine with the use of Native imagery in
sports. In central Michigan, for example, the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe recently announced
that it had no problem with a local high school whose teams are called the Warriors.
I was curious to learn more, so I contacted the Saginaw Chippewas and spoke with their public
relations director, Frank Cloutier. Here's how our conversation went:
Many of the people taking part in this debate see it as a black-and-white issue. Either they're completely
opposed to all uses of Native American imagery, or they have no probl em with any of it. What's your
position, or your tribe's position, on that?
It's very, very clear for us, because we've worked with so many institutions in our area. Our position is that if it's
not derogatory and it's being used appropriately, with an opportunity to share or cross-share our culture, then it's
fine. There's nothing derogatory about "Warriors" or "Braves." There's nothing derogatory about "Indian." But
terms like "Redskin" or "Half-Breed," those are derogatory terms to us.
So when the Michigan Department of Civil Rights recently filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of
Education, claiming that Native American mascots and nicknames are inherently harmful to Native
children, you don't agree with that?
In the study they used, they said these Native children who go to these schools with these mascots are
"marginalized." But if you look at generational trauma and the way Native peoples were treated 300 years ago,
it wasn't until 1924 that we were formally recognized as human beings, and we didn't get the chance to vote
until after women did. That's what makes these kids feel marginalized -- the way their culture and their people
were treated. I don't believe that a menacing-looking brave on the backboard of a basketball hoop is going to
marginalize that child as much as that generational trauma.
That said, however, I believe that these schools using these images have an obligation to talk about the truth of
Native American history. One of the largest genocides in world history happened right here on American soil,
and it happened to Native Americans. So it's important to talk about the true history about the settling of the
United States, and to talk about those things that happened to Native Americans that are often not talked about.
If Native children are struggling, hopefully this kind of education and outreach and help identify why, instead of