Native+American+Names+and+Sports

=Native American Names and Sports Teams=

As we study Native Americans this year in Social Studies 8, you'll learn a lot more about their struggles to hold on to their way of life against incredible pressure from European settlers in the beginning who become American settlers later on. They will be cheated through treaties, devastated by wars and disease and the influence of European trade goods such as alcohol. They will be forcibly removed from their homelands and confined to reservations established by the U.S. government where they will be kept in a state of dependency. The time frame of our course only runs through the Civil War. The final struggles for territory will come after that. Today, Native American tribes continue to struggle to maintain their heritage and identity. Their stories are often heroic, and often tragic. We admire them in principle, but do we really respect them in person?

An ongoing area where stereotypes persist and are challenged is in the names and logos of School, University, and Professional sports teams.

When I went to Miami University of Ohio, we were the "Redskins". There was an established connection with the Miami tribe after whom the school was named- and the tribe supported the team name and mascot. However, that has since changed, and sports teams at Miami Ohio are now called the Red Hawks. Better?

What about the Cleveland Indians? What about the Chief Wahoo mascot? Is that respectful...? What about the Washington Redskins? Is Redskin a respectful term?

This was the subject of a number of editorials recently...

Huffington Post- Redskins Name Change Controversy Feature

Cleveland Plain Dealer- Cleveland Indians Fans Defend Chief Wahoo

Wikipedia- Native American Mascot Controversy

WHAT DO YOU THINK?