"As a group of mental health providers, we are in agreement that using images of American Indians as mascots, symbols, caricatures, and namesakes for non-Indian sports teams, businesses, and other organizations is damaging to the self-identity, self-concept, and self-esteem of our people."
American Indian Mental Health
Association of Minnesota, 1992
Long a contentious issue, the use of Native names, mascots and imagery by major league sports teams still attracts national attention. The Atlanta Braves and their famous tomahawk chop; the Cleveland Indians with their smiling Chief Wahoo; and the Edmonton Eskimos—all demonstrate the tendency to objectify Native people. And of course, this tendency is imitated by hundreds, if not thousands, of high-school and college teams across the continent. The last decade has brought improvements, but the use of Native symbols is still widespread.
Most sports teams name themselves after inanimate objects (Maple Leafs, Red Sox, Flames), animals (Grizzlies, Blue Jays, Tiger Cats) or historically well-known groups of people (Canucks, Argonauts, Pirates). Native people are singled out as the only visible minority to be depicted in this way.
"Should any major league team decide to name their professional team, regardless of the sport, after another ethnic group or culture, there would be a public outcry," notes Canadian Ojibway playwright Drew Hayden Taylor. "Teams with names like the Montreal Haitians, Toronto Jews, Vancouver Sikhs or the Winnipeg WASPs would be rightly rejected out of hand. But Aboriginal people seem to be exempt from such consideration."
The mascots and imagery associated with highly visible and successful sports teams are not "harmless," as some would say. They objectify Native people and render them unreal, like cartoon characters. Cornel Pewewardy, a professor of education at the University of Kansas, believes that the widespread use of Native paraphernalia such as tomahawks, feathers, war paint and drums mocks and trivializes their true spiritual and religious significance.
It would be the same as a crowd of fans using real saints as mascots or having fans... doing the "crucifix chop" to the musical accompaniment of Gregorian chants while wearing colorful religious attire in the stands.
(Source: Cornel D. Pewewardy, The Deculturalization of Indigenous Mascots in U.S. Sports Culture, 1999)
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As Pewewardy notes, "Indigenous peoples would never have associated the sacred practices of becoming a warrior with the hoopla of a pep rally, half-time entertainment, or being a sidekick to cheerleaders." Common as it may be, the use of Native imagery is insensitive because it reflects no knowledge of, or interest in, Aboriginal traditions, culture or history.
It's easy to make light of these symbols. Like the air we breathe, they have become invisible to most people. But such symbols are a part of a socially constructed reality that is underpinned by an unconscious assumption of superiority on the part of the dominant culture. Pewewardy calls this "dysconscious racism"—racism that unconsciously accepts dominant white norms and privileges.
