Controversial Mascots Discussed in "Change the Mascot" Talk

In honor of American Indian Heritage Month, students and faculty met on Thursday to attend a seminar entitled “Change the Mascot: Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians But Were Afraid to Ask.”Dr. Anton Treuer, executive director of the Native American Resource Center, came to speak on the subject of Native Americans as mascots. He opened his presentation in Ojibwe, his native tongue.Once he switched to English, his talk focused on the importance of recognizing that Native Americans are part of a culture that still has living languages, traditions and identities and that the culture has evolved and changed over time.He mentioned stories from his undergrad work at Princeton University about times he was made to feel uncomfortable and was offended due to strange questions and cultural appropriation. That being said, he noted the importance of creating safe space where people can ask questions about cultural differences without feeling attacked. This led to him writing his book Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians But Were Afraid to Ask.Treuer made clear that his views do not represent those of all Native Americans because, as with all groups, opinions change from person to person on mascots or any other topic. While there are some tribes, such as the Florida Seminoles who have agreed to let their name be used, the National Congress of American Indians, which represents the 566 federally recognized tribes in the United States, has voted to repudiate the label of any use of Native American imagery in sports or media.Treuer then began to touch on why exactly mascots such as the Washington Redskins or Cleveland Indians are not acceptable. He explained just how blatantly offensive such names are to Native people. Cleveland Indians mascot Chief Wahoo, he said, is nothing like him — it’s simply a caricature of him. ‘Redskin’ is defined in several separate dictionaries as “offensive.”One of his biggest points came when Treuer stated how in sports, there are always two teams, and the opposing teams, in the name of sportsmanship, traditionally desecrate mascots. He showed many pictures, including those at a high school sport event telling the opposing team how that team was going to face a “trail of tears round two,” or those making a mockery of substance abuse problems within Native American communities.“The reason you have most of the land and we don’t is because of physical violence over the land,” Treuer said while showing images of wounded and dead Native American mascots. “This sort of imagery is painful. Should people endure having to feel threatened at a sporting event? This is not political correctness gone awry, saying ‘do away with the mascot,’ this is just common sense.”Anna Smith, a graduate student and president of the Native People’s Awareness Coalition, said she enjoyed the talk immensely.  Being from the Athens area, Smith recognized the importance of being aware of the privilege one has and helping those who don’t have the same opportunities.“One of the biggest things is, like he mentioned, to say something,” Smith said. “I am not personally threatened by [Native mascots], but it might be more personal and more difficult for someone else. In general, learn about things and listen to the people themselves.”Hundreds of schools have already changed their mascots, and to Treuer this shows that it’s just more than some “radical Indians” speaking up about the issue.“I don’t think we’re over the hump, but we’re making progress,” Treuer said. “Every year, more mascots change. Our society is embracing ideas that would have been inconceivable 20 years ago. In five years, we’ll see even more change. There will be resistance in some places, but if we adopt a position that is both patient and persistent, change will happen.”For students interested in issues such as the mascot problem, there are many opportunities. For instance, the Multicultural Center, which hosted the talk, has had events in honor of heritage months for over 20 years.Winsome Chunnu-Brayda, associate director of the Multicultural Center on campus, talked about how it was important to have topical programming for people to be aware of the issues in the country.“The mascot is a big issue since last year, particularly around major sports teams,” said Chunnu-Brayda. “We wanted our students to get the opportunity to dial up and have conversations about it. We know people who are fans of these teams are passionate about it, but we need some perspective from the other side as well.”