Pro or Anti Native American mascots?

Question

I am Native American and feel that sports teams with Native American mascots offend Native peoples.

Think before you answer, if this were another race, this would not even be an issue.

Answer 1

I can't speak for anyone, especially from my outside perspective... But in my own person opinion, human beings are not costumes. And mascots make human beings into an image and something not quite human. I don't care if there ARE white based mascots, it is whites that made them. With NA mascots, well, people would be just equally as mad if their was a less then human depiction of a black character as a mascot...

Answer 2

I'm not Native American, and I have no idea whether or not this issue offends any, most, or all Native Americans, but I do know that if I were in your position, I would be offended by this! Are there any other races of people as mascots? If there are, I would be against that too! A person's race is important to who they are and their heritage and shouldn't be minimized to a mascot jumping across fields making a mockery of itself. Native Americans have been falsely depicted in movies for years (especially the old cowboy and Indian movies), and I think it's time that these stereotypes be crushed to reveal the wonderful contributions Native American people have made in American history!

Answer 3

I personally feel that depending upon what the mascot may be, they are generally employed to honor the integrity of the Native American people. The purpose of having a mascot is to instill a degree of pride and prowess within the sports team; an identity with the attributes of the mascot itself; so that the team may exhibit the spirit and strength of those attributes. It's very much the same way in which Native American people have various animal spirits in their symbology... the bear, the wolf, or the eagle, for example. If a sports team were named after a Native American tribe, it would be out of recognition of that tribe's integrity and for the desire of the sports team to respect, reflect and honor that integrity. A team with the name of "Redskins," however, would be considered racist and is therefore not acceptable as a mascot and it would be offensive. Now, if a sports team had a mascot like a katchina of a Southwestern Native American tribe, for example, and depending upon what positive attribute that katchina represents, let's say it represents "strength," then I would think of that mascot as an acceptable one for a sports team and as an honorable tribute to the Native American tribe it represents. It would be used to denote the team's strength along the lines of the Native American integrity.

Answer 4

We both know that the silly whites would embrace a name like the New York Whities or the Alabama Cacausians. That is how disrespectful they would be to themselves. Im only part native and the disrespect that natives feel is just about everywhere. The Virginia Tech shootings were billed as the worst mass killing in US History. What about the 200 to 400 people mass murdered at Wounded Knee in 1879 because they were doing Ghost Dance. America does not care or has ever cared about Natives, blacks, hispanics or anything that isnt white. Whites are so silly that I know a lot who revel in calling themselves rednecks. If they cannot respect themselves, they will never respect the rest of us.

Answer 5

I'm a Native, and I don't find any offence with Native mascots. I try not to get myself in a tizzy about petty things like that.

Answer 6

I think the only people that have a right to decide are Native Americans, and if they don't want it, it should be taken down.

Answer 7

Why do you find this offensive? My great-grandmother was Pawnee and my grandfather was raised on a rez. I find that offensive, not mascots. By that I mean reservations.