Even laws on the books have proven ineffective. Yet in the wake of resistance from one affected high school, former Gov. Scott Walker signed a new bill in that substantially weakened the previous review process. A new effort to ban Native mascots was quashed by the state school board this year. Of the 1, high school mascots in the Mascot DB, 23 are in use at tribal high schools — those operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Education.
These schools, which are often on reservations or near Indigenous communities, primarily serve students who identify as Native American. Their mascots go by many names, including Indians, Apache Chiefs and Braves. Schools not associated with the Bureau of Indian Education may also have genuine ties to Native culture and community, so the number of schools who serve Native students and use a Native mascot is likely more than those I was able to identify.
For these schools, the conversation around Native mascots is about authentic representation rather than appropriation. These students and communities are harnessing Native mascots to honor their own identities and heritage. The traditions that many consider racist when imitated by non-Native athletes and fans take on a new meaning in Indigenous spaces. Currently, about 2 percent of Native mascots are used at tribal high schools. Yet the business of allowing exceptions for schools like these can be tricky — just ask the NCAA.
The governing body of collegiate sports intensified conversations about Native mascots in , the same year the organization banned states that fly the Confederate flag from hosting national championship events. Facing intense backlash after the announcement, the NCAA agreed to hear appeals from universities vying to keep their Native mascots. In a nod to Native sovereignty, the governing body allowed tribes to endorse schools that used the names of their tribes, but it rejected appeals from names using general descriptors like Indians, Redmen and Savages.
In some cases, the NCAA allowed nondiscriminatory monikers to remain as long as all references to Indigenous people and their traditions were removed. Yet this policy masks the complex politics of Indian Country. Histories of forced removal and trends toward urbanization call into question who can speak on behalf of a tribe and its people. According to the NCAA, one is enough. For most institutions, there was no path forward.
The University of Illinois was allowed to keep its Fighting Illini moniker, but without the support of the Peoria tribe, it was required to retire its Chief Illiniwek mascot.
Schools were given three years to change their mascots, and by the end of that time period, many had done so. Leading Research.
Partner Resolutions and Statements. Short Videos. For decades, advocates for Native American rights had been working relentlessly to convince the teams to change their names -- from filing lawsuits to protests to applying pressure on teams and their sponsors. But it was not until an immense movement swept the nation in the summer of after the police killing of George Floyd -- an unarmed Black man from Minneapolis -- that some of the most high profile teams relented.
Before deciding to change their name -- a change that is expected to take place in -- the Cleveland Indians stopped using the Chief Wahoo logo on their uniforms in The shift in energy comes amid some wins in representation for the Native American community that advocates are hoping will lead to policy changes.
Six Native Americans were elected to serve in the next Congress, a record in U. Meanwhile, Rep. Deb Haaland, who was nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to lead the Department of the Interior, could become the first Native American to serve in a presidential Cabinet.
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