Many Feathers and Much Paint Don't Make an Indian

Colleges Criticized For School Nicknames by Rick Van Sant 1973 June 28. News Journal         Is it an honor or dishonor to Indians to call athletic teams Redskins or Redmen?       Many schools and professional teams across the country have come under fire for the practice 00 including at least three Ohio colleges.       The differing schools of thought on Indians and other unique sources of Ohio College athletic teams:           Miami University Redskins - A tribe of Indians known as the "Miamis" used to live in the Oxford area, so the school adopted Redskins as a nickname, thinking it a natural. "We came under a lot of pressure about a year ago to change our name because some people thought it degraded Indians," a school official said. "But we got a re-affirmation from a tribe of the Miamis now living in Oklahoma. The chief of the tribe had a council meeting and they decided they were proud to have...

Indian Nicknames Are Out 1973 March 29, Democrat and Chronicle        During the early 1950's, when anti-Soviet feelings were strong in this country, the Cincinnati Reds changed their name to Redlegs. But the fans didn't buy it.       Today, Indian sensitivity about old stereotypes has caused several teams to go in for name changes. Many Indians claim that certain names, mascots and emblems are racial slurs.       A year ago six professional teams and more than 30 college teams had Indian nicknames. Now some are changing those names, but it seems to be seen how fans, alumni and other teams will react.       The problem surfaced dramatically in January 1972, when Russell Means, then director of the American Indian Center in Cleveland, filed a $9 million lawsuit against the Cleveland Indians baseball club. Means claimed the team's emblem, a grinning Indian named "Chief Wahoo," was a degrading caricature of the American ...

1972 Feb 5 Poughkeepsie Journal  1972 Feb 5 Poughkeepsie Journal 

Stanford University Libraries Published on Oct 6, 2016 In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Stanford American Indian Organization, three members of the Stanford community discuss the experiences of Native Americans at the university.

[Editors note: This article is from 1972. I've added the pics for illustrative purposes - and also to show how some of what they said was utter hog-wash.)  Mascots Seen As Degrading Controversy Rages Over  Use of Indian Nicknames By Allen R. Bruce  1972 July 23, The Times Recorder       Boston - At the US Naval Academy, a bronze figurehead fixes a fierce glare toward Bancroft Hall. Tecumseh, the famed Shawnee chieftain, stands erect with a quiver of arrows slung over his back. He is strong, dignified, proud. Tecumseh Monument. US Naval Academy, Annapolis Md       At Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, a caricature dubbed "Chief Wahoo" flashes a toothy grin from a huge sign. He is a different brand of Indian altogether. One dissenter has labeled the mascot of the Cleveland Indians baseball team as a "big-toothed, pointed-head, grinning halfwait."       Therein lies a controversy.     ...

1972 June 23 The Burlington Free Press  1972, Nov 22 - Winona Daily New s - article is published with the September 24, 1863 quote from The Daily Republican. A ad was published that said: "The State reward for dead Indians has been increased to $200 for every red-skin sent to Purgatory. This sum is more than the dead bodies of all the Indians east of the Red River are worth."   1972 Nov. 22, The Winona Daily News  1972 July 23. Tampa Bay Times  1972 July 20. The Baltimore Sun - There were 27 American Indians attending the recent Democratic National Convention as delegates. That is a record... [they have a platform and are redoubling their] efforts to stop sports teams from using what the Indians regard as demeaning songs and titles [And names such as the Redskins, Indians, Braves - trying to get them to change their names the way Stanford did, who are now the Thunder-chickens.]       however the pro teams argue they have too mu...

US Indian ruffling feathers of sports by Al Levine  1972 Feb 15 The Miami News        The American Indian is on the warpath in the sports pages.       He is unhappy as a toothy, large-nosed Cleveland Indian. He regards his identity as a Washington Redskin a racial slur. He finds Chief  Noc-A-Homa of the Atlanta Braves degrading to braves, everywhere.       Sports has not heard the last of the Mohicans, it seems.       While several Indian groups go about ruffling feathers on college campuses and threatening lawsuits against professional teams calling themselves Indians of one kind or another, the only smoke generated by the Seminoles of Florida is emanating from a peace pipe.       The Seminole is proud to be the athletic namesake for teams at Florida State University, said Howard Tommie, Chief of the Florida tribe.       "Where else throughout the world do you...

1972 Feb 26. Fond Du Lac Commonwealth Reporter  Stanford Gets Petition  Indian Symbol Given Criticism Lois S. Amsterdam, Stanford University ombudsman, is calling for the University to be "immediately disavowed and permanently stopped" from using its Indian symbol for its athletic teams. She presented a petition from 55 Native people to the university president.        The petition states:        "By removing the Indian as Stanford's symbol, the university would be renouncing a grotesque ignorance that it has previously condoned. We appreciate the long history of Stanford's Indian symbol. However, we cannot and will not accept the demeaning, insulting ways in which this symbol distorts the image of the native American and prostitutes the religious aspects of all tribes in general.   By retracting its misuses of the Indian symbol, the University would be showing a readily progressive concern for the American Indians of th...

 - when the school was predominately white and all male.  Strangers in a Strange Land Little came easy for the Native American students who arrived on campus more than 40 years ago, when the College recommitted to its original mission. SVATI K. NARULA ’13 | NOV - DEC 2013 https://dartmouthalumnimagazine.com/articles/strangers-strange-land

".. I'm starting to get an idea of how bad the Indian has been treated in this country, in the past and also today. I've also been going through some changes myself about what it means to be a Cherokee. Like, people are always making a big thing about me being an Indian, like maybe I'm some kind of freak or something. I mean, they keep asking me about my family background and what my father does for a living, like they expect me to say he sits cross-legged all day in front of a tepee weaving baskets." Sonny Sixkiller, Quarterback , University of Washington  1971 Sep 20, The El Dorado Times  Braves, Redskins, Chiefs, Scalpers - Are We Exploiting The Indians Again? by Marty Ralbovsky 1971 Sep 28. The Daily Herald        Three years ago, a group of students at Dartmouth College, assembled by Howard Bad Hand, Dwayne Birdbear, Travis Kingsley and Rick Buckanaga, demanded that the athletic department stop entertaining fans at home football ...

$9 million warpath American Indians don't like the image  projected by Cleveland's Chief Wahoo 1972 Jan 19, The Daily Reporter         .. The American Indian Center of Cleveland Ohio filed a $9 million damage suit.. against the Cleveland Indians baseball team for using a comic Indian head as the club's symbols..        [They also targeted Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Braves, Golden State Warriors and more than 30 colleges that have some sort of Indian nickname."        "It's degrading, demeaning and racist," Russell Means said. "It epitomizes the stereotyped image of the American Indian. It attacks the cultural heritage of the American Indian and destroys Indian pride."  1972 Jan 19, The Daily Reporter  1972 Jan 19, The Daily Reporter        .. Means also objected to Chief Noc-a-Homa of the Atlanta Braves, ...