1972 “That Indian looks like a damn fool, like a clown and we resent being portrayed as either savage or clowns,” says Russell Means
Headlines:
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| 1972 Jan 19, The Neward Advocate |
Means on Warpath
Over Indian Names
by William M. Carley
1972 Jan 28 The Oneonta Star
The Cleveland Indians had better watch out. So had the Washington Redskins, the Atlanta Braves and countless other professional and college teams using Indian names, caricatures or mascots. Because the real Indians are on the warpath.
One of the opening shots was fired a few days ago when the American Indian Center of Cleveland sued the local baseball team for $9 million in damages.The target was the Cleveland Indians’ symbol, a grinning toothy Indian emblazoned on the club’s shirts and on its stadium in a huge neon sign.
“That Indian looks like a damn fool, like a clown and we resent being portrayed as either savage or clowns,” says Russell Means, director of the Indian Center and himself an Oglala Sioux.
Mr. Means adds that the suit against the Cleveland Indians is but the begging of a national effort to change the stereotype of the American Indians, and he already has help.
Some schools are moving fast to make changes. Some professional teams, however, say they aren’t worried much by the Indians’ changes. “I don’t think they’ll start shooting any flaming arrows soon,” says a spokesman for the Cleveland Indians.
But Indians like Mr. Means are dead serious. Racial slurs against Indians, he says, are “so ingrained in our society and institutions that they aren’t even recognized.”
Take the Washington Redskins, the capital’s professional football team. “Redskin is a derogatory name,” Mr. Means says. “What if we called them the Washington Niggers, or Washington Rednecks, or Washington Polacks?”
An Atlanta Braves mascot also draws Mr. Means’ ire. Whenever a Brave baseball player knocks a homer, Chief Noc-A-Homa strides out of his tepee, near center field and does a war dance.
“That’s ridiculous,” says Means. “What if we called the team the ‘Atlanta Storm Troopers,’ and every time there was a home run a man in a German military uniform came out and knocked a few Jews over the head with a baseball bat? Or the ‘Atlanta Negroes,’ and an old black man came out of the shack and did soft-shoe dance?
The teams hasten to say that no such racial slurs are intended. Chief Noc-A-Homa himself, who is actually an Indian named Levi Walker, says it’s an honor for the team to be called the Atlanta Braves.
You don’t call teams the Atlanta Skinks or the Chicago Criminals, do you? (*1) You call them names you can admire, Mr Walker says. A spokesman for the Atlanta Braves maintains there’s absolutely nothing degrading about the chief’s victory dances on the field.
A Cleveland Indians spokesman says, “we consider the Indian name and image an honor, not a racist thing.” And a Washington Redskin official ask, “is the name ‘Indian’ discriminatory? Our logo portrays a very proud and distinguished Indian – there’s no circus atmosphere about it.” (*2)
Besides challenging the athletic teams, Mr Means says he plans to attack prejudicial portrays of Indians in school textbooks, in the mass media, and in the entertainment field.
“Every time there’s a cowboy and Indian show on TV (portraying Indians ina degrading manner), we’ll ask for equal time to rebut it,” Mr. Means says.
Editors Note:
*1 There is a Yuman high school Criminals. Plus there have been the Chillicothe Spooks, Pekin Chinks, Salem Witches, Community School Cutthroats, Maryville Spoofhounds, Goodrich Martians, Lakeland Dreadnaughts, Zulu Cannibals, and the Brown High Scoopers.
*2 Ironically, George Preston Marshall is the king of the big half-time shows, often bringing in a circus-like performance bit for the audience that included elephants, circus tents, huge bands dressed as Indians, and a nearly nude dancer atop a stage shaped like a tribal drum.
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| 1972 Jan 28 The Oneonta Star |
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