Many Feathers and Much Paint Don't Make an Indian

       We fail to discriminate, hasten to generalize....         My friend Marshall Wingfield of Memphis, Tenn, Congressional preacher and historian, catalogs the reasons why we lump people together and so fatten our prejudices and those of others. He lists 9 reasons and they shame us because they hit us squarely between the eyes.       We lump people together because we are mentally lazy; because we lack imagination; because we have swallowed propaganda; because we like to make propaganda; because of unfortunate childhood experiences; because of unfortunate adult experiences; because we have the scapegoat maker's complex; because we are inaccurate thinkers and poor logicians; because we do not really believe in democracy. 1943 Dec 30, The Pantagraph 

Maria Pessino Bacardi: Producer-Director Robert Savina: Aurthor Gayil Nalls: Video Choreographer

Russell Means, an Oglala Lakota and a prominent voice in the struggle for indigenous rights, was the first national director of the American Indian Movement. I hope to be remembered as a fighter, and as a patriot who never feared controversy - and not just for Indians. When I fight  for my people’s right, when I protest government lies and illegal seizures and unlawful acts, I defend all Americans, even the bigoted and misguided.          ~Russell Means (1939-2012) Audio is from Colorado, 1991. audio from alternative radio.

On this day: Dec 22, 1926 Freeport Journal Standard, Dec 22, 1926 Click below to see two movie posters from 1926. 1926 film 1926 film

In 1975, the annual Tulare Union vs Tulare Western football games included the burning of a Redskin effigy. Setting the effigy ablaze was means to energize football players and students… But organizers failed to comprehend its meaning. One attendee – Native American student Celaya - remembers the effigy being strung up on a pole and students calling out “burn the redskin.” Caleya said, “All I wanted to do was to stop this. We wanted to stop the burning of the Redskin.”  The effigy was removed and put away. Later Celaya said “On that day we had to speak out. I didn’t do that for myself. It’s not right to hear those words.” And “We want to be treated as human beings. We deserve respect and dignity.” Darlene Franco, also of Native American descent, has joined Celaya in urging the school change its name – without a fight. “The Redskin word is insensitive. It’s derogatory. It’s the law. I am done with it.”  2016 Jan 23, Visalia Times 

British Retiree Takes Cultural Appropriation to New Awkward Level Simon Moya-Smith • August 6, 2014 Good hearted? It would appear so. Bad delivery? Quite. A 65-year-old retiree from England has pledged to devote his remaining days to debunking sundry stereotypes of Native Americans. 2014 - Les Atkins  But there is a problem – the man is a perpetuator of cultural appropriation. Photographed in what he refers to as his “costume” – a faux feather headdress, breastplate, choker and a pipe, Les Atkins of Walsall, England, retired from his job as a mayonnaise factory manager on July 31 to become a full-fledged Native American, according to the British tabloid Mirror. Atkins said he now plans to tour the country teaching students and museum-goers all about Native Americans. Aug 4, 2014  “Obviously putting on bits of dance display, talks, and basically just letting people know the truth,” Atkins said in a British brogue. “Their [Native American] way of life is not al...

"In America everybody tailgates at a country show, but in Norway they do a whole different thing," (Gary) LeVox (Rascal Flatts singer) said during a phone interview. "People were dressed up in full cowboy and Indian garb. I saw people with full feather headdresses to the ground. I'm talking full-blown Tonto; the whole nine yards. I felt like I was in a Western. This is what they think of when they hear country music." 2013 Oct 24, The Des Moines Register 

2013 Oct 28, The Tenessean  Charles Robinson (From his website, click here for the link)  Charles is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and has a passion to teach others about Native American ways. He has served on the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Indian Education Association and travels to reservations and Native communities to meet with tribal leaders regarding the challenges facing Native people in the 21st Century. Visit The Red Road here on Facebook.

by Kristi Eaton 2012 Oct 23, Courier Post        Sioux Falls, SD - Russell Means spent a lifetime as a modern American Indian warrior. He railed against broken treaties, fought for the return of stolen land and even took up arms against the federal government.        A onetime leader of the American Indian Movement, he called national attention to the plight of impoverished tribes and often lamented the warning of Indian culture. After leaving the movement in the 1980s, the handsome, braided activist was still a cultural presence, appearing in several movies.       Mr Means, who died Monday from throat cancer at age 72, helped lead the 1973 uprising at Wounded Knee – a bloody confrontation that raised America’s awareness about the struggles of Indians and gave rise to a wider protest movement that lasted for the rest of the decade.       Before AIM, there were few national advocates for American Indians. Mr...

Opinions held here state (in summary): That the Okemos High’s nickname (which some say disparages the old Ojibwa leader, Okemo) is compared to the Perishing Doughboys and the MSU Spartans, stating that the Okemo’s are no more racist or inappropriate as a name or mascot. Doughboys are a US infantryman, especially one in World War I. - This is a JOB.   Spartan refers to something related to Sparta in ancient Greece (431-404 B.C.). Spartan culture was centered on loyalty to the state and military service. - So, Spartan's were an ancient people, and the logo is of a man in the military service -- A JOB!! Okemos was a real person, a member of the Ojibwa (Chippewa) nation. He did NOT resemble the Plains-Indian looking image above. This is a stereotype. He looked like this: And he certainly did NOT look like these Okemos yearbook images: 2011 Dec 11, Lansing State Journal 

Ke$ha, the headdress, and a trend that won’t go away In american idol, headdress, hipsters, ke$ha by Adrienne K.March 18, 2010 It’s Time To Call Out Kesha’s Cultural Appropriation by  Sameer Ghai CELEBS IN NATIVE AMERICAN HEADDRESSES KESHA

2009 May 18 The Des Moines Register 

Profitable Disrespect 2008 July 20 The Cincinnati Enquirer  Dear Sticky Wicket, I don’t understand why Indians are offended that sports teams use Indian names and images for their nicknames and logos. Teams say they’re just honoring Native Americans when they use such names.                                                                                    --- Wondering in Washington DC Dear Wondering in DC.,  There was a lot of talk in the mid-1990s and early 2000 about the removal of American-Indian mascots and names from professional sports teams, as well as colleges and public schools. While such protests began as early as 1950, it wasn’t until 1992 that the subject really became mainstream. In 1992, seven American-Indians filed a lawsuit agains...

The use of American Indian mascots  promotes racial stereotyping 2007 May 17 The Times Herald        Re: "Prep mascots stirs debates" in Tuesday's Times Herald : Did you Know:       The Harvard Review  says racial insults cause psychological and physical harm. Indian team names and mascots have been charged with fostering "racial stereotyping" causing low self-esteem among American Indian and sets up children as targets for physical harassment.       It is any wonder the school drop-off rate is so depressingly high, not to mention high poverty and suicide? Racism is institutionalized.        The American Physiological Association has had similar results.        "The use of American Indian mascots as symbols in school and university athletic programs is particularly troubling," says APA President, Ronald F Levant, Ed. D. "Schools and universities are places of learning. The...

Battle of Bear River should be renamed Bear River Massacre -  one of the worst Indian massacres - and it deserves national landmark status. More than 400 Indian men, women and children were slaughtered during the little known fight between the Northwest Shoshoni Tribe and US Army California volunteers on Jan 27, 1863. The attack took place after white settlers complained of cattle theft. 2006 Dec 14, Indiana Gazette

The NCAA is coming down hard on Native-themed sporting names, mascots and symbolism in the college arena, and one university that fought back was Florida State University who, at one time, used extremely offensive mascots and logos as their school sporting identification, but had a bond with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, that made their situation unique.  Max Osceola, a member of the five-person Tribal Council of the Seminoles, said the NCAA did not consult their tribe, and he felt the ruling was presumptuous. The tribe passed a resolution in June supporting the schools use of the nickname and tribal images. “We’re not going to change our point of view,” Osceola said. “Our tribe has endorsed it, and we would hope another group would respect our wishes, but I guess the NCAA knows better for the Seminoles than the Seminoles do.” The largest group of Seminoles outside Florida is the Oklahoma Seminole Nation. “Other Seminole tribes are not supportive,” said Charlotte West...

Is 'Warrior' Offensive by Scott Thompson  2005 Nov 13, Great Falls Tribune  "What I feel is that it's a neat thing," Book St Goddard, Browning High School (Browning Indians, at the Blackfeet reservation in Montana) activities director. "Maybe I should say it, but I don't know why people are offended by it." Don Racine, a tutor at Hays-Lodgepole High school on the Fort Belknap Reservation, isn’t comfortable with the use of Indian mascots. He feels they lump every Native American together and result in stereotyping.  For him, that includes reservation schools such as the Browning Indians on the Blackfeet Reservation.   “We’re all Natives, but we’re each different. They’re Blackfeet and we’re Gros Ventre and Assiniboine,” Racine said. “We have our clan system, our families, our community. There are so many diversities among Native people.”       “The more I learn (to speak) Assiniboine, the more I learn that. There are different dialects ...

After more than 80 years, Southeast Missouri State University will no longer use Indians as a nickname. Years of debate of the use of the nickname and mascot ended .. when the board of regents voted unanimously to drop both for the men's terms as well as the Otakkians for the women...         Supporters had argued that the nicknames showed pride in the American Indian heritage of the region. But others found them demeaning.        Glida Ladd Seabaugh, president of the American Indian Center of Heartland in Cape Girardeau, said she thought Southeast had not intended harm, but that hanging onto Indian names was a type of cultural racism.       "We are human beings," she said. "We are not mascots."        After a brief phasing out of the Indians, Southeast's teams will be known as the Redhawks. ... 2004 July 1, The Hays Daily News 

Two 16-year-old intent on running off to Arizona "to fight Indians" were captured and held over until their parents arrived. They were armed with rifles and mounted on burros. December 8, 1909 click below to read the article The Oregon Daily Journal, Dec 8, 1909 

Alumni getting used to ‘Hawks By Karen Vance 2003 March 17, The News Messenger        Oxford – Franklin Shands will forever be a Redskin.       It makes no difference to the 1948 graduate of Miami University in Oxford that the university dropped the Native American nickname in 1996 and adopted the RedHawks as its mascot and logo in 1997.       “I thought it was the nuttiest thing I had ever heard of, especially for the athletes who have always been Redskins,” he said. “I just think (the universe) took it too far. I didn’t see the need for the name change. I didn’t like it then, but I have nothing against it now.” ….        Despite threats from many alumni that they would stop giving if the name was changed, the university claims they’ve seen little or no financial implications of the name change… Royalties the university has received for sales of Miami merchandise has been steady at between $100,000 to $1...

Susan Power captures her people's past better than her own present. Author of Roofwalker. Click the article to enlarge.  2002 Nov 10, Chicago Tribune 

Filed under: Rhetoric Rant  Demeaning images? No so. By Jeff Jacoby The Boston Globe 2001, March 28 Indiana Gazette        It is no secret that the civil rights establishment has become a parody of what was once a courageous battle for racial dignity and fairness.       There was a time when those who claimed to fight against prejudice confronted genuinely terrible injustice: segregated public schools, the bombing of black churches, willful flouting of the Fifteenth Amendment.       Back then, civil rights leaders were figures of impressive moral authority who saved the charge of racism for bigots who deserved it: cross-burning in hoods, terrorists who attacked Freedom Riders, hates preaching white supremacy.       No more. “Civil Rights” leaders today are typically shakedown artists like Jesse Jackson or racial inciters like Al Sharpton.       The old struggle to cleanse the law of dis...

Other Views  2000 Oct 13, St Cloud Times         On whether the time has come to retire chief Illiniwek:       … At the University of Illinois, administrators have dogged for years by a question that has nothing to do with the true mission of the university. The question could have been disposed of years ago, but the future of chief Illiniwek, a symbol that offends many Native Americans, remains a preoccupation.      Why does it take so long to recognize the obvious?       ….. University of Illinois trustees, who have been petitioned for years by Native American groups to get rid of chief Illiniwek are taking their time.       After soliciting comments on the issue last spring – and receiving some 18,000 – they are awaiting a report due in October, and they plan to respond to it next spring.       It really shouldn’t take all that trouble to address the issue. Supporte...

Ithaca professor disputes  story of Indians nickname The ballclub claims the moniker honors long-dead Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscot  1999 May 18 Democrat and Chronicle       Cleveland – The origin of the Cleveland Indians’ nickname has been called into question.       For more than 30 years, the club has said the nickname ‘Indians’ was chosen in a newspaper contest to honor Louis Sockalexis, a Penobscot Indian who played for the Cleveland Spiders from 1897-99.       But Ellen Staurowsky, an associate professor at Ithaca College who wrote a paper on the subject in the Sociology of Sports Journal last December, said the idea that there was a contest is a mistake.        “That’s completely fake,” she told the  Cleveland Plain Dealer. “It’s a misrepresentation of what actually happened. There is no evidence the team was named after Sockalexis.”       In recent years, p...

Illiniwek under siege  Efforts to dump the Chief gather momentum,  while defenders stand fast 1998 May 15, Herald and Review        Urbana – An American Indian student arrived on the University of Illinois campus 10 years ago and almost immediately challenged the school’s mascot, Chief Illiniwek, as a racist stereotype.       A decade later, Chief Illiniwek is still standing. The university tightly limits its use, it’s called an “official symbol” instead of a mascot and its defenders say it honors American Indian culture.       But there are signs that momentum is swinging in favor of those who oppose Chief Illiniwek – a 72-year-old tradition featuring a student who performs in Indian regalia at halftime of football and basketball games.       The student who raised the first objection, Charlene Teters , still actively opposes the Chief, though she lives in New Mexico. Charlene Teters  ...

1997 April 8, Albuquerque Journal