2005 Florida State University - the Seminoles - and the Mascot Movement

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 Westerhaus, NCAA vice president for diversity and inclusion. 
University of Hartford, Conn, President Walter Harrison, Chairman of the NCAA executive committee, said his group targeted schools whose mascots offended people of a particular race, ethnicity or nationality. He said the committee made its decision after several years of discussion and after every school with an American Indian mascot turned in a detailed self-study to the NCAA. The 18 schools cited use Indian nicknames. Schools such as Notre Dame (Fighting Irish) were left off the list.
Florida State University President T.K. Wetherell said that “the university will forever be associated with the ‘unconquered’ spirit of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.”  
And
 “National surveys have shown in recent years that an overwhelming majority of Native Americans are not offended by the use of Native American names and symbols.” 
2005, Aug 6 The Tampa Tribune 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1927 - "We [first Americans].. ask you while you are teaching school children about America first, teach them the truth about the first Americans.

Image
In 1927, the mayor of Chicago, William H Thompson, launched a campaign to "straighten out the affairs of the schools" in Chicago by urging all textbooks to be 100% accurate and pro-American (as opposed to pro-British, he said.) The tagline for project was themed "America First." Scott H. Peters , Chippewa and president of the Grand Council Fire of American Indians  penned a letter to the mayor, asking that indigenous people be included. On December 1, 1927, the delegation presented Mayor Thompson with the following memorial: To the Mayor of Chicago: You tell all the white men "America First." We believe that. We are the first Americans. We are the only ones truly that are 100 per cent. We, therefore, ask you while you are teaching school children about America first, teach them the truth about the first Americans.              We do not know if the school histories are pro-British, but we do know that they are unjust to the life of our people,
Read more

1969 Tumbleweeds comic strip: Not everyone finds stereotyped humor funny

Image
Hates Tumbleweeds 1969 Aug 18 Progress Bulletin  Letter to the Editor: Please can you get rid of that tasteless, humorless Tumbleweeds? At least cut out the degrading stereotype of the Indian. I, for one, think it is bad for children to have "Sadistics Class" presented as though sadism were funny. I don't think drunkeness is funny either, nor suitable entertainment for kids. -- Ruth D. Keran, Pimona.  1969 Aug 18 Progress Bulletin  1967 Feb 25 The Indianapolis News  1968 April 5 The San Bernardino County  Tumbleweeds was an American comic strip that offered a skewed perspective on life in the Old West. Writer-artist Tom K. Ryan wrote "satire" that wasn't always well-accepted by indigenous people.  Ryan retired and brought Tumbleweeds to a conclusion on December 30, 2007. 1969 Jan 2 The Minneapolis Star  1969 Jan 4 The Indianapolis News  1971 April 27 The Daily Intelligencer  1971 Oct 9 The News Journal  1972, May 26  Th
Read more

1982 So how can things be changed? "Money. Power. Control of studios. These things are very difficult to come by. You need more sensitive, knowledgeable people writing, producing, directing, distributing."

Image
Indian Image Debunked  UNM Festival Attacks Celluloid Stereotype of Native American  By Tom Jacobs 1982 Feb 15, Albuquerque Journal        Phil Lucas was standing in the Seattle airport waiting for his luggage when a little blond boy, perhaps 8 years old, walked up to him.       "Are you an Indian?" the boy asked.       "Yes," Lucas replied.       "Do you have an arrow?"       "No," he said.       "Do you kill people?"       " No," Lucas said. The boy then turned around and walked away.       Lucas paused and shook his head after recounting the story.       "It's still happening today," he said.       Lucas expressed no animosity toward the youngster. After all, virtually everything the child knows about Indians he probably learned from the movies. And everyone knows that, in the movies, Indians kill people.       That stereotype was examined, debated, debunked and deplored last week d
Read more