Many Feathers and Much Paint Don't Make an Indian

Pembroke axes Brave mascot 1992 Feb 7, Asheville Citizen Times       Pembroke - Saying he was worried about offending Indians, the chancellor of Pembroke State University - home of the Braves has given the ax to the school's costumed mascot and 1200 toy tomahawks.        Chancellor Joseph Oxendine said he was watching the school's basketball team at a game last week when he was surprised to see a caricature of an Indian brave on the sidelines.       It was the school's unofficial mascot, in an old costume apparently resurrected by a student.       “This person was dressed in full Indian regalia, with a mask-type face which was quite large and, I thought, unattractive,” Oxendine said.       After the game, Oxendine said he talked with the school’s athletic director.       He discovered that the athletic director had ordered toy tomahawks to be sold at this weekend’s homecoming game as a way to raise funds.       The tomahawks have been popular favors among

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 Westerha

Arkansas State to get new mascot  Runnin' Joe, the tomahawk-wielding Indian caricature with bared teeth and angry eyes, is being run off the campus of Arkansas State University. The school will keep its 61-year-old nickname, the Indians, university president John N. Mangieri said. But Runnin Joe, the school's official athletic symbol, will be replaced "with an appropriate new logo."  1993 Oct 16, The Journal News   Shirts still for sale  

Siena to go without mascot                                                        1988 Dec 26 The Star Democrat  ….. Old habits die hard, it seems. After 40 years of  being Indians, this private college in suburban Albany has dropped its traditional nickname, fearing that the image it conveys of Native Americans may be offensive.       So, this year the former Siena Indians will play as the Team With No Name.       Siena’s Indian mascot has been “temporarily” replaced with a leprechaun dressed in the school colors --- …..        “With the Indian nickname, you’re taking various tribes and cultures and lumping them all together,” explained faculty member Jim Dalton, who spearheaded the decision as chair of Siena’s minority task force project. “It’s oversimplifying Indian culture… the name is culturally demeaning.”        Raymond Boisvert, a professor of philosophy at Siena, explained it this way in the school newspaper:       “Imagine… instead of the Siena Indians, we ar

Fight over nickname heats up again by Matthew Burglund 1985, June 18. Indiana Gazette        Every few years - when it seems the calm has set in - the war erputs again.       Armies enlist new recruits. Plans of attack are charted. Battle lines are drawn.      All because of a nickname.       The seemingly endless battle over just what the Indiana University of Pennsylvania athletic teams should be called has begun again, fueled by charges of ignorance, greed and disrespect. And it seems it's a war that might never end.       The latest installment finds the school's student body preparing to vote on a new nickname later this month to potentially replace "Indians," which the university's teams have been called since the late 1920s, when the Indiana Evening Gazette began referring to them that way.       ... "This has to change at some point," said Laura Cramer, president of Student Congress and head of the Nickname Renaming Committee. &

The ghost of the Warrior still roams Syracuse U campus 1984 April 29, Democrat and Chronicle     “There’s so much emotional attachment among alumni to the Saltine Warrior,” [said Paul Erickmann, SU vice president for student affairs.] “You could put a variety of things on the field, but there’s an outspoken group of alumni that would never accept anything but the Saltine Warrior. I sense some of that among the student body , too.” ….       The warrior was a student dressed and painted as an Indian who waved a tomahawk, did war dances and whooped up cheers for the crowd.       But in the late 1970s, a native American student group protested that the warrior represented a racist stereotype of Indians as barbarians and comic figures, and Syracuse dropped the warrior as the official mascot in 1978…..       Although interest in the Warrior still is alive, so is opposition to it among native American students, said Gary Gordon, president of Jogwe Owe, the Native American Studen

“And now, the school has this nickname thing. The teams are called the Indians, but the mascot is a bear, lesser known as Cherokee. Administration, under heat due to the supposed offensive nature of the nickname, said the change from the Indian mascot was made several years ago because the bear holds special meaning among Native Americans. Fact is, administrators didn’t want to upset alumni, whose money they hold in high regard, by changing the nickname. It was an easy out. They even paid good money for a funny-looking bear costume and a snarling bear logo….        There is a core element that cites political correctness and wants the nickname changed. Some have a serious political voice, and some just hopped on the most recent bandwagon. Some Native American groups – why call them Native Americans when it wasn’t America until white settlers arrived? – want all Indian-type nicknames changed, citing the supposed offensive nature of the term.        IUP isn’t the Savages, the Redski

The president of St. Cloud State University intends to urge presidents of other NCAA schools to oppose the use of American Indian nicknames and mascots.       Roy Saigo plans to speak during the NCAA's Division... "I hope to educate the public, talking about issues sensitive to a group of people,"Saigo said. "I'm not here to present the facts and happenings."       The University of North Dakota... uses an American Indian nickname. They are called the Fighting Sioux.       Las March, Saigo submitted a resolution to the NCAA, asking it to eliminate the use of American Indian nicknames by its members. Recommendations to the NCAA's executive committee are expected in August.       A number of colleges in recent years have abandoned long-standing Indian nicknames in favor of new ones. 1983 Aug 19, Indiana Gazette  1983 March 24, Indiana Gazette 

1982, Dec 10. The Clarksdale Press Register 

1977 Aug 9, The Courier News  Ohio College Signs Treaty,  Retains Its Indian Nickname  At Miami University in Ohio, known as the Redskins ---       School officials announced the return of "Chief Miami," a costumed Indian dancer who will perform authentic dances of the Miami Indian tribe at athletic events and become the focal point of school spirit.       It may sound like a simple announcement, but for Miami officials, it represents a major decision -- and a big risk.       After all, it was a little Indian dancing that got Miami into big trouble a few years ago.       Various Miami students who donned the Indian costume became involved in stunts with mascots from other schools -- usually students dressed as animals. What was supposed to be a stoic and powerful Indian turned out to be a character on the warpath chasing a six-foot cartoon-like falcon .       The anti-Indian movement, led in fact by several Miami professors, hit the school with full force. The Indi

Headline: Seaman Hangs on To Scalp Redmen  1975 March 2 The Atchison Daily Globe  1975 Nov 28, The Bakersfield Californian  Headline: Redskins Scalp Giants  1975 Nov 10 The Bridgeport Telegram

1975 Dec 6 Hatford Courant  1975 Dec 5 Irving Daily News  1975 Dec 8 New Castle News  1975 Nov 18, Redlands Daily Facts 

it had picked up the symbolism of Apache Joe, a senior student dressed in deerskin and warpaint who explodes through a wallpaper banner to race 120 1974 Dec 8, Arcadia Tribune  Indianettes Create Headdresses From Sailor Hat, Fathers, Fur (Pocatello , Idaho) 1974 Sep 9, Idaho State Journal  Headline: 'Pokes To Scalp Redskin s 1974 Nov 27, Lubbock Avalanche Journal  1974 Nov 8, The Press Gazette  1974 Nov 27, The Robesonian  1974 - Dickinson State College changed the nickname of the athletic teams, choosing Blue Hawks to replace Savages. The name change came in the wake of protests from Indian students who said the name and caricature were demeaning. 1974 Jan 30, The Eagle  Headline: Savages Tip Polson..  1974 Sep 27, The Daily Inter Lake