Many Feathers and Much Paint Don't Make an Indian

Teams disregard American Indian labels   by Brad Herzog 1991 March 13, The Ithaca Journal        The idea of changing sports nicknames and mascots is not new.       Although pro sports fans still cheer on their Indians, Braves, Redskins, Chiefs, Warriors and Blackhawks, many institutions at the college and high school level have opted to drop American Indian references and mascots.       Here are some of them: Dartmouth. In the early 1970s, Dartmouth College, long known at the Indians, officially became the Big Green.  Kathy Slattery, Dartmouth's sports information director, said the original nickname arose because the college was founded in 1765 with the specific purpose of “educating the natives of the area.” However, riding a wave of sensitivity to racial and cultural issues during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Dartmouth went to “voluntary discontinuance” of the nickname. And in 1972, Dartmouth trustees formally voted that the school’s Indian mascot was,

                                                            Name Calling                                  Teams discard American Indian labels                                               By Brad Herzog                                                       1991 March 13, The Ithaca Journal        The idea of changing sports nicknames and mascots is not new.       Although pro sports fans still cheer on their Indians, Braves, Redskins, Chiefs, Warriors, and Blackhawks, many institutions at the college and high school level have opted to drop American Indian references and mascots.        Here are some of them: Dartmouth . In the early 1970s, Dartmouth College, long known as the Indians, officially became the Big Green.        Kathy Slattery, Dartsmouth’s sports information director, said the original nickname arose because the college was founded in 1765 with the specific purpose of “educating the natives of the area,” However, riding a wave of sensitivity to racial a

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