# Get rid of the Redsk*ins!



## MommyHawk (Aug 4, 2006)

_"The term historically refers to the scalp of dead Indians. At one point in American history, money was earned by killing Native Americans. Each (dead) Indian was worth about $1.00, but if you were prolific at Indian killing, carrying around all those dead bodies could prove to be quite cumbersome, therefore a pay-per-scalp policy was established. These scalps were called '*Redskins*.'"_ - http://www.terrijean.com/index.2ts?page=getrid

Football season is finally here, and although I like football, I HATE the usage of Redsk*ins as a NFL football team mascot...and for 100's of schools across the US. We need to put a stop to this insult to injury. We don't have the "*******" team mascot, or the "N*" teams scattered around. Why is this OK? *It's not a tribute to a people when those people are offended*...







:

I'd like to set up a protest in front of FedEx field this coming Monday for it's first game opener. I know it's short notice, but we need to put a stop to this! I know there is a law suit under way, but we can also show public support some how. Bring your children, friends, family. It would be easy to make shirts - just use a jersey of your own and cut out the name or something creative like that.

~ "If we could stop racial and cultural slurs in sports, then we would have a better chance of stopping racism that keeps us in poverty and ill-health and keeps our treaty rights under attack." ~ Gaiashkibos (Lac Courte Oreilles Chippewa)

"We're really in trouble when student's main exposure to Indian culture comes in the form of a sports mascot." - Will Antell

read more about why and HOW we can say "Good Riddance to the Redsk*ins!"
http://www.terrijean.com/index.2ts?page=getrid

like football - hate the name calling...

happy football season...


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## LilithParker (Jan 23, 2005)

Back in high school, I tried to get the administration to consider an alternative to the school's team name (Warriors) and mascot (slightly less cartoonish than the Redsk*ns logo, but only slightly). They told me that it was "honoring" the natives who used to live in the area (who were slaughtered by the first Brit who came here). As I was the only native in the school, I didn't have much support. The "Warriors" play on.

It's going to be an uphill struggle to get a professional team to change its name and logo, but I think we can do it.


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## oyemicanto (Feb 11, 2005)

I'm not from the area - but letters will be mailed! I've always thought it was so horrible that they use that word for a football team, and when it is pointed out to people that it is wrong, they just don't get it. What's not to get? Why hold onto something that is so obvious? They should be embaressed...

Isn't there still a baseball team named the braves that does a tomahawk chop during games? I find that so disgusting.


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## mamaofthreecats (Aug 17, 2006)

I've never really had an opionion on the subject, and i honestly had no idea that's what it meant!!!!







i was recently listening to a debate on the radio about the use of it as a mascot, and no one mentioned the history of it, and i wonder if most people, like me were just never informed. my high school history classes only briefly touched over such matters, and in college i mostly studied civil war stuff which never mentioned anything about native americans. so, thank you for the post, i'll be writting some letters!!!!


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## Irishmommy (Nov 19, 2001)

And while you're at it, get Notre Dame to change their team name.


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## itsang (Apr 12, 2006)

I actually wrote a letter to the owner of the NFL team when I was ten stating that I was offended by their name & that it was racist and requested they consider a name change.

I never received a reply. Go figure!


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## Vito's Mommy (Jan 19, 2005)

While they're at it, the NFL should find a different material to use for their footballs, as I don't think it's nice to use the skin of a dead pig.


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## mamaofthreecats (Aug 17, 2006)

vitosmommie







that would be nice but its a long shot considering they are sponsered by fast food and beer!!!! theres always ball park franks too


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## lotusbeans (Dec 20, 2003)

I


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## ambitiousmommy (Sep 11, 2006)

Thank you for posting this and getting more people involved and aware. I am a Native American mama who prays that my child will never have to see their culture being made fun of. I don't think people realize what that does to the self esteem of Native American youth.

PBS did a great P.O.V. special once about the whole issue of Native names for teams. It was wonderfully done and emotionally charged. I haven't seen it on since but am in search of it!


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## Jane (May 15, 2002)

I don't think that's a real "definition" of *******, but rather a made up origin. Most sources agree that it refers to skin color and was probably originated with Indians before becoming a slur. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100201139.html http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/*******.html

However, as a native american, I think the name should be changed. It was not intended as a compliment to native peoples when the team was named and I think it should be changed.


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## cyrusmama (Oct 17, 2004)

Wow, I was so excited when I saw this post, I wrote a rather extensive paper about how offensive this is, when I was in college a few years ago. It just amazes me that so many teams still use them, and think that they are honoring Native Americans by making them into a mascot.


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## cyrusmama (Oct 17, 2004)

There is also a great speech written by Albert RunningWolf, if anyone is interested in reading it, email me at (aicrag @ hotmail. com ) your email addy and I'll send it too you.


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## jarynsmom06 (May 21, 2006)

I never knew that was the meaning of the name Redskins. I too always thought it meant the color of the skin. I don't think any of the NFL teams are trying to insult or degrade anyone, I sometimes think people take it too far. The names have been around for a long time and to change it would be very hard to get done and I think would really do nothing....actually it would outrage people and cause them to think bad things about the Indians or any other mascot that was changed. As far as footballs go, I do believe they are made of leather now and not pigskins, which is still an animal skin, so to you I guess it would still be considered wrong. I am not trying to debate or make anyone mad, just stating my opinion.

Irishmommy:

why change the ND mascot? Just curious.


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## lotusbeans (Dec 20, 2003)

...


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## JessicaS (Nov 18, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *cgmom*

Isn't there still a baseball team named the braves that does a tomahawk chop during games? I find that so disgusting.

The Kansas City Chiefs (football) does that.

Honestly, of "Chiefs", "Braves", "Indians" out of all of them, the Redskins bothers me the most.


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## jaclyn7 (Jun 9, 2005)

Not a fan of the Redskins, merely the name, or the Cleveland Indians, the uniform is horrible IMHO, so offensive. It looks like a stereotypical Native with a big stupid / drunk smile. Atrocious!

I was just wondering what you all think about the Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL? I think they have won of the most beautiful uniforms in the league and, quite frankly, of all professional sports teams. To me, its a beautiful tribute and I would hope that people would be able to decipher intent and put political correctness into context. Overzealous pc'ers really lose a lot of people and I think its some of the extreme correctness that has enabled the Redskins to get away with their name.


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## mamaofthreecats (Aug 17, 2006)

maybe we could all just write letters saying it would unacceptible to have a team called the "whiteskins"---that would associated with racism. i think its stupid that there is a team called the redskins---its the same thing but a different color infront of the word skin!!!







:


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

Wow- this is the first I've ever heard of that term being offensive- I always thought of it simply as a team name and didn't think it through at all.

What are non-offensive terms/phrases for Native Americans? There's a high school not far from me whose teams are all named "The Braves" (the high school and the town its in is named after an NA tribe that used to be in the area.) Does anybody find that offensive?


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## CookieMonsterMommy (Oct 15, 2002)

To be honest Ruth, I'm not sure any predominantly white (as opposed to predominantly NA) schools can use a native american mascot/team name without it being offensive.

Can you imagine a school where most of the students were Christian having a team called the Jews or the Hebrews?

I don't think it has anything to do with honoring or respecting anyone. It sounded catchy and matched the name of the town

The fact that the town is named for a NA tribe that *used* to be in the area says it all (and you know I'm from the island too--we have all types of NA names here. But how many NAs do you know?) I don't remember the demographics from the report I did in nursing school, but there are so few NAs on long island...


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## Jennbee (Apr 30, 2005)

Teams with Native American names and images are offensive to me. Even if the name is not what we call ourselves, meaning misinformed or derogatory names that were given to us.

I support those who would like to see the teams change their names.


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## lotusbeans (Dec 20, 2003)

....


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

I'll keep writing. I am NA and their is no honor in such names nor mascots. It's dehumanizing to me and my children and grandchildren.


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## lotusbeans (Dec 20, 2003)




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## JessicaS (Nov 18, 2001)

Quote:

"... every ******* must be killed from off the face of the plains before we can be free from their molestations. They are of no earthly good and the sooner they are swept from the land the better for civilization ...I do not think they can be turned and made good law abiding citizens any more than coyotes can be used for shepherd dogs." -1866,

-Major John ***** Lauderdale, surgeon US Army, attending physician at Wounded Knee Massacre


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## JessicaS (Nov 18, 2001)

I removed several posts from this thread. Activism does not host debate.

Should you note debate perhaps it would be more productive to just report the post rather than debate about not debating on a forum that does not host debate.

Jessica


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## KrystalC (Aug 1, 2006)

Back in the day, my middle school's team name was "Warriors" and the original mascot/school logo depicted a Native American. It wasn't cartoony or anything, but when a local group indicated that they found it offensive (heh, not sure if it was a lawsuit or what), the logo was changed to resemble a Trojan warrior. I remember having a school-wide vote on the new logo and that was the one chosen.

I didn't really understand the reasons for people being offended then, but man did we get a kick out of being "Trojan" warriors after that (10-12 year olds....sheesh!).







However, now that I have more knowledge and experience, I can certainly see why people find it offensive. In fact, *I* even find it offensive these days.


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lotusbeans* 
I guess it's not that different from Land O' Lakes butter.

The logo was done by my great-Uncle, who is from Red Lake. He was never paid for it, though.


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## lotusbeans (Dec 20, 2003)

****


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lotusbeans* 
That sucks!









Did he know the boob trick?

Huh? I never heard of any boob trick.


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## lotusbeans (Dec 20, 2003)

****


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lotusbeans* 
I read about it years ago - you can fold the picture and put her knees where the butter is, her knees end up looking exactly like boobs.

Ah, a quick little search found this:
http://imsmarterthanyou.com/article.asp?Index=182









: No, I doubt he knew.


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## mamaofthreecats (Aug 17, 2006)

i never knew the boob trick either---learn something new every day


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## AndreaBash (Feb 20, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MamaInTheBoonies* 
The logo was done by my great-Uncle, who is from Red Lake. He was never paid for it, though.









Wow. How long ago was that? Is your great uncle still alive? Maybe you can give him a heads up about the boob trick.


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## MommyHawk (Aug 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MamaInTheBoonies* 
The logo was done by my great-Uncle, who is from Red Lake. He was never paid for it, though.









maybe if your Uncle is still alive he can demand payment!







:

I am sooo pleased to see the response to this post - I thought it had gone unlooked, so to see that it has over 1000 views and over 30 posts is great!









we just got done watching the Washington R* game, and it just seems like an uphill battle - but then again, what battle isn't uphill? My DH loves the team and although he agrees that the term is racist (he himself is NDN), he still wears jerseys and such - old habits die hard I guess... and I CRING everytime the announcers (FOX) say the name - other stations just say "Washington" and leave out the R*....HOWEVER, it's when my DS says the name that I feel as though I'm rasing a bigot, and if I allow him to say the word on one hand, and then teach him how it hurts others on the other, than that is exactly what I am doing...

Sooo, long story made short, I feel like this







:. Like I can talk till I'm blue in the face, everyone agrees, and then the game turns on and they all rush to cheer on thier team. I understand the team thing, I just don't want to hear the word. I mean, would you cheer, out loud in a room with the windows open, for the N* team??? Why then is it ok to cheer for the R* team??? I can't force people, let alone a 2yo that wants so much to be like daddy...just some days it seems as if the whole world is against what you know in your heart to be right...all for the sake of entertainment and high paying saleries...maybe I'm getting my first lesson on how it feels to be NDN.







:

keep those letters going! maybe we can bring to light the wrongs being done and maybe, just maybe, this football season will be the last season for racism.


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## MommyHawk (Aug 4, 2006)

maybe we can set something up in terms of a protest/ralley? anyone in the MD/DC area? Or just send letters and hope that they get read?


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## OriginalGirlGamer (Jan 11, 2006)

The college I went to just changed the Mascot name. For years and years we were the Northeast Louisiana University Indians. In my junior year, we had a school name change to the University of Louisiana, but the mascot stayed the same. I never heard any protests about it though, but we all thought ALL the sports teams with something like that should be changed up.
We got a call from some friends who still live in the area and told us our school was no longer the ULM Indians, we are now the Warhawks. You can go to www.ulm.edu to see the new mascot, I think it was done great. Our old logo was a warbonnet, but at the football games, that idiotic costume would come out that resembled the Cleveland Indians mascot. We thought about stealing it a few times. >_> Now its a hawk, and a cool looking one at that.
If a small college in Louisiana can make this change, why can't the big name sports teams?


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## MommyHawk (Aug 4, 2006)

that is a great mascot - animals, weather powers (hurricanes and such) are cool things - why people - just doesn't make sense...unless you see that they are just being racist and rasing bigots nfl style


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## swimswamswum (Oct 26, 2005)

I hate the use of NA mascots. It's so incredibly disrespectful.

Since today is columbus day, I'm wearing my "Fightin' Whites" shirt. It says "every thang's gonna be all white" on the front with the image of a white man in a suit. The back says "Go Fightin' Whites!" Fighting the use of Native American Stereotypes.


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## lotusbeans (Dec 20, 2003)




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## MommyHawk (Aug 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *swimswamswum* 
I hate the use of NA mascots. It's so incredibly disrespectful.

Since today is columbus day, I'm wearing my "Fightin' Whites" shirt. It says "every thang's gonna be all white" on the front with the image of a white man in a suit. The back says "Go Fightin' Whites!" Fighting the use of Native American Stereotypes.

where can you buy the shirt?


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## MommyHawk (Aug 4, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lotusbeans* 
That reminds me of the Cocks t-shirts made up to counter the Hooter's shirts.


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