Washington Redskins: Sporty or Racist?

I would like to address one of many First Nations issues which have come to light in the press in recent days. The story I’m referring to was very nearly buried by the media. It concerns the “Seven Native Americans” who have been working to have the Redskins trademark removed from the National Football League’s Team Roster.

The story created many questions:
Who are these Seven Native Americans?
Why are racial slurs still used today in Sports and many other franchises?
What can we do about it?

First things first: The Seven Native Americans’ identities remain anonymous in all instances of the press which I could find. But it doesn’t matter that their names remain unknown.

Our neighbours’ to the south have reputations for being extremely prideful for all things “American”, and what’s more “American” than the NFL?

Do we really need to know their names to call them heroes? These 7 people epitomize the definition of hero: they have shown great courage in taking on the NFL, and they do this without seeking glory. They do what they do to benefit all those who will follow for generations to come.

I respect their anonymity. It’s all to easy to envision a truckload of disgruntled NFL fans tearing around town, rooting out any ‘suspects’ who would dare to try and challenge or change their beliefs of “the American Dream” by attacking the name of their favourite NFL franchise.

Under the entry for ‘hero’ my Webster’s 9th new Collegiate Dictionary, the first definition reads:
1 a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b : an illustrious warrior c : a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d : one that shows great courage

There is nothing which says a hero has to be well known or idolized. History has thousands of unsung heroes; think about the Underground Railroad, or the hiding of peoples of Jewish decent during the Second World War. The last thing those unsung heroes wanted was recognition for their unselfish, humanitarian acts.

And that’s why the 7 Native Americans are heroes, and are represented here, today.

What the press has told us about these Seven Native Americans is that they have been arguing this fight since 1992. That they won the right in 1999 to have the Redskins trademark invalidated. But the NFL refuses to obey the Trademark law. The 7 Native Americans have been fighting the NFL ever since to have the name changed.

So what if the NFL has teams with names like the Washington Redskins? Calling someone a redskin is like saying they are ‘brave’ and ‘scary’, isn't it? When you’re playing football I guess that’s what you want the opposing team to think, that you should be feared. With that kind of logic, they should rename all the teams with racial and stereotypical slants:

NAME NOW.........................NEW NAME

Cleveland Browns................Cleveland Niggaz

Minnesota Vikings...............Minnesota Pillagers

New Orleans Saints.............New Orleans Sinners

Kansas City Chiefs...............Kansas City Crackers

New England Patriots.........New England Terrorists

Know what the team was called before they were called Redskins? The Washington Braves.

How are we, as a peoples, to be able to find pride in ourselves when the society we live in uses dated, and not so dated racial slurs as trademarked names?

Racism in advertising is not new. However, as a result of decades of work of countless people who strove for civil rights, (more unsung heroes) we don’t see many or any racist ads anymore, do we? (Check out old racists ads here, and definitely visit the next page for more redskin references)

But none today, right? Uh, well, there are those Lakota ads…
(I was going to post the Lakota link here, but then I found this gem on youtube, and I’m sticking it in even if it’s a little off subject)




Back to the blog…
And judging by this article, the effectiveness of the Lakota advertising is all about their ‘low-budget’ ads, and the fact that a First Nations actor, Floyd Red Crow Westerman of Dances With Wolves fame, sagely advises us to "get medicine that works." The company is not First Nations affiliated in any way.

So, what do we want to be called? Well, I like First Nations person, and if the opportunity arises, I can extrapolate that I’m an Anishiniaabeg Ikwe from North West Ontario. Or, if you know me, just call me by my name.

What can we do about it?

We can write about it, talk about, create discussion, expand knowledge and the good old stand-by, boycott products or services, and yes, even entertainment. We can add our own thoughts to the subject at hand.

Here’s what I wrote to the NFL on their Contact Us page:

Boozhoo! Aaniin!
I am a First Nations person of North America, and I respectfully request that your organization cease and desist from using “Redskins” and “Chiefs” as names on your Team Roster.
When people call me a redskin or a chief, they are not being friendly or funny. They are being mean and ignorant of our shared history.
You would not call a team ‘niggaz’ or ‘coons’, and I see no difference between those racial slurs and the two I’ve already stated, with the exception that they are aimed at people with different shades of skin. I am not a redskin, a chief, or even an Indian. I am a First Nation person.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invalidated the trademark Redskins in 1999. When will your organization obey the law and change the name? I realize that Washington First Nations might not have that special something you need in a team name, but if finding a new name is what’s holding you up, I’ve decided to thoughtfully suggest a few alternatives:

Washington Lobbyists
Washington Blue Chips
Washington Wolves (if not in use already, but you got money, just buy them out)
Washington Rebels (that sounds scary)
Washington Pioneers (now that’s really scary!)
Washington Nutcrackers

Meegwich for reading


Feel free to copy and paste my note here: http://www.nfl.com/contact-us , but add your own contact info, change it up where and if necessary, and be creative when coming up with alternative team names.

Also, feel free to write to your State Governor http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Governors.shtml , and to the President of the United States http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact , expressing your concern. You don’t have to be American or a First Nations person to write to these elected leaders.

Let them know how far behind we First Nations peoples are in the fight for equal rights and respect. I have a feeling the President, especially, might be interested in learning more about this simmering 500 year old fight for civil rights.

And what else can we do? Just keep on smiling, laugh when you can, and by reading this post you’ve already begun your participation in making changes in our world.

Meegwich for reading, and pass it on.

Tom Longboat

Who’s On First?

There was no reason, no one is better, or more important, but how to choose the first?

It came to me while listening to my favourite radio station, CBC Radio One.

The interviewee ___, on the radio show ___, both names’ escape me, was talking about an Onondaga named Tom Longboat, and how he’d set a course record for the Boston Marathon back in 1907, and then went on to serve in WW1. He acclaimed how many First Nations people had never ever heard the name Tom Longboat. He was right.

I was one of them.

Maybe you are, too.

Not anymore!


Introducing our first hero of many,

TOM LONGBOAT

Tom Longboat was an Onondaga born on June 4, 1887. He grew up on the Grand River First Nations Reservation in Ontario. It was Tom’s destiny to become world renown as a long distance runner; now it is our pleasure to recall his achievements as our very first profile entry for the First Nations People Project.

Tom’s road to success was filled with obstacles, the least of which was poverty. In 1906, while training with Bill Davis, a Mohawk, Tom ran his first race wearing cheap sneakers and a droopy cotton bathing suit. Others laughed at the sight, but Tom laughed last when he won the 19 mile race by a full 3 minutes.

Tom went on to run and win many other races, and with proper running shoes, he most notably won the Boston Marathon of 1907 when he was 19 years old. There he set a course record of 2:24:24. That is something we can all be proud of, and you can see his listing here.

At the age of 29 Tom enlisted to fight in WW1. There he continued to run, carrying messages and orders between units. Tom Longboat was wounded twice while in service, and even declared dead. Yet he survived the war and returned to Canada in 1919.

Tom Longboat died in 1949 at the age of 62. He is remembered today in the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and the Indian Hall of Fame. Where is the Indian Hall of Fame? Apparently it was a travelling exhibition of some “Indian” sports stars, but nothing worthy of perpetual recognition.

Today, we stand and read, corrected.

Recognize Tom Longboat.


To learn more about Tom Longboat, do an Internet search you! LOL!
Some Anishiniaabeg humour; get used to it!

Check out these links:
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/other/native/longboat
Tom Longboat
Tom Longboat

Meegwich to the Library Archives of Canada for the pictures.
Meegwich to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame for the first picture.

A little more about the First Nations People Project

Last February I spent some of my time while in a state of semi-hibernation on my sofa, watching one of my favourite channels, The Biography Channel. In my semi-conscious state my mind was drifting to what I’d been reading, “1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus” by Charles Mann.

The book relates that there is plenty of evidence suggesting that the indigenous peoples of the Americas – we First Nations Peoples - were larger in number, had arrived earlier, were more sophisticated culturally, and controlled and shaped the natural landscape to a greater extent than had been previously thought: that we weren’t savages after all.

In one of those very rare and true moments of awareness, when the electricity in the air seems to spark and attention is focused and open and taking in everything around you, it was as if an Eagle feather had dropped onto my head. Then I realized I had been staring at the Thunderbird feather I’d been granted custody of the previous summer. I very rightly jumped off the couch, ready for action.

The television was showing a history vignette, created for Black History Month. Though generally only 2 minutes in duration, these little episodes purveyed a plethora of factual information about lesser known African-Americans and African-Canadians who helped shape our present world. And they were presented in an entertaining, and pride inducing manner.

My mind was racing as I paced the room. Why is there no “First Nations History Month”? We were only granted a national “Aboriginal Day” by the Governor General of Canada on June 13, 1996!

As far as learning our heritage, and being proud of your heritage, culture, and language, we are far behind the African Americans.

Shortly thereafter I began to do research; who are our First Nations heroes? Several Internet searches revealed that there are quite a few websites out there dedicated to the preservation of our languages, our histories, and our diverse cultures. There were a few dedicated to Aboriginal Heroes, yet hero was never used as a word to describe our peoples, past or present.

I posed the question to myself: who are my First Nations Heroes? Who do I admire for their actions and contributions to our understanding of ourselves, and to our own potential?

I am not ashamed to admit I could not think of anyone. That’s not my shame – that shame belongs to the writers of the Euro-centric history books which are still in use in schools today. But it would be my shame if I did not use my talents and interests to rectify the situation. I’d already begun my own personal journey, but what of all my cousins? (I refer to all First Nations peoples as my cousins, and everyone else on the planet too, which I will explain in a later blog.) There remains a huge gap of unanswered truths about our history, past, present and future. It is necessary to research, compile and present these uncommon truths to all peoples of the land.

I am only one Anishinaabeg Ikwe (Anishinaabee Woman), and by creating this blog I hope to reach as many curious minds as possible, to learn as well as teach, and to share knowledge, as our peoples had before. We have a lot to be proud of, more still to fight for. Even after 500+ years of subliminal and not so subtle eradication attempts, government sanctioned and otherwise,

We Are Still Here.

Stand up, smile, and be proud.

If you know of any links I should check out, or that I could connect to this blog, let me know.

Meegwich for reading, and pass it on.

Why a blog about First Nations Peoples?

Past and present, our peoples are still being treated as less than second class citizens even as we strive to acclimate ourselves to a societal structure which differed greatly from that of our ancestors. As a people we need to feel affirmed. We need to be aware of the contributions made by other First Nations peoples in Canada, and indeed, all throughout North and South America, and the Caribbean islands. We need to have role models, and we need to understand the social forces which have shaped and influenced our communities, both on reservations and off. We need a means of feeling connected to the experiences of our ancestors, our lost cultures and languages, in all regions across Canada.

The greater Canadian community, indeed, the world, needs to know a history of Canada that includes all of our histories, especially those which the government, working with various Christian religious institutions, tried so hard to eradicate. “The Indian Act” of 1850 and its various amendments outline this in detail. I have not been able to find any of the original texts online in their entirety; however, I did find this gem of a page.

The truth needs to be told, we deserve to know where we come from, and I hope we can share this learning journey together.