“Indian” Logos (Assertion Journal)

Barbara Munson, in Common Themes and Questions about the Use of “Indian” Logos, asserts that “Indian” logos and nicknames should be excluded from the world of sports and mascots because they are depreciative the Native American culture. I am in complete agreement with this assertion by Munson. The reason these logos should be banned because they have misrepresented the intricate nature of the Native American society and have led the American people to misinterpret and misunderstand the role of the Native American culture as whole in setting up the American culture. “Indian” logos also have given Americans another reason to further ignore the Native American society that was the first to settle on this soil.

Native Americans were once rulers of North America, hence the name Native Americans. Millions of tribesmen and women inhabited this land centuries before the Europeans arrived. But by propagating the “Indian” logos and nicknamed, Americans today and forever have underappreciated the Native American culture and their race as a whole. There are and have been many misportrayals of Native Americans throughout history. Many sources of media and sports teams have generalized the whole Native American culture, which includes all tribes depicted as fierce fighters who are filled with belligerence. And sports like to make use of this aggression as a part of their teams by naming their mascots “Redskins” or “Seminoles.” But this interpretation of the Native American culture is only partly correct. No doubt there were some tribes that were fierce hunters and violent but there were many other Native America tribes which were calm and peaceful gathers, roaming nomads that made a living be planting and growing crops necessary for their survival. By generalizing all of these different groups under one broad category of coldblooded horsemen and barbarians, the American people are being just with Native Americans as a whole. Rather they are distancing themselves from the very rich history of the lives of different Native American tribes.

The bigger problem that faces the Native American people and the “Indian” logo and nickname controversy is that these misconceptions created by the media and sports teams are causing harm to an already misjudged image of the Native American. The misjudgment is shown by the American people when they speak of Native Americans as “Indians.” “Indians” are people like me who were born in the country of India not what Columbus called the Native Americans. This dilemma also shows how ignorant Americans are about the facts, especially relating to the Native Americans and their culture. Some experts have said that having sports teams with “Indian” logos and nick names is a way of honoring the Native American culture. But again Americans knowing nothing about the culture they are “honoring” do not know that naming teams with “Indian” nicknames is not considered honor in the Native American culture. The right way to honor the Native American culture is by awarding unique gifts to different tribes.