Dear Educators:
It is the official position of the Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire that no sports team of any sort should have a Native American/American Indian mascot. This includes such mascots as Savages, Warriors, Raiders, etc. where the name is not specifically American Indian but the imagery is clearly Native American. We believe there is no compromise on this position.
Many people, coalitions and groups speak to the damage done to our Native youth which has been proven, by extensive research, to contribute to low self-esteem, teenage suicide, substance abuse, school drop outs, all at dramatically higher rates than mainstream society.
However, there is a more subtle impact on non-Indian students and school staff resulting from Native American mascots that is just as negative. Students learn only stereotypes (such as imagery of a northern plains tribe). It is commonplace for Indians to hear “I thought you were all dead.” The imagery locks Native people into the 18th and 19th centuries when there are 21st century Indians all around your school district.
Stereotypes of Native Americans bombard our lives every day, from Calumet Baking Soda, to Jeep Cherokee, to movies, TV shows, commercials and Native American mascots. Words like scalped, off the reservation, let’s pow wow, or Indian giver, are thoughtlessly included in conversations without realizing. The word squaw is a disgusting, degrading word that virtually every Indian woman finds deeply offensive. Yet in California, squaw bread can be found in any grocery store.
Everywhere, in our daily lives, we are subjected to these reminders of what happened to us historically, and still occurs today. They also paint a very inaccurate and insulting picture of whom we were and who we are. Yet non-Indians fail to comprehend this constant exposure and the damage it does. These false images become reality in the impressionable minds of students. They are not grounded in the Native American experience and treatment for the last 500 years, from slavery, to government eradication plans, to boarding school to the continued seizure of tribal lands today.
Native mascots also invite inappropriate behavior on the part of the student body as well as the sports opponents. Some examples include:
1) Red face. We believe your school would never allow dressing up as African American with black face paint. Dressing as an Indian is no different. It’s wrong.
2) Wearing feathers, head dresses, face paint, without any understanding of our history and culture ridicules our people and shows a complete disregard for America’s original peoples. It is akin to using Jesus as a prop for a football game. 3) Signs, cheers and banners invite misrepresentation of history, or worse, reflect the ugliest parts of history, such as massacres, scalping, removal and attempted eradication.
Perhaps these things are not tolerated at your school, but you have no control over how your opponents behave. As stated, the mascot alone provokes and invites insensitive and even racist behavior. Maybe you don’t have any Native American students or staff. However, it is very possible, even likely that your opponents do. How would such a student react to the imagery, atmosphere and disrespect for his or her race in a place of learning?
Finally, unlike other mascots, “Indian” is a race. There are 567 federally recognized Indian tribes, bands, nations, pueblos, rancherias, communities and Native villages in the United States. Many other tribes and bands are state recognized, or choose not to seek government recognition at all. Tribes are ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse. To use Indian as a mascot is the same as African American or Caucasian. Indian doesn’t account for the many nations that still are recognized by federal nation to nation treaties. Your school may be located on the original homeland of the Abenaki. They were quite different from the Cherokee, Lakota, Kiowa, Seminole, Pechanga, Yurok, or even the nearby Mohawks or Mohegans in every way except race.
There are many other aspects to this matter but this letter serves to inform you of our official stance and a few of the reasons why.
Again, our position is intended to prepare all students, Native or not, to graduate and make their future in a rich and diverse society, where sensitivity and understanding are required. Because you are educators, we believe that is your intention as well. So we ask you to take the same stand as we do and retire all Native American themed mascots.
It is the official position of the Abenaki Nation of New Hampshire that no sports team of any sort should have a Native American/American Indian mascot. This includes such mascots as Savages, Warriors, Raiders, etc. where the name is not specifically American Indian but the imagery is clearly Native American. We believe there is no compromise on this position.
Many people, coalitions and groups speak to the damage done to our Native youth which has been proven, by extensive research, to contribute to low self-esteem, teenage suicide, substance abuse, school drop outs, all at dramatically higher rates than mainstream society.
However, there is a more subtle impact on non-Indian students and school staff resulting from Native American mascots that is just as negative. Students learn only stereotypes (such as imagery of a northern plains tribe). It is commonplace for Indians to hear “I thought you were all dead.” The imagery locks Native people into the 18th and 19th centuries when there are 21st century Indians all around your school district.
Stereotypes of Native Americans bombard our lives every day, from Calumet Baking Soda, to Jeep Cherokee, to movies, TV shows, commercials and Native American mascots. Words like scalped, off the reservation, let’s pow wow, or Indian giver, are thoughtlessly included in conversations without realizing. The word squaw is a disgusting, degrading word that virtually every Indian woman finds deeply offensive. Yet in California, squaw bread can be found in any grocery store.
Everywhere, in our daily lives, we are subjected to these reminders of what happened to us historically, and still occurs today. They also paint a very inaccurate and insulting picture of whom we were and who we are. Yet non-Indians fail to comprehend this constant exposure and the damage it does. These false images become reality in the impressionable minds of students. They are not grounded in the Native American experience and treatment for the last 500 years, from slavery, to government eradication plans, to boarding school to the continued seizure of tribal lands today.
Native mascots also invite inappropriate behavior on the part of the student body as well as the sports opponents. Some examples include:
1) Red face. We believe your school would never allow dressing up as African American with black face paint. Dressing as an Indian is no different. It’s wrong.
2) Wearing feathers, head dresses, face paint, without any understanding of our history and culture ridicules our people and shows a complete disregard for America’s original peoples. It is akin to using Jesus as a prop for a football game. 3) Signs, cheers and banners invite misrepresentation of history, or worse, reflect the ugliest parts of history, such as massacres, scalping, removal and attempted eradication.
Perhaps these things are not tolerated at your school, but you have no control over how your opponents behave. As stated, the mascot alone provokes and invites insensitive and even racist behavior. Maybe you don’t have any Native American students or staff. However, it is very possible, even likely that your opponents do. How would such a student react to the imagery, atmosphere and disrespect for his or her race in a place of learning?
Finally, unlike other mascots, “Indian” is a race. There are 567 federally recognized Indian tribes, bands, nations, pueblos, rancherias, communities and Native villages in the United States. Many other tribes and bands are state recognized, or choose not to seek government recognition at all. Tribes are ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse. To use Indian as a mascot is the same as African American or Caucasian. Indian doesn’t account for the many nations that still are recognized by federal nation to nation treaties. Your school may be located on the original homeland of the Abenaki. They were quite different from the Cherokee, Lakota, Kiowa, Seminole, Pechanga, Yurok, or even the nearby Mohawks or Mohegans in every way except race.
There are many other aspects to this matter but this letter serves to inform you of our official stance and a few of the reasons why.
Again, our position is intended to prepare all students, Native or not, to graduate and make their future in a rich and diverse society, where sensitivity and understanding are required. Because you are educators, we believe that is your intention as well. So we ask you to take the same stand as we do and retire all Native American themed mascots.
