Supporting Cases and Statements

Excerpts from NCAI's Position on "Ending Harmful Indian Mascots"

 

The full NCAI statement from its "Proud to Be" campaign can be read here.

"NCAI's position is clear, longstanding, and deeply rooted in our seventy years as a leading voice for Indian Country - we advocate for and protect the civil rights, social justice, and racial equity of all Native people in all parts of American society.”

About "Indian" Sports Mascots & Harm

Born in an era when racism and bigotry were accepted by the dominant culture, "Indian" sports brands have grown to become multi-million dollar franchises. The intolerance and harm promoted by these “Indian” sports mascots, logos, or symbols, have very real consequences for Native people. Specifically, rather than honoring Native peoples, these caricatures and stereotypes are harmful, perpetuate negative stereotypes of America’s first peoples, and contribute to a disregard for the personhood of Native peoples.

As documented in a comprehensive review of decades of social science research, derogatory "Indian" sports mascots have serious psychological, social, and cultural consequences for Native Americans, especially Native youth. Of today’s American Indian and Alaska Native population, those under the age of 18 make up 32 percent, and Native youth under the age of 24 represent nearly half, or 42 percent, of the entire Native population.

Most concerning in considering negative stereotypes of Native people is the alarmingly high rates of hate crimes against Native people. According to the Department of Justice analysis, “American Indians are more likely than people of other races to experience violence at the hands of someone of a different race.”  These factors together indicate a very real need to take immediate action in a number of areas, including the removal of harmful images as well as the education of the general public, to diffuse additional hateful activity against Native peoples.  Hundreds of tribal nations, national and regional tribal organizations, civil rights organizations, school boards, sports teams, sports and media personalities, and individuals have called for the end to harmful “Indian” mascots.

Rooted in the civil rights movement, the quest for racial equality among American Indian and Alaska Native people began well before NCAI established a campaign in 1968 to bring an end to negative and harmful stereotypes in the media and popular culture, including in sports. As a result, there has been significant progress at the professional, collegiate, and high school levels to change once accepted race-based marketing practices.

Since 1963, no professional teams have established new mascots that use racial stereotypes in their names and imagery. In 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) established an extensive policy to remove harmful “Indian” mascots. As a result of ongoing education and advocacy, in total, two-thirds or over 2,000 “Indian” references in sports have been eliminated during the past 35 years. Nearly 1,000 still remain today.”

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Further NCAI Resources

Ending the Legacy of Racism in Sports & the Era of Harmful "Indian" Sports Mascots (pdf)

NCAI Applauds Decision by Little League International to Ban Racially Offensive Team Names and Mascots (pdf)

NCAI Resolution: Commending Efforts to Eliminate Racist Stereotypes in Sports and Calling on the U.S. President and Congress to Combat These Continuing Affronts to Native Peoples (pdf)

Op-Ed in The Washington Post: "Here’s something I’d be thankful for: Ridding football of racial slurs" (pdf)

2016 - Natives speak out after the Washington Post Poll uses questionable methods.

Research and reporting shows the Washington Post poll claiming that the 9 out of 10 Native Americans are not bothered by the use of the “R-word,” that the poll was conducted using questionable and unethical practices. The Washington Post admitted that they did not verify the identity or enrollment of the persons who self-identified as being Native American. Further investigation showed that 56% of respondents in that poll did not belong to any tribal nation and could not state what tribal nation their ancestors claim.¹³

Subsequently, leaders of Native tribes speak out against the poll.¹⁴

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2013 - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Again Calls on the NFL team in Washington to Change Mascot

“For more than two decades, the NAACP has called for an end to the use of the racially-inflammatory name of the Washington Football Team, as well as other sports’ team names that degrade American Indians,” stated Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the NAACP Board of Directors.  “This year we have joined with our friends in the American Indian community and are renewing our call for Washington’s football team to replace this offensive name.”

“It is disappointing that this derogatory moniker remains embedded in one of our nation’s premier sporting teams,” stated NAACP Interim President and CEO Lorraine C. Miller.  “We stand alongside all American Indians who are calling for Washington owner Daniel Snyder to change his team’s name.”¹⁵

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2009 - List of Organizations Opposing "Indian" Sports References

Link to list (pdf)

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2007 - The American Sociological Association Releases a Statement on Discontinuing Native American Mascots

Statement by the Council of the American Sociological Association on Discontinuing the Use of Native American Nicknames, Logos and Mascots in Sport

March 6, 2007

WHEREAS the American Sociological Association comprises sociologists and kindred professionals who study, among other things, culture, religion, media, sport, race and ethnicity, racism, and other forms of inequality;

WHEREAS the American Sociological Association recognizes that racial prejudice, stereotypes, individual discrimination and institutional discrimination are socially created phenomena that are harmful to Native Americans and other people of color;

WHEREAS the American Sociological Association is resolved to undertake scholarship, education, and action that helps to eradicate racism;

WHEREAS social science scholarship has demonstrated that the continued use of Native American nicknames, logos and mascots in sport reflect and reinforce misleading stereotypes of Native Americans in both past and contemporary times;

WHEREAS the stereotypes embedded in Native American nicknames, logos and mascots in sport undermine education about the lives of Native American peoples;

WHEREAS social science scholarship has demonstrated that the continued use of Native American nicknames, logos and mascots in sport harm Native American people in psychological, educational, and social ways;

WHEREAS the continued use of Native American nicknames, logos and mascots in sport shows disrespect for Native American spiritual and cultural practices;

WHEREAS many Native American individuals across the United States have found Native American nicknames, logos and mascots in sport offensive and called for their elimination; AND, WHEREAS the continued use of Native American nicknames, logos and mascots in sport has been condemned by numerous reputable academic, educational and civil rights organizations, and the vast majority of Native American advocacy organizations, including but not limited to: American Anthropological Association, American Psychological Association, North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, Modern Language Association, United States Commission on Civil Rights, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Association of American Indian Affairs, National Congress of American Indians, and National Indian Education Association;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, THAT THE AMERICAN SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION calls for discontinuing the use of Native American nicknames, logos and mascots in sport.¹⁶

2020 — The psychosocial effects of Native American mascots:
A comprehensive review of empirical research findings

"This body of research suggests that these mascots generate undesirable effects. First, they are psychologically detrimental to Native American students. Second, for non-Native persons, they are associated with negative stereotypes of Native Americans. Third, these mascots undermine intergroup relations by increasing negative stereotyping of Native Americans. Lastly, supporters of these mascots are more apt to believe prejudicial ideas."

Link to study (pdf)

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2020 — Unpacking the Mascot Debate:
Native American Identification Predicts Opposition to Native Mascots

"We conducted a large-scale, empirical study to provide a valid and generalizable understanding of Native Americans’ (N ¼ 1,021) attitudes toward Native mascots."

"Although the mascot debate continues, the psychological research is clear that the use of Native mascots is detrimental for Native people."

Link to study (pdf)

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2019 — Dog whistle mascots: Native American mascots as normative expressions of prejudice

"Stereotypic mascots have the capacity to reinforce harmful stereotypes of indigenous populations in ways that constrain the representation of these peoples in contemporary society, and relegate them as artifacts of the past."

Link to study

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2018 — Reclaiming Native Truth: A Project to Dispel America's Myths and Misconceptions

Research Findings: Complication of All Research
"A leading representation of the Native American story is through caricatures and dehumanized portrayals associated with mascots for sports teams and schools, which the literature shows are damaging to Native high school and college students, negatively affecting feelings of personal and community worth. Research has also shown that mascots reinforce bias among non-Native people. In focus groups with Native Americans, four out of five said they are offended by Native-themed mascots. This is in contrast to two national surveys (conducted independently of our research and highly contested by leaders in Indian Country for their methodology) that found that Native Americans are not offended by Native American mascots."

Link to study (pdf)

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2018 — Children’s Community School Publishes Infographic Depicting Ages Children Begin to See Race. 

This infographic shows that children as young as two begin to use race “to reason about others behavior.”⁴

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2013 — The Dr. Michael A. Friedman Report

A report commissioned by the Oneida Indian Nation and compiled by Dr. Michael A. Friedman outlined the negative impact that Native American mascots in sports can have on Native Americans. This report found significant psychological effects on Native Americans as well as Non-Native Americans that have led to discrimination, depression, drug abuse, suicidal ideation, and physical suffering.¹⁷

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2002 — The "Mascotting" of Native America: Construction, Commodity, and Assimilation

"Indigenous groups, along with cultural studies scholars, view Native mascots as hegemonic devices - commodification tools - that advance a contemporary manifest destiny by marketing Native culture as Euramerican identity."

Link to study

Voting to remove the “Red Raider” and change the school mascot is just the one step Bellefonte can take in promoting anti-racist behaviors in the community. There is also a form regarding anti-racist and anti-biased education in Bellefonte circulating.

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Discrimination in America: Experiences and views of Native Americans
Havard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Information collected by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian on the use of Native American mascots

Fact sheet from IllumiNative on the use of Native mascots

The Native American Mascot: Tribute or Stereotype? What does research tell us about the Native American mascot debate?

Summary of the APA Resolution Recommending Retirement of American Indian Mascots
American Psychological Association

Statement by the Council of the American Sociological Association on Discontinuing the Use of Native American Nicknames, Logos and Mascots in Sport

Resolution: Opposition to Use of Stereotypical Native American Images as Sports Symbols and Mascots
American Counseling Association

AAA Calls on Sports Organizations to Denounce Inappropriate American Indian Mascots
American Anthropological Association
Link 1
Link 2

National Education Association
Link 1
Link 2 (PG 325; 330:I- 54; I-50)
Link 3

Elimination of Race-Based Indian Logos, Mascots, and Names
National Indian Education Association

Statement on the Use of Native American Images and Nicknames as Sports Symbols
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

‘Redskins’ Team mascot hurtful reminder of past suffering of Native Americans – UN rights expert
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Resolution in Opposition to Native American Mascots
NAACP
Link 1
Link 2

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Below are additional educational resources provided by Penn State educators, specifically for children and youth.

• 10 tips for teaching and talking to kids about race
• 31 Children’s books to support conversations on race, racism and resistance
• Books that encourage kids of all colors to be inclusive and empathetic
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown
• Center for Education and Civil Rights
• Children see and think about race infographic
• Five tips for helping preschoolers understand tolerance
• How to speak to children about George Floyd’s death
• How to speak to children about racism:
• NAEYC Statement: Advancing Equity in Early Childhood
• Talking About Race From the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• The Whole Child Blog – empathy and racism

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An inspirational look at the empowering use of athletics in the Native American community
ESPN: "How the Blackfeet Nation Boxing Club is fighting to save the lives of Native American women"