By Melody Cen
Staff Writer
Throughout history, the U.S. has marginalized and misrepresented indigenous groups. These peoples experienced mass genocide, family separation, the destruction of their cultures, and the hostile confiscation of their native lands. One of the most significant cultural ploys that inaccurately depict the indigenous peoples is one that is too often normalized, Native American groups as used mascots for institutions in the U.S.
These institutions are still highly relevant parts of our culture in the form of mascots like the Chiefs, Braves, Indians and Eskimos to represent school and professional sports teams. These names alone are already exceedingly offensive, but the message behind these media portrayals implies that they are comparable to animal mascots.This dehumanizes the indigenous population. No ethnicity or cultural subset of people should be reduced to an animalistic caricature. The existence of these stereotypes form ignorant and false assumptions surrounding indigenous groups.
It is particularly frustrating to see public schools still sporting racist and insensitive mascots despite knowing how those mascots continue to dehumanize and demoralize Native people in a time when we all should know better. In fact, according to the news organization Education Week, there are currently about 2,000 schools that continue to use Native American-themed mascots like “chiefs,” “braves,” “Indians” and “warriors,” often coupled with racist imagery, slogans, or songs.
One example particularly close to home is the current mascot of Arcadia High School, the Apaches. Implemented in 1952, Arcadia’s mascot is an outdated fragment of history that doesn’t need to continue. Inappropriate mascots, like the Apache tribe, should no longer be justified especially from an educational institution whose job is to end, rather than perpetuate, ignorance.
The portrayals of indigenous groups by large institutions should be changed. It is unacceptable to allow racist imagery to exist in a country that values freedom and diversity. Luckily, indigenous focused and mainstream advocacy organizations have been working to dispel these negative stereotypes on a wider scale with ones like Education Week, the ACLU, the NCAI and the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs being some of them.
According to the National Congress of American Indians, “NCAI’s work to retire ‘Indian’ or Native ‘themed’ mascots is guided by our numerous resolutions pertaining to cultural appropriation and the harmful effects of these mascots, that stereotypical appropriation gives way to sanctioned representation.”
For decades, NCAI largely focused its efforts on ending Native themed mascots at the professional level, directing attention to the former mascot of the NFL’s Kansas Chiefs. Kansas’ team was known for its racist conduct from its players and fans, doing the tomahawk chop while running around in a stereotypical manner. In doing so, all of the fans and players are making a mockery out of what is supposed to be a sacred expression of life with rhythmic elements, treating indigenous culture and their derogatory actions as a joke. These offensive and disrespectful gestures wrongfully use another people group’s culture to induce laughter and enthusiasm from the audience. Sports teams make millions every year due to the popularity of sports and therefore can afford to to change their mascots. Cultural appropriation should not be consumed by the general public because of the influence mainstream culture has on future generations.
Although it is important to acknowledge past cultural customs that existed, it is also unreasonable to keep using insensitive media in our communities, especially knowing the U.S. ‘s historical treatment of indigenous peoples. Mistakes made on the account of the U.S. government at the expense of the dignity of Native Americans nationwide must be reversed in order to stop misrepresentation from spreading and impacting several more generations. We need to start somewhere and allow for one of our most impactful minorities to continue thriving, providing the long overdue justice owed to them by our past wrongdoings.