Mascots - Indians
"A white man and an elderly Native man became pretty good friends, so the white guy decided to ask him: What do you think about Indian mascots? The Native elder responded, Heres what youve got to understand. When you look at black people, you see ghosts of all the slavery and the rapes and the hangings and the chains.
When you look at Jews, you see ghosts of all those bodies piled up in deat h camps. And those ghosts keep you trying to do the right thing. But when you look at us you dont see the ghosts of the little babies with their heads smashed in by rifle butts at the Big Hole, or the old folks dying by the side of the trail on the way to Oklahoma while their families cried and tried to make them comfortable, or the dead mothers at Wounded Knee or the little kids at Sand Creek who were shot for target practice. You dont see any ghosts at all.
Instead you see casinos and drunks and junk cars and shacks. Well, we see those ghosts. And they make our hearts sad and they hurt our little children. And when we try to say something, you tell us, Get over it. This is America. Look at the American dream. But as long as youre calling us Redskins and doing tomahawk chops, we cant look at the American dream, because those things remind us that we are not real human beings to you. And when people arent humans, you can turn them into slaves or kill six million of them or shoot them down with Hotchkiss guns and throw them into mass graves at Wounded Knee. No, were not looking at the American dream. And why should we? We still havent woken up from the American nightmare."
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History just keeps on repeating itself with the Indians - why?
Theyare ''honoring us'', don't ya know. /s
Guess Frito the Bandito, Aunt Jeminaand Sambo didn't feel honored enough, eh?
I'm fairly certain that the effects of Hollywood's and commercial television's portrayals of Native Americans have been studied, and, attributed to the stereotyping that has led to White insensitivity.
Am I correct about that?
Very much so A. Mac. It wasn't up until the late '90's that Indians actually played Indian roles.
This is true. On F Troop all the indians were either Italian or Jewish.
Martin Balsom - Sitting Bull; Chief Joseph - Ned Romero; Cochise - Jeff Chandler.
I don't think that a lot of people realize just how insulting it is. It took me awhile, too. I'm so sorry!
A lot of our high school mascots in KY are being changed... That's a good sign! Maybe people are beginning to realize some things.
My high school mascot was a Red Devil, and still is. We used to have a concrete statue of a devil, painted red. He was really kind of cute, but scary. I think it was to honor the crack British paratroopers who ended up being decimated at the Battle of Arnhem. But, I can't bet on that. I know that no one I knew of ever associated the word "red" with Indians.
Periodically, some people get together and petition to have the mascot changed, as they equate it with devil worship. Which is isn't. Our arch rivals, in the same county, had the mascot of a black panther. No one ever associated the mascot with the organization that I know of, either.
I'm sorry that so many places have mascot names that are offensive. The worst is Washington's team!
Burt Lancaster - Jim Thrope
So, no one has opposed the panther because it's black?
From what I know, they have always been very proud of their panther, and it happens to be black. I think most people don't really "get" the significance of a "black panther"... They were the panthers back when my mother and dad went to high school, too! I never said we were bright!
All that is really left of our mascot is its trident:
This is the Daviess County mascot:
That's interesting Dowser. I found panther pad prints 'bout three miles from our house in NM and notified USFWS - they went friggin' nuts 'cause that means the panthers/cougars are making a comeback out here.
Cool.
They had better be careful about the water they drink... Say, is your city on the main drag of a river that is going to be contaminated?
In Owensboro, there is a Panther Creek, Panther Hollow, Panther Creek Park, etc. We were once known for our panthers-- but they weren't the black ones, just the normal yellow ones.
Now, we're getting to be known for our lynx!
My mother met Burt Lancaster when he was in my home town shooting The Kentuckian... And Gosh, that was before I was born...
I'm sorry that Hollywood is so dense. I mean, Alec Guinness playing an Asian?
Ours, we think, are the yellow/orange with spots - cool as can be.
Beautiful!!! I love big cats...
(Just like with trilobites-- I don't want them "on" me, but they are certainly beautiful!)
Well, it did to me...
I have been wondering if we should change the name of Paducah. It is named for Chief Paduke of the Reelfoot tribe.
I have dragons, and a Buddha... I mean it as respect-- they are displayed prominently, and facing the right way. Is that disrespectful, even though I don't mean it to be?
I know what you mean... Kentucky is an Indian name... Would I suddenly be from the state of Hillbilly? I think I'd move.
Lemme try this Feronia - and tell me if this makes sense.
Oprah Winfrey had Michael Haney, son of the Muskogee Creek Chief, on her show in 1996 to discuss the mascot issue. Michael explained how the "tomahawk chop" was not honoring 'cause tomahawks were always blessed before being used and everyone knows the Atlanta Braves never honored anything before use. The "Whoop whoop" of Hollywood didn't honor because Indians trilled with their tongues and dominant society couldn't do that.
A young man in the audience raised his hand, Oprah asked him "What is your impression." He replied - "Well, to me, it'd be like being in church and hitting a crucifix against the pew in front of you while yelling "Go gawd".
The audience fell totally silent. Oprah and Michael both smiled and said - exactly.
Mascots are used without the "permission" of the person/peoples being "honored". I know of many organizations who have gone out of their way to talk with the Indian people to get permission to use an Indian image as a mascot or logo for the pure purposes of honoring the Indian. Permission requested, permission given - simple how it works. Example - Florida State Seminole - the Seminole Tribe/Nation - permission requested, permission given - simple.
Work? If not, let me know where it's fuzzy and I'll try to fix it.