Native American Nicknames

[slapshot]

Interesting article in today's Boston Globe. I'm pasting the whole article (so the line breaks might not carry over) so no one has to register on boston.com to read it?

Sense and sensitivity

UMass ahead of the curve on nickname issue

By Amalie Benjamin, Globe Staff  |  June 21, 2005

AMHERST -- The name has gotten lost out here. It has faded, succumbed to a loosening memory.

The students haven't heard it. They don't much care, either. It isn't theirs.

Thirty-three years after a simple Student Senate vote changed the University of Massachusetts nickname and logos and mascots from the Redmen to the Minutemen, no one remembers.

And, really, that seems to make sense.

Even the man responsible for the change isn't quite sure how it happened, why it happened. He moved on. To him, it just didn't seem like a big deal.

That is reflected in his campus, the one he left more than 30 years ago. The students, wandering among the construction and into the student union look confused when they're asked. ''The 'Redmen'? Really? I didn't know."

''It just wasn't complimentary," said Boston College basketball coach Al Skinner, who was a member of the UMass team when the name changed in 1972. ''The choice of the Minutemen was, I thought, a great choice because it identifies who you are and where you are. I don't remember having a big reaction. When they said 'The Redmen' it wasn't meant to degrade anyone. [but] if someone takes offense to it, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't change."

Try telling that to the University of Illinois Fighting Illini. Or the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Or the Florida State Seminoles.

Those schools stand as the most notable on the list of 30 that were required to provide the NCAA with a self-evaluation by May 1 explaining their use of Native American-related mascots, nicknames, and logos.

A recommendation on the topic, which could range from no change to a ban on offensive nicknames and mascots, could come out of the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee meeting in Boston today and tomorrow. But, according to MOIC chairman Robert C. Vowels Jr., major penalties seem unlikely.

''We're trying to eradicate ourselves from the racial names," said Vernon Bellecourt, the president of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media, which is affiliated with the American Indian Movement. ''We're trying to do America a favor of reminding them that these are some of the last images of racism in American popular culture."

Bitterness has begun to creep into Champaign and Grand Forks and Tallahassee. Organizations have been formed. Rancor has crawled into the debate.

But not in Amherst. Here it was an easy process, done at the tail end of the spring semester in 1972. It was hardly the most important issue on campus, thrown in among civil rights, women's rights, the war in Vietnam. It was just another injustice to be fixed.

Vague recollections

Larry Ladd, whose name graces the official document alerting the chancellor that UMass now housed the ''Minutemen," recalls very little about the change.

''My memory on this is very weak," Ladd said. ''I know I was involved. I know we had a referendum. Off the top of my head, that's all I remember."

No one -- not Ladd, not former chancellor Bill Bromery, not athletic council member George Richason, not sports information staffer Dick Bresciani -- remembers exactly what precipitated the change. In documents and articles, references are made to a letter sent by a group of Native Americans from New York asking for consideration on the issue, citing the defamatory nature of the nickname ''Redmen."

They do agree on one aspect. There was no outcry. No anger.

''It wasn't just ignored," Bromery said. ''It was supported."

Check the 1973 yearbook. The first edition published after the name change has almost no mention of the issue, save for a cover illustration of a Native American profile facing a Minuteman.

Unlike controversies surrounding the nearly concurrent moves at Dartmouth and Stanford, UMass never revisited the Redmen issue. The nickname, in place from 1948-72, was gone.

''It was done," said Bresciani, now vice president of publications and archives for the Red Sox. ''It was done 30-something years ago. Who knows what [they] would have come up with in today's world? Who knows what they would have been called? The fact that they did come up with something good and it's persevered, it did become something good.

''I'm glad it was done then, as opposed to now."

Sensitive discussion

Why now? That's really the question.

What exactly prompted the NCAA to begin looking at the few remaining schools with Native American nicknames, mascots, or logos?

Thirty were left when the NCAA asked for the self-evaluations. Now, with Stonehill College's announcement of a switch from Chieftains to Skyhawks and West Georgia's Braves gone, 28 remain.

And, though it seems unlikely, the MOIC could recommend the rest be banned.

Not that either Vowels, also the commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference, or Corey Jackson, the NCAA's liaison to the committee, seems confident about that possibility.

''I'm trying to be realistic," Vowels said. ''It depends on what we, as a group, see. We've got 10-12 folks on the committee and we're going to have to agree. I think it's going to be [a] challenge."

The MOIC issued a report on the topic in October 2002, suggesting that the NCAA collect more information. The MOIC listed three reasons for discussing it: the controversy surrounding the use of the Confederate flag; a request by the president of St. Cloud State University that the NCAA not allow the use of such nicknames and logos; and the US Commission on Civil Rights' statement on the issue that warned against the use of misrepresentations and stereotypes.

''There are a number of tribes out there that have different views on what's going on," Vowels said. ''Some feel it's hurtful, discriminatory, degrading. Some feel the names, caricatures are being used in a way that symbolizes respect, bravery, honesty. And some are just kind of neutral."

The schools themselves, though, aren't the only ones invested in the name changes.

For more than a decade, Wisconsin has refused to play any university with a Native American nickname (though traditional rivals North Dakota and Marquette and conference foe Illinois were excepted, along with games in which the school does not control the scheduling, i.e. postseason play). Iowa later adopted a similar policy.

According to Steve Malchow, associate athletic director for communications, Wisconsin implemented the policy in 1993, in an attempt to raise awareness of the issue, after playing what were then the Alcorn State Scalping Braves in basketball.

''It's embarrassing," Bellecourt said. ''To us it's hurtful. It trivializes a living people's culture. We're a living people. We're not for people's games."

Ill will at Illinois

Look at UMass. The Redmen are dead. Have been for 33 years.

Look at Stonehill. The Chieftains will be retiring July 1 in favor of the Skyhawks.

Look at Illinois. The Fighting Illini -- and Chief Illiniwek, the school's controversial halftime performer -- are alive and, well, fighting.

''What I've been told is that some people might never make the transition," said Paula Sullivan, Stonehill's director of athletics. ''I think it will take a complete year for people. I'm sure we'll have some reluctant participants with the older alums."

With no tie to Native American traditions, no logo, and no mascot, Sullivan said, the school was limited in its marketing efforts. That became one piece of the decision. The other was the NCAA.

Stonehill, however, isn't following the example of UMass. The Chieftains probably won't be erased from memory. Sullivan is hoping for a ''graceful exit."

It wasn't a difficult change. No opponents stacked against it. Just a few calls and e-mails from disgruntled alumni.

It's far different from the battle over Chief Illiniwek. With ''Save the Chief" and ''Retire the Chief" groups lining up against each other, Illinois has arguably become the central example of the questions surrounding Native American nicknames and mascots.

''That has percolated pretty steadily over the last 15 years," said Thomas Hardy, executive director for university relations. ''Sometimes the debate becomes a little more heated and rancorous and other times it has subsided for relatively long periods of quiet. It's been a fairly steady subject of some controversy and debate around the university over the last 15 years."

Illiniwek, a student dressed in Native American garb, performs at halftime of home football, basketball, and volleyball games. He stopped going on the road about a decade ago. His dance is supposed to be ceremonial, respectful, honorable. He isn't, Hardy said, a cheerleader.

He is, however, a polarizing presence on campus.

''You have these mascots that get all dressed up in what is supposedly regalia," said Frances Richardson Garnett, chairperson of the Sutton-based Nipmuc Nation tribal council. ''It's not us. It doesn't really represent us.

''They need to come speak with native people. They should talk with us and see how we want to be represented, instead of deciding what they think we are and who we are."

Illinois is unlikely to give up the Chief soon. According to the self-evaluation handed to the NCAA, the school's Board of Trustees has been working, unsuccessfully, to find a ''consensus conclusion" for 15 years.

With the university fighting a lawsuit on one hand and a powerful group of alumni on the other, Illinois is seeking a tenuous balance. The Board of Trustees has voted to retain the nickname. But how long can that last?

How long before Illinois becomes Stonehill? How long before the Fighting Illini and Chief Illiniwek become the Redmen?

History in the past

Step into one of the elevators on the ground floor of the W.E.B. DuBois Library on the UMass campus. Ride it up to the 25th floor. Turn left. There, amid the photos and records and history of DuBois, are the answers. The Redmen. The past.

The archivists don't know much. They weren't there. It's hardly an issue. No one asks.

Far more campus debate has been held over the ''Minutemen" moniker. That has spawned questions of gender bias and rampant militarism, not to mention a hunger strike in 1993.

For those at UMass, it's over. They are the Minutemen.

''By and large, I just never thought it was a big deal," said Richason. ''If you change, you change. You can always adjust to new names."

Could it be like this at Illinois? Or North Dakota? Or Florida State? Could 30 years make ''Chief Illiniwek" feel foreign on the tongue?

Roger Huddleston, past president of the Honor the Chief Society, doesn't think so. He can't imagine that loss. It doesn't make sense to him.

''You might take a mascot and change it," he said. ''But a symbol of integrity? I don't know if you can erase that from history."

Maybe a stroll around Amherst might change his mind.

The Redmen? Really? I didn't know.

[bhambruiser]

From what I recall the Seminole Indian tribe in Florida has given FSU permission to use that name, so I don't understand why they continually use them in this article.

As for my thoughts on the subject- I think if the name is meant to glorify the herritage of American Indians why would they not appriciate that?...maybe the schools should go to the various tribes and see how they would like to be represented...that was a good suggestion

[BlueSky]

From what I recall the Seminole Indian tribe in Florida has given FSU permission to use that name, so I don't understand why they continually use them in this article.

As for my thoughts on the subject- I think if the name is meant to glorify the herritage of American Indians why would they not appriciate that?...maybe the schools should go to the various tribes and see how they would like to be represented...that was a good suggestion

Agree about glorifying the heritage but logos like MLB's Chief Wahoo hardly do that. Thumbs up to the NCAA for addressing the issue.

[black_gold_capone]

I dont think that it matters but i'm not Indian so I guess I wouldn't know why. But I doubt that any team is using the names to be offensive.

[OMMF]

Do we ever get anywhere with these? All it serves to do is let the people who didn't comment on the last 19 threads say something this time. None of us will ever agree on it. No offense meant, JP, because it's a good article. It just doesn't really do anything except stir up old debates which go nowhere since both sides are never going to budge from their stances.

[Your Name Here]

From what I've been told, they resent that their culture is co-opted for commercial purposes. Even if it's intended to be benign, they consider it to be exploitation. I've said it before and I'll say it again, they should give these teams Irish names if it pisses off the Indians that much. Imagine: the Washington Micks.

[ColeJ]

as a certified member of the "Creek" tribe (even though i'm only like 1/8 native), i only find offense with SOME team names.

redskins is one of them.... cleveland indians doesn't offend me, but i still think it's silly, because when i think of indians, i think of people from india.... but illini, seminoles, blackhawks, braves, chiefs... those names are great, and not offensive in the least.

i think the blackhawks have one of the best logos/uniforms of all time.

if you name the team or brand it's image in a respectful way, i've got no problems whatsoever... but i don't feel that "Redskins" is very respectful... also, redmen isn't very respectful either. so kudos to UMass, because minutemen is a great name that shows the nation's heritage.

just my 2 cents.

[slapshot]

I only brought it up because it was in today's paper. I thought there were a couple good points.

Thirty years ago no one thought twice about the change. Like Al Skinner (current BC basketball coach) was quoted, Minutemen makes a more geographical connection than the generic Redmen.

There are a number of schools that have Native American-related nicknames. I think those that have the most pressure to change are ones that use generic "Indians", "Redmen", "Warriors" or "Chiefs" names. Those seem to use a broad generalization about the culture than those specific to certain tribes, like "Fighting Illini", "Seminoles" or "Fighting Sioux". The specific tribal nicknames seem to honor and glorify (instead of sterotype) Native Americans, and I think those will be the least likely to change.

[ColeJ]

i forgot about the fighting souix... i love that whole package, too. very well done, and respectful.

[quantum]

I think those that have the most pressure to change are ones that use generic "Indians", "Redmen", "Warriors" or "Chiefs" names.

The terms Warriors and Chiefs are generally associated with American Indians, but not exclusively indian. That is why I objected to Marquette's name change. They simply could have adopted something like what the Golden State Warriors have to continue with the name.

[chakfu]

''We're trying to do America a favor of reminding them that these are some of the last images of racism in American popular culture."

last images of racism in American popular culture?? We wish... American popular culture basically is racism, with some gratiuitous sex thrown in for good measure...

[NJTank]

SIgh the PC police coming to a town near you. This is a joke there is notrhing wrong with Native American Names. If these names are banned we wil be opening a pandoras box and end up with temas named Gold and Spirit, and Real Salt Lake.

[The_Admiral]

as a certified member of the "Creek" tribe (even though i'm only like 1/8 native), i only find offense with SOME team names.

redskins is one of them.... cleveland indians doesn't offend me, but i still think it's silly

I can't be offended by the Cleveland Indians. Major League is too funny.

[Survival79]

From what I recall the Seminole Indian tribe in Florida has given FSU permission to use that name, so I don't understand why they continually use them in this article.

Seminole Tribe supports use of Seminole name

June 17, 2005

BIG CYPRESS SEMINOLE RESERVATION, Fla. ? The Tribal Council of the Seminole Tribe of Florida today adopted an official resolution in support of the ongoing use of the Seminole name and Seminole symbols by Florida State University.

The five members of the Tribal Council, including Chairman Mitchell Cypress, Vice Chairman Moses B. Osceola, and Tribal Council Representatives David Cypress, Andrew Bowers Jr. and Max B. Osceola Jr. voted unanimously to adopt the resolution at their regular meeting, held in the gymnasium on the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation.

The resolution adopted by the Tribal Council states that the "Seminole Tribe of Florida has an established relationship with Florida State University which includes its permission to use the name, 'Seminole' as well as various Seminole symbols and images such as Chief Osceola."

The resolution further states that the "Tribal Council of the Seminole Tribe of Florida wishes to go on record that it has not opposed and, in fact, supports the continued use of the name 'Seminole' and any associated head logo as currently endorsed by Florida State University" and that the "Tribal Council further extends an invitation to Florida State University and its officials to continue their relationship and collaborate on the development of logos and nicknames that all members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida and officials and students of Florida State University can be proud."

Although previous Seminole Tribe officials have gone on record in support of the use of the Seminole name and symbols by Florida State University, today's resolution is the first adopted by the Seminole Tribe of Florida to spell out its official relationship with Florida State University.

Also on hand for the reading and adoption of the resolution was T.K. Wetherell, president of Florida State University, who addressed the members of the Tribal Council as an invited guest during their meeting.

[Aurelius13]

I think this is a good idea for colleges to consider. Some people may claim this is "PC garbage," but really it is not. Some of these schools are public, meaning the people help pay the costs. As a taxpayer, I would absolutely want a school nickname changed if I felt it was offensive, because I don't want MY MONEY going towards an insensitive institution. It would be a good idea to put the matter to a popular vote and let the taxpayers decide, forever ending all debate. Similar actions should be taken for professional sports teams who want or are getting tax money from the local government for a new stadium.

Native American nicknames don't offend me in particular, but there may be someone out there who is indeed offended and that person's feelings should be considered (considered, not necessarily followed). Each person probably has something they are offended of, whether we know it or not. There will be things the so-called "anti-PC crowd" might cry foul over. I wonder how they would take it if their team was renamed the "Jesus Haters," "White Boys," "Treasonists" or "Klansmen" or if the team's arena was renamed "Osama bin Laden Stadium." Not that I would ever advocate any of those names, but how you may feel about these nicknames may be equivalent to how someone else may feel about Native American nicknames.

[bhambruiser]

From what I recall the Seminole Indian tribe in Florida has given FSU permission to use that name, so I don't understand why they continually use them in this article.

Seminole Tribe supports use of Seminole name

June 17, 2005

BIG CYPRESS SEMINOLE RESERVATION, Fla. ? The Tribal Council of the Seminole Tribe of Florida today adopted an official resolution in support of the ongoing use of the Seminole name and Seminole symbols by Florida State University.

The five members of the Tribal Council, including Chairman Mitchell Cypress, Vice Chairman Moses B. Osceola, and Tribal Council Representatives David Cypress, Andrew Bowers Jr. and Max B. Osceola Jr. voted unanimously to adopt the resolution at their regular meeting, held in the gymnasium on the Big Cypress Seminole Reservation.

The resolution adopted by the Tribal Council states that the "Seminole Tribe of Florida has an established relationship with Florida State University which includes its permission to use the name, 'Seminole' as well as various Seminole symbols and images such as Chief Osceola."

The resolution further states that the "Tribal Council of the Seminole Tribe of Florida wishes to go on record that it has not opposed and, in fact, supports the continued use of the name 'Seminole' and any associated head logo as currently endorsed by Florida State University" and that the "Tribal Council further extends an invitation to Florida State University and its officials to continue their relationship and collaborate on the development of logos and nicknames that all members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida and officials and students of Florida State University can be proud."

Although previous Seminole Tribe officials have gone on record in support of the use of the Seminole name and symbols by Florida State University, today's resolution is the first adopted by the Seminole Tribe of Florida to spell out its official relationship with Florida State University.

Also on hand for the reading and adoption of the resolution was T.K. Wetherell, president of Florida State University, who addressed the members of the Tribal Council as an invited guest during their meeting.

thank you

[Survival79]

thank you

You're welcome.

Max Osceola, a member of the Tribal Council of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, also had this to say:

"We are close to Florida State and had a resolution in black and white for them. Native Americans don't have an alphabet; our word is our bond. It's the non-Indians who have an alphabet and need to write things down, so we gave them a resolution."

[jtsteward]

As it pertains to Marquette University. Take a looks at the school crest or emblem once. There is a Indian rowing a boat for Fr. Marquette. I thought they were against that. But, I think that Marquette would be able to get away with using the WARRIOR as there mascot. How may you ask? Well why don't they use a Trojan Warrior, a Spartan, or a Roman Soldier as the logo? I think it could work!! Any other ideas on my comments. CAUSE the HILLTOPERS isn't gonna work for me.

[no97]

as a certified member of the "Creek" tribe (even though i'm only like 1/8 native), i only find offense with SOME team names.

redskins is one of them.... cleveland indians doesn't offend me, but i still think it's silly, because when i think of indians, i think of people from india....

Funny you put it that way. Here in Minnesota, the tribes (I live between three reservations, including Red Lake, where the school shooting was this past March - it's about 20 miles northwest of my town) have all basically decided that "Native American" describes anyone who was born in this country, or who's family is "from" this country (i.e. second or third generation Americans). So, here, they don't want to be called "Native American," rather "American Indian." They say I am native American because my parents were born in this country, and so were their parents.

As to the rest of your point, about the difference between "Chiefs" type nicknames and "Sioux" (the University of North Dakota is less than two hours west of me), I agree completely. There are tastefull ways to do it, and disrespectful ways. UND has done it the right way, including using an American Indian artist in the design of the logo they currently use:

Plus, the Sioux tribe has signed off on it like the Seminole tribe has done for Florida State.

I think we have come a long way since the days of the truely offensive nicknames, like the Pekin Illinois HS Chinks. I think the only thing that needs to be done to improve the situation is an improvement of the new nicknames. UMass did a great job picking a regionally appropriate nickname that is unique. Too many times we get stuck with Hawks, or Wildcats, or something generic like that.

Moose

[jtsteward]

As it pertains to Marquette University. Take a looks at the school crest or emblem once. There is a Indian rowing a boat for Fr. Marquette. I thought they were against that. But, I think that Marquette would be able to get away with using the WARRIOR as there mascot. How may you ask? Well why don't they use a Trojan Warrior, a Spartan, or a Roman Soldier as the logo? I think it could work!! Any other ideas on my comments. CAUSE the HILLTOPERS isn't gonna work for me.