For activists who have long pushed to change the name of the Washington Redskins, a Washington Post poll showing that 9 of 10 Native Americans are not offended by the moniker spurred outrage, frustration and a reinvigorated sense of fight.
The leaders of the movement vowed not to back down, with some questioning the validity of the poll and others arguing that the name — a dictionary-defined slur — should be changed even if only a minority of Native Americans find it disparaging. A hashtag on Twitter, #IAmNativeIWasNotAsked, quickly took hold.
“This Mohawk will never be a Redskin,” James Barraford tweeted. “I’m a human being, not a marketing prop.”
“I am an enrolled member of the Colville Tribes,” Michelle Shining Elk tweeted, “and I stand in complete opposition to the racist Washington @NFL team.”
Tara Houska, a tribal lawyer who lives in the District, helped organize a protest of more than 4,000 Native Americans at a Vikings-Redskins game in Minneapolis in November 2014 and led a protest of more than 100 at Fed-Ex field a month later. She has no intention of retreating on the issue.
“We are not mascots,” said Houska, a member of the Couchiching First Nation. “A poll is not going to change my mind. A poll is not going to tell me I’m not offended. A poll is not going to tell me that this doesn’t harm the self-esteem of Native American children.”
Several psychological studies have documented the negative effects of Native American mascots and sports imagery on Indian youth. Houska noted that the second leading cause of death among Native Americans ages 15 to 24 is suicide.
“And you’re going to tell me you’re going to prioritize a football team over that?” she said. “I find it very frustrating and very upsetting that people are going to point to the poll and say this is not offensive to Native Americans when we know this is harmful to Native American youth.”
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