Indian Mascots

The idea of Indian mascots being controversial was something I never had even looked twice at. However, when I think about it, there are really no other “human” mascots except pirates. Indians are a very small minority population that has been stomped since the beginning of time. The woman from the video was offended because she anticipated a cartoon version of chief Illiniwek and that the costume was “too authentic” while the dance was a mockery of their culture. I never looked at these mascots as being offensive to the Indian population, but I clearly was wrong.

In recent news, collegiate North Dakota is being forced to change their mascot, the Sioux Indian. It was very striking to me that the Sioux Indians chose not to endorse the mascot and it forced the removal. The NCAA restricted them from post season play until all symbols were removed. The logo will be gone for the 2010-2011 season. Interestingly enough this came up about a week ago while I was working softball for the UW-Athletic Ticket Office when UW played North Dakota. According to my manager, their stadium had symbols on the backs of every chair, and the logo in marble on the floor of the stadium entrance. In essence, now 10 million dollars worth of logos must be removed and replaced. A debate sparked between my co-workers over whether it was justly done. The general consensus was that they should remove their mascot, which surprised me. One guy said, “If it offends an entire tribe we shouldn’t go against that.” After looking at it that way, I agree. I did not look at the Indian mascot as being offensive to a religion and culture which is to my own ignorance.

However, as stated in the video- if the Indian would have been funny and cartooned, the symbol wouldn’t be a big deal. At what point do we cross the line? Talk about intention was crucial to crossing that line, but I do not think there is a clear winner. Trying to be authentic caused actual offense but being made fun of also didn’t make them happy. On some level, keeping the tradition of a symbol is important to fans, colleges, and support but tradition can be changed to gain the same support. Any symbol can become important to a group. North Dakota has not agreed on a new symbol yet but les hope their next one can last longer.