Native American Mascots Essay

Teams use Native American mascots in all sports, to represent their team’s pride, strength, and will to win. The role the mascot plays is an intimidation factor, as well as something to motivate the team. Mascots rarely fall under scrutiny, except for the mascots that represent Native American tribes, people or cultures. Many schools and teams use some sort of Native American reference as a mascot. Examples of Native American mascot range from names like the Indians, Chiefs, and Braves, which are some of the more generic ones, to Seminoles, Fighting Illini, and Chippewas to name some of the tribal based names. The idea of having a Native American as a mascot seems respectful to the tribe and a way to honor the people who arrived

They can be shown practicing ceremonies done by a certain tribe or have the mascot wear the same attire as that tribe. Mascots represent a team, and no team wants to be looked at as weak or timid, teams want to appear strong and courageous, willing to fight until the end. A Native American shows this and makes a very fitting mascot. The respect is also there in the way of choosing a group of people and modeling a team’s mascot after them, or designing the symbol for a school after the Native Americans because they want to follow in the teaching philosophies that were presented by that tribe. Respect becomes a huge factor in the reasons for picking a mascot modeled after a Native

The NCAA and the Seminole Tribe of Oklahoma seem to find this as being racist and demeaning to the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The NCAA, at first, was against it for the previous reasons until they were aware that the Seminole Tribe was in favor of the mascot because it respects their traditions and displays a tribute to them. The NCAA went on to grant a waiver to the school and remove them from their list of colleges that use hostile or abusive imagery towards Native American groups. It is thought that using a mascot with references to certain Native American tribes or traditions is racist, but in fact it is really promoting the culture of the tribe and the traditions of the tribe. The Washington Redskins have seen the name Redskins under scrutiny by the public frequently, but when the president was asked about it he described the team name to be a courageous symbol, and that it shows the strength of the Native Americans. The reference to strength shows the respect they have for them because a football team wouldn’t want to be called something that wasn’t very courageous. It is a sign of respect from the organization using a Native American mascot to the Native American people. It also shows respect to the culture and promotes it letting more people become aware of the bright history of the American Indians. If a school would choose to use a mascot that has any