More crap out of the heartland....

[LanDroid]

"A name like "redskin" I will agree with you on. However, names like "Seminoles", "Illini", "Fighting Sioux", etc are being used with the PERMISSION (1) of the tribe. How is it demeaning when the tribe has said that it is ok (2) and consider it a sign of respect(3)?"

Do you know if any of these three are true in this specific case? If you're correct about that, I'd go along with it, but again I'm reacting to the following statement.

"American Indian groups and others have complained for years that the mascot, used since 1926, is demeaning."

[Lew]

Along the lines of GS' last point, I would presume that the "rank & file" Indians don't devote much time or resources to whether Chief Illiniwek is dancing on the sidelines of a Big-10 football game. And the reason is, all those other things in life probably get in the way, you know, jobs, family, bills to pay, etc. As I mentioned in my earlier posting, how nice it must be to be 18-22 years old and have all day to worry about such things.

How Duke gets away with "Blue Devils" right in the heart of the Bible Belt, I'll never know.

When I was at St. X, I tried to get them to change their name. Originally, they were to Conquistadors (you know, reflecting Cincinnati's Hispanic heritage [img]wink.gif[/img] ) Then after the war they became the "Bombers." I mean, think about it- our nickname reflected an indiscriminate killing machine (and part of my objection stemmed from the loads and loads of historical research which suggests that, as sexy as it appears to be, strategic bombing has had comparatively little effect in determining the outcome of wars, and highly disproportionate in terms of its results as opposed to its costs). My suggestion for a new nickname? The Racketeers. You know, do the whole syndicate thing, instead of a coach, we'd call them a "Capo," etc. I had a whole angle worked-up.

Needless to say, "Bombers" is still used.

[Gunslinger]

Originally posted by LanDroid:
"A name like "redskin" I will agree with you on. However, names like "Seminoles", "Illini", "Fighting Sioux", etc are being used with the PERMISSION (1) of the tribe. How is it demeaning when the tribe has said that it is ok (2) and consider it a sign of respect(3)?"

Do you know if any of these three are true in this specific case? If you're correct about that, I'd go along with it, but again I'm reacting to the following statement.

"American Indian groups and others have complained for years that the mascot, used since 1926, is demeaning."

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Here is the Wikipedia link for Florida State:

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_State_Seminoles"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_State_Seminoles[/ame]

The second paragraph states that the name "Seminole" is used with the official sanction of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Inc.

I cannot find anything specific to back up my claim for the other two. Although I did also find this on Wikipedia:

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports_team_names_derived_from_Indigenous_ peoples"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports_team_names_derived_from_Indigenous_ peoples[/ame]

Here are the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs of the page:

There is considerable controversy over these team names and mascots because various Native American activist groups view them as disrespectful and offensive. Most notably, the National Congress of American Indians has issued a resolution opposing continued usage of Native team names, mascots and logos. Various tribal entities have also issued resolutions opposing usage, as well.

Interestingly, as a whole the American Indian people themselves do not oppose the Redskins, Indians or Braves nicknames according to an article in the March 4, 2002 edition of Sports Illustrated magazine, The Indian Wars by S.L. Price with a sidebar by Andrea Woo, pp 66-72. Those articles reported that according to a poll by the Peter Harris Research Group, that with a margin of error of plus or minus 4%, 83% of the Indians polled said that professional teams should not stop using Indian nicknames, mascots or symbols. When pollsters asked Native Americans about the Washington Redskins American football team, and the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves baseball clubs, they found no great resentment toward the team names. Putting it charitably, the Price and Woo articles said that there's a near total disconnect between Indian activists and the rank and file Native American population on this issue.

Seems that not all Indians feel that they are being "degraded".