Racism in Sports Team Images A Indigenous Perspective on Trademarks

What do you think of when you hear Indian or Aboriginal?

Some History and Facts Definitions Indian – was used by government, outdated Aboriginal/Native – general umbrella term First Nations – 50+ different First Nations in Canada Indigenous – original people of the land Metis – mixed indigenous/European ancestry Inuit – indigenous people of Arctic In US they use the term American Indian or Native American

Facts and Figures Indigenous peoples in North America have lived here for > 10,000 years Decimation through disease, conflict, uprooting Current Canadian population approx. 1 million (3% of population), fastest growing demographic Thriving and struggling communities, resilience

What is a trademark? Word, phrase, jingle, or symbol that identifies a particular enterprise/product Sports teams names do not have indefinite useful life – they may change trademark

Native American Mascots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=salgNyX3roI&feature=related

Opposing use of mascots Perpetuate ignorance/negative stereotypes Demean traditions, ceremonies Double standards – no team names for African-Americans, Caucasians or Latin Americans Most often used in schools – message to youth?

Offensive dance – U.S. College basketball http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhKxKPUbs_E&feature=related

Supporting the use of mascots Say they honor the people (fraudulent claim by Washington and Cleveland) Say it promotes indigenous culture Arguments often made by non-indigenous people Change will alienate alumni, decrease donations, anger fans

Cleveland “Indians” Chief Wahoo is mascot Controversial throughout history Said the name was to honour a Native American athlete – he asks them to change it though Protest in 1998, protesters arrested and launch a lawsuit Financial implications?

Financial Implications for name change financial cost of changing logo, merchandise becomes useless major sports teams HAVE changed their mascots for non-controversial and financial reasons Washington Bullets changed their mascot to the "Wizards" over concerns with violent connotations Tennessee Oilers, changed mascot to "Titans" a full two years after the team's move from Houston.

Some Success Indigenous activists work full-time on this issue Hank Aaron, former baseball superstar lends support Cleveland Mayor proposes removing Indians logo from all city property Seattle University changes “Chieftains” to “Redhawks” California bans “redskins” from license plates Atlanta Braves changes mascot

More success College teams that aren’t controversial refusing to play with teams that have racist names/logos (Univ. of Wisconsin, Univ. of Iowa) Newspapers refuse to print offensive team names (referred to as “Washington team”)

But…. issue still remains contested today According to American Indian Cultural Support, 2,498 U.S. schools use racist mascots (2006) No major changes to professional team names/logos In Canada Edmonton Eskimos, Brooklin Redmen in Ontario, others? (ironic that Brooklin, a lacrosse team would use such a logo since lacrosse is an Indigenous game) Danforth Tech in TDSB had to change their Redmen name

No more chiefs and Pocohontas!

Instead of this….. Why not this?