Native American Stereotypes in Sports
             Ever since the beginning of professional organized sports in America, the "mascot" chosen to represent the team has been the main identifying mark of that organization. The mascot has a lot of symbolic and historical meaning for most teams, and even more for the fans who buy and wear the merchandise with the mascot's logo on it. Normally the mascot for a sport's team does not change over the years because of this loyalty, but this is also because of the fact that most of the team's mascots do not patronize a whole race of people who originally inhabited this country. Many sports teams (professional, local, and collegiate) have adopted mascot names such as, the 'Redskins', the 'Braves', the 'Indians', and the 'Chiefs.' Many Native Americans, as well as many organizations with no affiliations with Native Americans, consider these mascot names to be stereotypical terms that denigrate Native Americans. In recent years, the voices that have been battling to eliminate these mascot names have become louder, with varying degrees of success at the local and national levels. In the following paragraphs, I will explore what has been done to strip these numerous sports teams of their demeaning nicknames over the past 35 years.
             Native American groups first identified stereotypical Native American mascot names as a problem in 1969, a pivotal year for minority activists in America. During that year, Native American activists at Dartmouth College were the first to speak out against their mascot, the "Indian," and successfully convinced the school to change it to the "Big Green." (4) A year later, the University of Oklahoma decided to drop its "Little Red" mascot, and the Cleveland Indians professional baseball team heard its first protests against the team's "Chief Wahoo" mascot. (4) Dur...