Indian Reservations
Is it time for a (Cleveland) Indians name change?
In early July, the NFL Redskins announced the decision to change their name. The Washington owner, just a few years ago, said he’d consider changing the name never. The time collapse seemed to arrive overnight, driven by pressure from corporate sponsors — for one, Fed Ex.
Days later the MLB Cleveland Indians tweeted “recent social unrest” as opportunity for a “best path forward” regarding their name.
Crystal Echo Hawk is a Pawnee. She founded illuminatives.org, a nonprofit initiative designed to “increase the visibility of – and challenge the negative narrative about – Native Nations and Native peoples in American society.” She sponsors research on the effects of American Indian imagery on children. A peer-reviewed research poll conducted a few years ago showed 65% of Native youth are highly offended and opposed to Native mascots.
Traditionalists cite a 2004 Annenberg Public Policy Center poll that found nine out of 10 Native Americans were not offended by the Redskins name.
In a July 7th “editorial board roundtable”, eight writers for the Cleveland Plain Dealer weighed in. Four said yes, change the name. One said no, bad timing, citing recent public distaste for the “money-grubbing” pandemic re-start negotiations. The other three hedged: one said we should assess our values, another suggested educational displays, and the last offered, oddly, that the name wasn’t important.
Hundreds of secondary schools call themselves Indians in the U.S. And as of 2014, more than fifty use Redskins, of which three were majority Native American schools. Dan Snyder had offered one, the Red Mesa (Arizona) Redskins football team, a free flight across the country to attend an NFL Redskins game. They accepted.
At the time, Red Mesa High’s water fountains were cut off due to arsenic and uranium contamination.