Mendez 1

Pablo Mendez

Professor Lee

AAS 201

March 27, 2017

Native American Mascots

Ever since Europeans travelers came into the new land, Native Americans were

prosecuted, killed and almost at a certain point wiped out their culture and people for only

defending their land. According to American Ethnicity it states that i The Native Americans

lacked in the immunity to European Diseases or what some have called ecological warfare

displacement from lands and consequent starvation widespread killing in war and cold blooded

murder all account for this sudden drop of Native American population.

This can let alone enough to have the up most respect for these people because they had

everything taken away from them and also their very life style changed due to the European

travelers. Sadly that is not the case with Native Americans, Native Americans have been

stereotyped through out the years take for example Homer the Brave the Atlanta Braves mascot

depicted a stereotypical Native American. It raised some controversy according to the book ii

the National Collegiate Athletic Association adopted a resolution that in essence forces colleges

and universities to abandon mascots of ethnic subpopulation practically Native Americans. If

they do not, they will not be eligible for postseason play and will suffer costly penalties. So we

see here that colleges have taken action to this to respect the Natives but this is for College Team

Mascots what say for professional sport teams?

Who were the real savages the Native Americans or the European travelers? According to

historical stereotypes iii Travelers were always depicted by being attacked by hordes of
 Mendez 2

screaming Indians. The real Savagery came from federal troopers and Federal agents who sought

to pacify Native Americans by killing and making their land available to white settlers. We must

respect their culture and their existence and not make a mockery of who they were because that

is very offensive and disrespectful.

But on the other hand preserving the visual depiction of a Native American can be

important when it comes to using them as mascots. So in a way we can still remember their

culture and be more aware with how they were to a certain extent also its a source of

entertainment.

Also by visual seeing them it may spark a reaction to appreciate their culture and life

style and for the people who are bound to be more curious just by seeing it can spark a reaction

in the sense that it will motivate people to do some more research on who these people were.

Also team mascots that depict Native Americans have been around for quite some time it would

be a tragedy to most die hard fans if their mascot would change. Not only would it effect the fans

but also in the sense of purchasable merchandise, uniforms, and also stadium decoration and

theme. And on top of all that it would be extremely hard to decide what mascot best represents

the team.
i American Ethnicity; Adalberto Aguirre Jr. Jonathan H. Turner; Chapter 6 pg. 151

ii American Ethnicity; Adalberto Aguirre Jr. Jonathan H. Turner; Chapter 6 pg. 164

iii American Ethnicity; Adalberto Aguirre Jr. Jonathan H. Turner; Chapter 6 pg. 171