The last post

I go back and forth. I kind of like the Super Mario Brothers, but that Little Ceaser's dude pisses me off. If there were a sports team called the Oak Park W.O.P.s I think it would piss me off, especially if they were playing mandolins and throwing pizza dough. It's just the stereotype that pisses people off.
Mr.B

Dear, dear Leon--look around. Do any other ethnic groups have so many sports teams named after them? Native Americans are not lauded in any other way. When I was in college I took a class in Native American spirituality that changed my life. My ancestors befriended them, and defrauded them of their land. It is a shameful legacy to live up to. I can understand your confusion, but you do not live your life as one of them.

I think you hit the nail on the head. That's all we associate them with. Warrior-like behavior. It's kind of insane because they were much more peaceful than we were, and we just obliterated them. We only think of them as warriors because we were constantly robbing them of their land and killing them off in droves and they were constantly trying to defend themselves.
Mr.B

Poignantly said.

Native American scholars vary in their estimates of how many people were living in the Americas when Columbus arrived in 1492. Estimates range from 40 million to 90 million for all of the Americas, and from 2 million to 18 million in what is now the United States and Canada. Now these people are numbered in the thousands.

And in case you've never looked into it, the Reservation system leaves a lot to be desired. So I think that a little sensitivity toward them, and their cultural references, is certainly a reasonable thing to ask.

When you go to the rez up north the team is the chippewas. The university of western mich used to be nicknamed the same. That is one difference. One is a tibal recognition of the rez team. the other is a nickname.

being ethnocentric has it purpose. I believe in supporting the progress and advancement of the NDN life. Helping at a rez, sending supplies etc. whatever is needed and I can spare I can.

I guess my question is, why if someone removes a mascot, does it effec your identity as NDN? The Identity may have been of a different tribe or of something fictional. I can repsect wanting our protrayel to be in a dignified manner. But that is hardly ever the case. Even the seminole portrayle isnt agreed upon by all factions of the seminole tribe.

I try to make MY representation available to me in the intimate manners.
Doing ceremonies, thanking manito, giving when i take from nature. Offereings to bless and protect. Listening to the spirits and nature itself. Feeling like we can and should. being more aware of turtle island. Learning all we can about our ancestors. Contributing where and when we can.

most of all, never forgetting the past. Never ever forgetting the images of the atrocities, never ever forgetting my own history.

Migwich

GD

Go fighting Polacks! :)

Shit, you beat me!

That is EXACTLY what I was about to post when I read it...

Except its always been mismatched. 50 guys with shovels versus a Panzer division. Or a bunch of Stalin III's... Can we rename the Cubs?

...

My favorite's:
The Zulus. The Huns. The Masai. The Mongols. The Fighting Macabbees. You know, kick ass Jewish tribesman. I think most native folks who are upset, are upset becuase it seems like a well-intended but insulting gesture from the current elite:

"Sorry we murdered your whole nation of people here...but tell you what, we'll name sports teams, streets, counties and towns after you, and maybe put you on the money! How does that sound guys? We're pumped up about it, how about you?"

Some of them are genuinely offensive though. Like "Redskins?" The term doesn't refer to the color of native people's skins, it refers to the common practice in the 1800's of murdering native Amwericans in the western states, and sending their red skins to museums back east, where there was still a lot of medical interest in Frenology, physical Anthropology and other physiological pursuits in need of cadavers. And the settlers out West had no moral qualms about selling indian cadavers (fresh ones) for cash. A pretty sad part of U.S. history. The California indians, for example, were basically hunted down like dogs, since they had only band-level organization (no real chiefs, social heirarchy, permanent setlements, etc.) after they proved overly resistant to slaver. I say Maccabbees.

Also, btw, Chief Illiniwick is a propogation of the "noble savage" stereotype perpetuated by Mr. Fennimore Cooper. And not a very good representation of the Illini Indians. He's basically a Sioux.
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