-Caveat Lector-
Demeaned and Victimized
Indians Say Sports Mascots, Ads Create Subhuman Image
By Dean Schabner
March 20 - Would you buy Martin Luther King Malt Liquor, go to the Mahatma
Gandhi Strip Club or wear Jesus Christ Jeans?
If any of these make you uncomfortable, you might have an inkling of how
Lakota Sioux, and American Indians in general, respond to the use of the
name Crazy Horse to market everything from jeans to strip clubs.
American Indian activists see a connection between the use of the name of a
man considered a spiritual leader and the acceptance of Indian-related
nicknames and mascots for sports teams, which they say range from the simply
demeaning to the sacrilegious and together keep American Indians from being
considered on a level with other ethnic groups.
"[The use of such images] reinforces all of the stereotypical conceptions of
native people so prevalent in the American consciousness, effectively
reducing the fullness of our humanity to a unidimensional farce," Joe Gone,
a psychologist and member of the Gros Ventre tribe said in an interview with
the American Psychological Association Monitor.
The fact that these mascots and advertising images exist, according to Gary
Brouse of the Interfaith Council on Corporate Responsibility, is evidence
that American Indians have been left out of the mix as America has become
more conscious of the rights of minorities.
Problems of Perception
A figure of a black, a Jew or Latino comparable to the Cleveland Indians'
Chief Wahoo mascot would not be tolerated by society, just as the use of the
name of a person of another race who was as revered as Crazy Horse is by
American Indians to advertise an alcoholic beverage or strip club would be
met by outrage, Brouse said.
"Crazy Horse was a very sacred leader," he said. "He is mostly known in
non-Indian Country as a military leader. In Indian Country, he is a
religious leader."
Though associating the name with a clothing line, as Liz Claiborne Inc. does
with its Crazy Horse brand, would seem less offensive to Indians than some
of the other ways it has been used, the company's ads featuring skinny
models casting languid looks at the camera are hardly harmonious with what
Crazy Horse represents to Indians.
"He's a cultural hero," said Wilmer Mesteth, a Lakota tribal leader. "He was
something like Martin Luther King or [Nelson] Mandela. Fighting for the
rights of his people, and he gave the ultimate sacrifice of his life."
The company issued a statement last week in response to a request for an
interview that said: "We oppose products that reinforce negative stereotypes
about Native Americans or any other ethnic, racial or cultural group.
Moreover, we have never used Native American imagery or iconography, and we
never will."
Liz Claiborne "intends no disrespect to any member of the Native American
community," the statement said. "Although the issue has yet to be resolved,
we understand the views that are being expressed and we remain hopeful that
we will eventually reach a mutually acceptable agreement."
Taking the Sacred, Making It Silly
The Lakota's long running battle to get companies to stop using the name
Crazy Horse to market products is just one aspect of American Indians'
struggle to redefine themselves in the eyes of non-Indians.
"I think that part of it is that America needs to be educated," Mesteth
said. "We're alive and well and still struggling. We're struggling against
great odds to maintain our lives."
That effort includes the annual appeals to professional sports teams like
the Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves and football Washington Redskins and
Kansas City Chiefs to rethink their nicknames and mascots. The insults
presented by these names and figures goes beyond the caricature. Just the
name Redskin is considered by many American Indians to be a term as
insulting as words referring to other ethnic groups that are unprintable.
Many of the objects commonly waved around by team mascots, such as staffs
decorated with eagle feathers or "peace pipes," and the long trailing
feathered headdresses they often wear are sacred objects to various tribes.
It's as though they were waving crucifixes or Torah scrolls to spur on their
fans.
"It says, 'Your religion is not as important as mine,'" Brouse said. "Why
can't we carry our understanding of what is offensive and prejudicial over
to other groups? Why can't we understand what is offensive to others?
"I know [New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani] has been very upset and very
vocal about museum displays using the Virgin Mary. This is even worse," he
added, referring to two Brooklyn Museum of Art shows that featured work that
Giuliani considered insulting to Catholics.
Numerous universities, colleges and schools have responded to Indians'
requests to get rid of their Indian-related nicknames and mascots. Some
schools - such as the universities of Wisconsin and Iowa - have gone so far
as to schedule no games against teams bearing Indian-related nicknames.
Professional teams have been less responsive. Spokesmen for the Braves and
Indians did not return calls for comment on this issue.
A Culture Erased?
Some even go so far as to say that it creates an attitude towards Indians in
which they are looked at as fair game for any kind of abuse. A recent
federal study found that 70 percent of the violent crime committed against
Indians is committed by members of other races, and nearly 50 percent of the
time the perpetrator is drunk.
"I hadn't thought about it before, but it makes sense," said Kate Stetson of
Legi/x, a firm that lobbies on American Indian issues, when asked about the
issue. "What mascots do is trivialize and demean individuals and erase a
culture. The less you think people are like you, the more you feel that you
can be violent with them with impunity. That's the argument with pornography
and violence against women."
Only Asians come close to Indians in suffering crime at the hands of other
races, but overall, they are victimized at a rate less than one-fourth of
the rate at which American Indians are victimized. Indians suffer violent
crime at a rate of 124 for every 1,000 people, while the national average is
50 per 1,000. African-Americans suffer violent crime at a rate of 60 per
1,000, about 20 percent of which is committed by other races.
The study does not examine what percentage of these crimes could be
considered bias or hate crimes, though, which leaves the meaning of the
figures open to interpretation.
Jimmy Boy Dial
Editor, The Spike
www.thespike.com
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A>
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