Name of the Game For Redskins Is 'Intolerance'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22277-2002Sep15.html
By Courtland Milloy
Monday, September 16, 2002; Page B01


For several seasons now, I have rooted against the so-called Redskins, having
found it difficult to "love the team but hate the name," as some of my more
tolerant Native American friends do. And much to my delight, the team has
generally played like the "deadskins," which is what their name actually means.

Hoping that owner Dan Synder would try to change his luck by changing the name,
I see now that all he has done is changed coaches while continuing to claim --
with an obviously forked tongue -- that Redskins is somehow a term of
endearment.

Talking with some of the hundreds of Native Americans who gathered on the Mall
for a national powwow this weekend, none felt the name was complimentary. One
teenager from the Crow tribe did say that he was not fazed one way or the other
and noted that "on some reservations, you can see people wearing Redskins caps.
It's their way of identifying with the urban scene."

And I can go into any slum where blacks are confined and hear them calling one
another "nigger," too. The extent to which members of both groups adopt as their
own the words and symbols of oppression are manifestations of mental illness, as
I see it -- not a compliment at all.

"Whenever I hear [Redskins] used, it feels like a put-down, degrading to the
Native American," said Virgil Cross Guns, a member of the Blackfeet tribe from
Montana.

Now, you may wonder: Blackfeet, Redskins -- what's the difference?

"Redskins is a name given to Native Americans by non-natives," Cross Guns said,
adding, "When the Colonial government used to pay settlers for each Native
American they killed, the proof of the kill was usually the scalp, and it was
called 'redskin.' "

Later that day, Cross Guns succumbed to a fatal heart attack while performing a
dance at the festival.

"I have heard Native Americans talk about how the word makes their children cry
and how it affects their self-esteem," said Carol Grace Hicks, a staff member at
the National Museum of the American Indian. "They ask, 'Why do derogatory names
change for everybody but us?' "

Clifford Little Wind of the Spirit Lake Nation in North Dakota was more direct.

"What puzzles me is how few African Americans get it," he said. "If a white man
used the n-word, there would be such an uproar. 'Redskins' is our n-word. But I
guess we are such a small minority that our feelings don't matter."

This year, the Metropolitan Council of Governments adopted a resolution that
called the team's name "demeaning and dehumanizing" and asked Snyder to find a
new name by next season.

Well, it's next season. And Little Wind has been proved correct.

I asked Cross Guns if there was something in the Native American tradition that
could be used to prick the conscience of your average Redskins fan, short of a
bow and arrow.

Dressed in a traditional outfit, he lowered his spear and spoke solemnly.

"The purpose of this powwow is to teach others about our culture, especially the
children," he said. "We believe that when there is fellowship, there can be
friendship. And friends respect one another."

A few years ago, Nathan Phillips, a leader of a D.C. group called the Native
Youth Alliance, began showing up at Redskins games to hand out pamphlets
protesting the name. But that attempt at education didn't work.

"People yell at you," he said. "They get right up in your face; they spit at
you."

In the face of such insults, some Native Americans rely on the teachings of
their ancestors.

"My grandmother used to say: 'Be proud of your heritage. Hold your head up high
no matter what,' " said Chief Charles Lessard of the Mohawk and Wampanoag tribe
in Spotsylvania, Va. "Of course, it helps to have a thick skin."

I asked his wife, Karen Lazette-Lessard, if there was some way to call on the
spirit of the ancestors to, at least, cause the Redskins to fumble from time to
time.

"We are taught not to wish bad upon others because it will come back tenfold on
yourself," she said. "What we hope is that the ancestors' spirits will change
their hearts."

Until then?

"We watch the Winston Cup," she said. "Those good ol' boys know that you can
still be competitive without using offensive logos."

E-mail: milloyc@...


© 2002 The Washington Post Company


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