Indian mascots, they’re totes honoring to Native peoples, right? That’s what fans always tell us, at least. Inspired by this image above posted on twitter, from a Sonic in Benton, MO, I decided to take some time to compile a list of just a few instances of how these mascots totally “honor” Native people. This is just from memory, btw. There …
When offensive Indian mascots hit too close to home
I posted on Monday about some of my amazing Native friends that I got to catch up with while on campus for my college reunion. I had an incredible weekend, so much fun, but there was a bit of a dark underbelly to it all when I went to our homecoming football game. I’ve written several times about how Stanford …
The Fighting Sioux are back: My passionate plea against Indian mascots
As of last Wednesday, University of North Dakota (UND) has reinstated their use of the “Fighting Sioux” mascot, which was banned last year. Residents of the state gathered over 17,000 signatures to put the issue on the ballot in the upcoming elections, and the UND administration says that they wanted to show that they “honor the refrendum process” by reinstating …
Wisconsin Bans Indian Mascots!
As of this week, schools in Wisconsin using race-based mascots can be fined up to $1,000 a day. This law has been a long time coming, the first form of it was presented to the state over 30 years ago. The way the law works is that parties can submit complaints to the state, and after a hearing, if the …
To the Native people in “Indian” Costumes
It’s Sunday, November 1, and I’m scrolling through my various social media feeds, looking at the adorable, creative, fun, and smart costumes of all of my friends (and their babies) from Halloween last night. I’m heartened and happy by the series of texts I received, and the tweets and status updates I was tagged in, talking about confronting cultural appropriation …
White tears and aggressive Indians: Native activists on the Daily Show
A couple weeks ago, a stellar, amazing group of my Native activist friends, colleagues, internet-friends, and people-I-wish-were-my-friends gathered in DC for a taping of the Daily Show (see photo above, via Gregg Deal). The episode hasn’t aired yet (I hear it might be tomorrow??), but already it’s causing a bit of a stir on the internets. The Washington Post published an …
Thawing the Frozen Indian: Brown University’s new anthro exhibit
The same day as our Crooked Arrows adventure last weekend, Mikaela and I also hit up the Haffenreffer Anthropology museum at Brown to check out their new student-curated exhibit: “Thawing the Frozen Indian: From Tobacco to Top Model.” Dr. Hoover, one of the faculty members at Brown, had mentioned to me at Harvard Powwow (she was the Head Lady Dancer) …
Harvard "Lampoon Indians" vs. Harlem Globetrotters
Welcome to Harvard, where we show extreme insensitivity toward members of our community in the name of humor! Tonight, members of the Harvard Lampoon, a student-run humor magazine that’s been around since 1876, will be playing a game of basketball against the Harlem Globetrotters. The name the hilarious Lampoon-ites have chosen for their team? The Lampoon Indians. The screenshot above …
The Stanford "Indian": Then and Now
I just came back from an amazing long weekend in the Bay Area, where I was at a training to be on my reunion homecoming committee (5th year reunion! I’m either really old or really young, depending on your perspective). I seriously love my alma mater more than is probably healthy. But this is a place that I credit with …
Open Letter to the PocaHotties and Indian Warriors this Halloween
Dear Person that decided to dress up as an Indian for Halloween, I was going to write you an eloquent and well-reasoned post today about all the reasons why it’s not ok to dress up as a Native person for Halloween–talk about the history of “playing Indian” in our country, point to the dangers of stereotyping and placing of Native …