By Any Other Name
What do Native Americans think of sports teams named after Indians?

By John J. Miller
March 8, 2002 9:05 a.m.

o Indian team names actually offend Indians? Self-appointed Native American activists say they do — but a new poll by Sports Illustrated tells a different story.

Last year, when the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights moved to condemn the use of Indian team names by colleges, universities, and K-12 schools, commissioner Abigail Thernstrom proposed a compromise. Rather than urge the federal government to file civil-rights lawsuits, as several fellow commissioners wanted to do, she suggested that the panel merely encourage "schools, teams, and other organizations voluntarily drop names that Native Americans themselves (as indicated by polling data or clearly expressed local sentiment) find offensive."

It seemed like a reasonable middle ground between the activists who see racism everywhere they look and Redskins fans who refuse to acknowledge that some team names are considered slurs by many of their fellow Americans. Yet the commission voted down the Thernstrom proposal and issued its blanket condemnation instead.

Perhaps it was Thernstrom's interest in "polling data" that turned them off, because a new poll published in Sports Illustrated suggests that Indian team names aren't nearly as offensive to as many people as the activists have let on.

The Peter Harris Research Group polled 352 Native Americans (217 living on reservations and 134 living off) and 743 sports fans; the results are published in SI's March 4 issue.

Here's the most important finding: "Asked if high school and college teams should stop using Indian nicknames, 81 percent of Native American respondents said no. As for pro sports, 83 percent of Native American respondents said teams should not stop using Indian nicknames, mascots, characters, and symbols."

The poll also found that 75 percent of Native Americans don't think the use of these team names and mascots "contributes to discrimination." Opinion is divided about the tomahawk chop displayed at Atlanta Braves games: 48 percent "don't care" about it; 51 percent do care, but more than half of them "like it." The name "Redskins" isn't especially controversial either; 69 percent of Native Americans don't object to it. As a general rule, Indians on reservations were more sensitive about team names and mascots, but not to the point where a majority of them ever sided with the activists on these questions.

Sports Illustrated writer S. L. Price reaches the obvious conclusion: "Although Native American activists are virtually united in opposition to the use of Indian nicknames and mascots, the Native American population sees the issue far differently."