This article and pictures is about how Native Americans and other racial groups get stereotyped. The Native Americans are made into mascots and “collectibles.” I remember hearing something about this and how the Native people were upset that their heritage is being used as symbols for colleges. There are many schools that have native team names. Miami University of Ohio used to be called the (Redskins) but then had to change their name to the Redhawks.
This article can be related to that of the movie that we watched in class called Ethnic Notions which describes the stereotypes and how blacks were depicted as characters. These pictures of the Indians are used to show all the different races. This kind of pictures and memorabilia is sold all over the country. You can see people wearing these logos on their shirts and it means nothing to them about Native Americans but only because it is their team. The Indians just feel that they are being made fun of and stereotyped. In Ethnic Notions the blacks were shown as dark, with very white lips, and savage looking and that is how the Native Americans feel they are depicted. All the mascots are dressed up as warriors and mean looking. It could also be more the moral value like I mentioned earlier about how very few if any people really wear the Indian logo because they care about what happened to them, but they just buy the merchandise to support their team.
I can see where the Native people are coming from. I mean people don’t really know why they wear the Indian logo just that it is their team and they support them. Personally, I am not a fan of a team that has an Indian mascot but I know plenty of people who are and I’ve seen plenty of their collectible items. I it will be interesting to see what happens in the future with this issue.
