This 2-minute ad called "Proud to Be" takes the seemingly complicated issue of Indian sports mascots and distills it with remarkable clarity.
At roughly $4 million per 30-second slot, this ad never had a chance of making the airwaves during Super Bowl XLVIII. But you should watch it anyway.
Created by the National Congress of American Indians, the ad touches on the rich history of Native American communities. It mentions iconic figures like Sitting Bull, Hiawatha, Jim Thorpe, and Will Rogers. It highlights many aspects of Native American identity: Proud. Forgotten. Survivor. Mother. Father. Son. Daughter. Underserved. Struggling. Resilient.
"Native Americans call themselves many things," the narrator concludes. One thing they don't call themselves, however, is Redskin. (Source)
At roughly $4 million per 30-second slot, this ad never had a chance of making the airwaves during Super Bowl XLVIII. But you should watch it anyway.
Created by the National Congress of American Indians, the ad touches on the rich history of Native American communities. It mentions iconic figures like Sitting Bull, Hiawatha, Jim Thorpe, and Will Rogers. It highlights many aspects of Native American identity: Proud. Forgotten. Survivor. Mother. Father. Son. Daughter. Underserved. Struggling. Resilient.
"Native Americans call themselves many things," the narrator concludes. One thing they don't call themselves, however, is Redskin. (Source)
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I am Cherokee. I have boycotted All football until they stop using the R word.
Please give me more information about this issue. I'd like to understand it better.
I'd like to better understand this issue. I was unaware of the issue raised by Pam. Please help me.
One's inner spirit, is lost that clams they are of Native Indian blood, and does not understand what this ad is about.
Perhaps my comment was not very clear. I understand the R Word is viewed as the N word for African Americans. I have not been aware of those - like Pam -- side with the use of the R word. Are there many more people like Pam or is the majority of Native American against the R Word.
It is those whom have less native blood, and those that lost connection with their culture that take no offense to this word. Reconnect and see the offense.
Obviously many of you are uneducated about Indian history. During the 1700-1800s a majority of Indian chiefs in the Plains/Southwest called their nations "Redskin" people when dealing with government representatives in meetings. They did so because their skin WAS of a red hue as DNA shows today's Indians came from an area of Southern Siberia/Northern Mongolia/Northern China where those people there look very similar to today's "pure" Plains/Southwest Indians with skin of a "reddish" hue.
The Pilgrims/Western Europeans didn't kill off the Indians with disease. A smallpox infected African slave in 1529 sailed from Cuba to Mexico, decimating the Inca civilization and the disease then spread into present day America decimating the Indian population by 90% causing 10-15 million deaths. Anthropologists estimate about 20,000 Indians were actually killed by Europeans in 40 major wars NOT the millions that Universities teach.
The "Indians" of today were not here first. A tribe has been discovered in Northwest U.S. that was here 5,000 years before "Native Americans" also known as Clovis. There DNA suggest they came from Central Russia near what is present day Georgia. They were called the Paisley tribe. They were all killed by the friendly "Native Americans" who arrived.
Western Europeans were in Eastern US coastal areas of Maryland and Florida and Greenland 600 years before Columbus landed in the West Indies. Columbus never discovered "America" and never set foot on U.S. soil so he didn't kill the Indians.
Paul Revere NEVER said "The British our coming, the British are coming. EVERYONE was British. Its from a poem by Longfellow. He said "the Regulars are coming, the Regulars are coming. AND he NEVER made it to Concord. He was caught and someone else made the rest of the trip to warn the "Rebels"
Don't let White, Liberal guilt cloud the truth of American History
Some of us who have more white blood and less of a cultural connection really care a lot more than you may think and oppose any words and actions that we encounter against native people. Pure blood is good, but it was not my choice how much native and how much white I was made with. I am proud and even though I am ripped from my people and the elders who would have taught me.was this because the whites had their way with my grandmother? Now I am nothing polluted. Do not look down on the brothers and sisters who have less native blood. I am not as educated in native culture, and my skin is not as dark, but my heart is where it should be. There is no person white or native who can separate my native blood from me or stop it from pumping through my heart, unless they take my life. Please remember that what was done was done to us too. You may have ended up with a higher percentage of native blood, but being uprooted from our culture, dilluted by the whites blood and their ways, and given no real connection to our people and culture is a legacy of pain that we struggle to make sense of, and move beyond. I do not accept people using the term redskins, or any other negative words.My whole life I have stood for what is right. Please stop marginalizing people who are mixed. I think we have lived that way enough already.
I actually had a conversation about this with some of the family that used to own that team. I think in 1998. They said that they talked to indians about it and the Indians said they liked it. They also had great respect for indian history and collected and valued Indian crafts, and had personal relationships with individuals who were native american.
. I was and am still of the thought that it might be offensive to many people.I am just saying that from the owners point of view at the time, it was a "politically correct issue" that had no relevance to their real experience, and they just ignored the critics.
Sorry, Anonymous, but you are overlooking a lot of history in your defence of this football teams' name. First Columbus enslaved and murdered thousands in the West Indies--whether or not you choose to call them "Indians." Secondly, "redskin" was the name that white settlers gave to scalps that were turned in to collect bounty (as opposed to beaver skin, otter skin, etc.) The slaughter of native North Americans by white soldiers and settlers is not excused by the discovery of the Clovis people.
The Redskins football team was the last NFL team to integrate so I really could care less about those who make excuses. The name does, and always has been an insult. If I see a team named after a tribe that seems to try to honor that local heritage, I am not offended if they don't resort to cartoonish crap and mascots that are not Native American. Enough already. No more excuses. NFL makes billions. How much of that has been put back into the Native American community in any way? Do they have to? No. But they say they respect them and remain insensitive. Are there any signs of respect? Of trying?
lauracallahan1's I don't deal in "feelings", I deal in FACTS. Feelings are for those who use it to justify to themselves their failures or inadequacies. I know more about tribal history/truth than 99% of whites and 90% of Indians because I have studied it for over 20 years non professionally and only read sourced material from anthropologist and archaeologists, NOT non academic, white guilt, ignorant "writers".
I have an absolute disgust in how the Indians were treated by the government and their agents having broken EVERY treaty they signed. I have visited extensively throughout Navajo/Hopi lands and see what government "help" does to the tribes. But as a very respected (by me and others) Lakota Sioux tribal chief and History professor at North Dakota State said " the Whites whopped our asses" just like WE did to the lesser tribes we conquered. So get over yourself and do something with your life or you can always go and live on one of "your" tribe's shitholes (reservations) that is still controlling the Indian's daily lives.
Ron Stick with the issue. EVERYONE with an IQ above 90 knows about West Indies and Columbus. WE are talking U.S. History NOT Caribbean. Not excusing white settlers, BUT 90% of "indigenous" deaths AND non indigenous deaths in the AMERICAS (North/South/Central) and Caribbean from 1700's to 1880's were from smallpox, typhus, bubonic plague, cholera, tuberculosis, yellow fever, pertussis, mumps and measles brought to South America by Spanish explorers who had African slaves with them who were the carriers. This was ALSO what caused the 90% death rate of the Tainos tribe (Hispaniola) because Italian Columbus, financed by Spanish monarchy ALSO brought infected African slaves with him to Hispaniola which resulted in the 90% mortality rate. Columbus and future explorers took pretty much the rest of the Tainos back to Spain as slaves
But thanks for playing and collect your parting gifts from the host. And quit reading the babble of the fake Indian, Ward Churchill, MIT professor who puts out most of the lies about Indian deaths. After you have read over 400 academic books about U.S. Indian tribes as I have get back to me and then we can have an intelligent discussion. Nu' pay nímani.