A Tale of Two Tribes.
As The Washington Redskins were flourishing in the 20th Century, Native Americans were battling intolerance.
Is it possible to brand a race? Dan Snyder is willing to bet the estate on it. The owner of the Washington Redskins has adorned himself with his finest pair of marketing pants and declared that he will not change his football franchise’s name in the foreseeable future. For Snyder, the team’s name has transcended it’s racist connotations and has morphed into a flag of pride for those who follow it. In a letter to his fans, he waxes nostalgic about being born a Redskin. He fondly recalls his first game with his father and the chilling experience and atmosphere. But the question has to be asked for those who weren’t born “Redskins” but actual Native Americans — can an entire history be rewritten on a feel good whim at the behest of sports fandom? The trials of the Native is not a dust covered relic from ages ago, but rather just yesterday in our country’s timeline.
At the tail-end of the 19th Century, Native Americans — spurned on by a religious awakening of Native’s that was permeating throughout the United States — sought to alleviate their plight through an exercise that would come to be known as the “Ghost Dance.” The purveying thought was that the Native’s way of life had been decimated as a punishment from the Gods for abandoning their culture and traditions, and if the Sioux were to participate in the Ghost Dance, it would cleanse their spirit and return them to a time before the white man had turned their land and animals into kitsch collectibles.
As was to be expected, the suits in Washington viewed this with spectacles that were forged from Manifest Destiny. No virtues were seen in a spiritual awakening for the Native’s, and was instead seen as a precursor to an Indian uprising. A boiling point was reached in the Winter of 1890, on a frigid morning in South Dakota. On December 29, the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry intercept a group of of 300 Native’s outside of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The group was treated as a hostile force and transported to Wounded Knee Creek. In an effort to disarm the group, a struggle broke out between a deaf Native and a cavalryman, causing the deaf man’s gun to be fired. U.S. forces promptly mowed down the group of Native’s, killing upwards of 300 men, women, and children. Those who did not die by gunfire froze to death in the winter chill. This would mark the last major exchange between the Native’s and the U.S. military, and the 1890 census would officially declare the American Frontier closed. 43 years later in 1933, the Boston Braves would play their first game as the Redskins.
That may seem like a long gap, but given how fleeting time is, it’s not. Children who lived during the Wounded Knee Massacre would now be parental age, young adults would now be senior citizens. Generations of people who came of age with the Native as their supposed enemy were now watching and hearing about a football team named “Redskins.” And, despite the fact that Wounded Knee marked the last “battle” of the American Indian Wars, small skirmishes would help keep alive the malice towards the race of the new football team’s namesake. That malice would not flicker out, either. As The Redskins flourished throughout the 20th century, Native Americans were suffering at the hand of racism and discrimination.
Mid-century saw The Redskins flying high. Throughout the late 30’s and early 40’s, the newly minted team played in 5 NFL Championship games (1937, 1940, 1942, 1943, and 1945), winning 2 of them (1937 and 1942). But as The Redskins were riding a wave of victory, the institutions tasked with erasing every ounce of “red” from Native Americans were just beginning to reform. Boarding schools for Native children were used as a tool of forceful assimilation. The schools originally came to light in the late 1800’s, — the first being established by Army Officer Richard Pratt, who is quoted in a speech having said “… that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.” The schools flourished in part because Native Americans were barred from attending public schools, and tactics used were often forceful. Standard administration included forcibly beating the Native language out of the children, replacing the children’s Native name with one that was Euro-centric, and numerous children were often raped and found dead. Many associate the vicious upbringings in boarding schools with the problems of domestic violence and alcoholism so prevalent in the Native community.
After their early football excellence, The Redskins would wallow in mediocrity for much of the 50’s and 60’s. Come the 70’s though, The ‘Skins would find themselves as pigskin golden boys under coach George Allen. The team would plow through the decade making multiple playoff appearances and even participate in Superbowl VII (ultimately losing to the perfect-season Miami Dolphins). Simultaneously, the American Indian Movement was fighting it’s own battle of equality for Native Americans. AIM, lead by Dennis Banks, used tactics such as protesting and site-occupation to make their voices heard. And such as history repeats itself, tensions would come to a head back where it all ended — Wounded Knee Creek. A 1973 protest conducted by AIM at Pine Ridge reservation would explode into a full-out siege when U.S. Marshalls and other federal officers would wage a shootout with the AIM protesters who had retreated to the Wounded Knee Massacre sight. The firing would last 71 days, with 2 Native Americans being shot to death.
So given the history of the Native in this country that coincided with The Redskins background, the question being asked about the team should not be if a racial slur as their name is acceptable, but if it’s even proper to use a race’s identity to begin with. Even in the modern age that we live in now, Indian Reservations are racked with suicide and poverty issues — is it proper to co-opt the identity of a people who has suffered and been demeaned by so many for the purposes of filling seats and selling shirts? The story of the Native is long and to have it lost and eroded into being only significant as a sports franchise should be seen as a slap in the face, as it would be to any other race who had their history and struggle condensed to a decal on the side of an athlete’s helmet.
