November 19, 2007

Mascots objectify Indians

VIEWPOINT:  A genocide of the mindThe most devastating aspect of Indians as nicknames and logos is the objectification of our race.

Objectification goes back to the days of the papal bulls that claimed non-Christians had no rights of their own, as well as to stories about the white experience in Indigenous country. Stories were widespread about “the savage red men just beyond the frontier.”

The very fact that a group of folks tried to “define” a culture demonstrates that “Sioux” identity was under attack from a forceful objectification that would supplant all conceptions, even our own, of Indian identity.

No longer are we living our identity; we are looking at it through a lens created by the European--a lens in which Indians are inferior and whites are superior. We are looking through a lens created and shown by the use of Indians as team nicknames and mascots.

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