December 22, 2007

Arrowhead replaces brave

South creates new arrowhead logo to replace American Indian head

New arrowhead already appears on athletic apparel“I just think it’s kind of sad that the image has to be taken away,” said Reilly, now a photographer for Channel 13 in Indianapolis. Whenever he served as the South brave mascot, “I always tried to do it with as much respect for Native Americans as I could,” he said.

He believes Terre Haute South teams and alumni also had a respect for American Indians, their culture and all that they represented. “I never thought I was making fun of the culture or the people,” Reilly said.

Tim Hayes, who is active in the South Athletic Booster club, said he wasn’t aware that the Indian brave logo was being replaced by the arrowhead. “It never occurred to me this was happening,” he said.

However, he likes the arrowhead. “The arrowhead is cool,” he said.
Comment:  Love that "respect" Bill Reilly showed Native people...! He was a dancing Plains chief, not a dignified Miami warrior, but I guess that was close enough. After all, Indians are all the same, right?

The school says it's never gotten any complaints about either logo. Well, here's one. The arrowhead isn't as bad as the dancing chief, but it's still stereotypical.

How about depicting an Indian with a stethoscope, a calculator, or a video camera instead of an arrowhead? Oh, right. We "respect" Indians by thinking of them as primitive, warlike, and ancient, not modern, educated, and cosmopolitan. Some respect.

10 comments:

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
The arrowhead is 'stereotypical?' Um, er, uh, how can that be if ALL RACES OF MANKIND MOST DEFINITELY USED ARROWHEADS? To isolate Native Americans as the sole and only targets of an arrowhead team logo perhaps is to create a new stereotype in and of itself! Talk about illogic and syllogic! "All matters about Native Americans are stereotypes!" "But, hey, this ISN'T about Indians!" "Well, then, it ISN'T a stereotype!"
This world does not work that way!
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

Every "race" may have used the bow and arrow, since there are only a few races. But I doubt every single culture around the world did.

Regardless, in our culture, we associate arrows and arrowheads primarily with Indians. If we used an arrowhead to symbolize British or Arabian or Japanese archers, then it would lose its power as a stereotype. Since we don't do that, it remains a significant Native stereotype.

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
"Significant" to you, Rob, but its significance to the average Native American lies in another altogether differing ballpark...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
POSTSCRIPTUM: Rob, why not let us hear what your ancestors, Thuringen Man, the Neanderthal, and the Cro-Magnon had to say about such an idea?
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

Another quote from The Harm of Native Stereotyping:  Facts and Evidence suffices to answer you:

Close your eyes and conjure up what comes to mind when you hear the words "American Indian." No matter your political correctness, the dominant image is probably one of feathers and war paint, bows and arrows, buffalo and teepees, beads and skins, wisdom and warfare.

It is an image derived from adventure movies and childhood books, from sepia-tinged photographs and museum exhibitions, from exploitative television shows and earnest documentaries. Even recent publicity about Indian casinos cannot blemish its iconic power.

Whether the Indian in your image is villain or victim, it is likely some exotic "other," a more primal being somehow in touch with elemental nature which can be a source of savagery and spirituality.

--Michael Hill, "Challenging Old Views of the American Indian," Baltimore Sun, 8/29/04

Rob said...

If you have any evidence that people don't think of arrows when they think of Indians, please provide it. But I won't hold my breath waiting.

Since Indians and non-Indians alike are descended from Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons, why would I have any special insight into these people? Answer: I don't.

writerfella said...

Writerfella here --
Incorrect. Thuringen Man was a small, hairy, ratlike, clever variety of H. Sapiens who migrated into what is now Europe and the Middle East from the Caucasus, and either wiped out or at least absorbed both Neanderthals and the Cro-Magnon. Thus, all of those were YOUR ancestors, Rob, as Thuringen Man already nominally was human. Natives of the Americas all descend from an offshoot of H. Erectus known as Tautavel Man and have no connections to Thuringen Man, save that Thuringen descendants all but destroyed the Tautavel descendants...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'

Rob said...

Okay, we're not dealing with your science-fiction fantasies here. A Google search reveals that Newspaper Rock is the only website in English that mentions "Thuringen Man." Since English is the predominant language of the scientific community, that means the scientific community doesn't recognize the concept of "Thuringen Man."

In short, when you provide evidence of this fanciful concept, we'll discuss it. Until then, no.

Unknown said...

I'm white and I would not have a problem if there was a team called the Washington Whity's, or the St. Louis Spooks. I get so sick of hearing other ethnic groups bawling and crying, saying we are slinging their race in the mud. I'm a big K.C. Chief fan. So are my "Indian"....oh, I'm sorry..."Native American" friends. Where I live, the percentage of Indians are high. There are 2 schools within 30 miles of each other and their mascot is the Indian. The Indians in this area are PROUD of their team, and no, the majority of the team are NOT Indians. The team is just damn good. I guess here in southwest Missouri, we have better things to do than sitting around pouting over something so stupid and frivolous. If this keeps up, I as a white-man, DEMAND to be called Mutt-American or Hines 57-American. Heck....even Caucasion-American. I want one of those fancy ethnic names too since every other ethnic group is getting one.

Rob said...

That's funny, Roger...I get sick of hearing white people like you whining and crying over minorities sticking up for their rights. I guess you have nothing better to do than sit around pouting over your stupid and frivolous--not to mention stereotypical and racist--mascots.

See Rob the Presumptuous White Man? for a further response to your arguments.