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1999
Mascot Issue Progress Report
Plaintiffs
in a lawsuit against the Washington, D.C. NFL team concerning its
racially disparaging nickname win their case in a U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office ruling.
A U.S. Department
of Justice probe into the mascot issue takes place at
Erwin High, Asheville, North Carolina. Although the school agrees
to change the name for its girls teams from "Squaws," at the
end of 1999, other settlement conditions for instituting correctives
remain unmet and in violation of the agreement terms.
The U.S. Census Bureau adopts
a policy on non-use of Athletic Teams with American Indian or Alaska
Native Names in Promoting Census 2000
Utah State Supreme Court upholds
the decision of the Utah State Tax Commission to revoke
three license plates bearing variations of the word
"Reds****"
In an poll conducted by the
National Spectator's Association, 60%
of respondents indicate they want the "Wahoo" logo of the
Cleveland Major League Baseball team to be changed.
Millard High, one of the
largest school's in Nebraska adopts plans to replace
its
"Indian" mascot with a "Patriot."
Research conducted by a college
professor debunks
the myth that the Cleveland MLB team was named in "honor"
of Louis Sockalexis, one of the first Native Americans to play for that
club.
Rickards High in Florida
wisely decides to retire its 40 year old "Reds****"
nickname.
Seattle University nears
completion of the process to change
its "Chieftains" mascot.
Oklahoma City University finalizes
plans to change its "Chiefs" nickname to "Stars"
ESPN airs a special program on
Native Americans in sports and which contains a
segment on the mascot issue. Follow-up coverage included an
insightful online chat
session with leading advocate, Suzan Shown Harjo.
The NAACP issues a second
resolution in support of retiring "Indian" sports team
tokens.
The Society of Indian
Psychologists of the Americans issues a position
statement and receives
coverage in the prestigious American Psychological Association.
The Nebraska Commission on Indian
Affairs issues a comprehensive and insightful mascot
resolution
The Great Lakes Inter-Tribal
Council adopts a resolution
to eliminate the use of
depictions of and cultural references to American Indians as mascots,
logos, and team
nicknames in Wisconsin public schools
Linguists from the Society for the
Study of Indigenous Languages of the Americas
adopt
a policy against the University of Illinois' Champaign-Urbana
"Chief Illiniwek"
and vow not to return to that campus until the race-related token is
changed. The
American Anthropology Association later adopt a similar stance.
The main Cleveland area public
library enacts a
dress code that prohibits its 700
employees from wearing garments bearing "Wahoo" images.
Ten
schools in the Dallas, Texas, area follow through on a 1997 decision to change
their "Indian" sports team tokens.
Crayola
replaces its "Indian Red" crayon color.
Some specific activity sites include (in no particular order):
Milton,
WI (and Wisconsin
in general)
10 schools throughout Maine
66 schools throughout Louisiana
Wichita,
KS
Alvarado, TX
Danville, VT
Deerfield, MA
Winchester, MA
Huntley,
IL
Roanoke, VA
University of
North Dakota
Eastern Michigan University
University
of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
Florida
State University
Cleveland,
OH
Marquette, MI
Cincinnati,
OH
Los Angeles, CA
Salmon
River, ID
Elizabethton, TN
Knoxville,
TN
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