In testimony presented in legal proceedings, the Washington, D.C., NFL team stated that it chose its nickname to "honor" an early coach of the team, William "Lone Star" Dietz, who was supposedly of American Indian heritage.  Just as  the Washington football team's contention that its nickname "honors" Native Peoples is a lie, new research has proven that claims made regarding Dietz's alleged American Indian heritage were fraudulent.

Reclaiming James One Star A special five part series to "Indian Country Today"  by Linda Waggoner "The Washington Redskins claim that the name of their franchise derives from a 1930’s honoring of the team’s head coach William "Lone Star" Dietz, who, they state, was Native American. In the previous four parts of this series it is learned that William Henry "Lone Star" Dietz was not Oglala Lakota, that he did not attend Chiocco Indian School, and that the romantic story of his birth and childhood in South Dakota was fabricated." Read this entire exposé at the following links. 2004/08/02 - Reclaiming James One Star (conclusion) 2004/07/27 - Reclaiming James One Star (part four) 2004/07/20 - Reclaiming James One Star (Part Three) 2004/07/12 - Reclaiming James One Star (Part Two) 2004/07/02 - SPECIAL REPORT: Reclaiming James One Star "Linda Waggoner has taught for 12 years in the American Multicultural Studies and Philosophy departments at Sonoma State University in California. She is currently finishing a biography on Winnebago artist and educator Angel DeCora Dietz (1869 - 1919) and has written "Neither White Men Nor Indians", published in 2002."   Return to top of this page

 

(Truncated)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A40891-2002Jan25&notFound=true 

Washington Post
American Indians Among Admirers Of Redskins Name

By Marc Fisher
Saturday, January 26, 2002

"The official story, says team spokesman Karl Swanson, is that when the Boston Braves football team left Braves Field to play at Fenway Park in 1933, owner George Preston Marshall needed a new name for his squad.

"He chose Redskins in honor of Lone Star Dietz, the team's coach and an Indian who often wore an eagle feather headdress, beaded deerskin jacket and buckskin moccasins. Dietz brought four to six -- accounts vary -- Indian players with him to Boston from the Haskell Indian School in Kansas, where he had coached for four years. "

(Truncated)

PRO-FOOTBALL, INC.,

Plaintiff,

v.

SUZAN SHOWN HARJO, et al.,

Defendants.

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Civil Action No. 99-1385 (CKK)

MEMORANDUM OPINION

(September 30, 2003)

2. The Washington Redskins and this Litigation

a. The Origins of the Trademarks at Issue

Plaintiff Pro-Football, Inc. is a Maryland corporation with its principal place of business

in Virginia. Pro-Football is the owner of the Washington Redskins, a professional football

franchise located in the Washington, D.C. area, and one of the thirty-two member clubs of the

National Football League ("NFL"). Pl.’s Local Civil Rule 7.1(h) Statement of Material Facts in

Supp. of Its Mot. for Summ. J. ("Pl.’s Stmt.") ¶¶ 1-2; Compl. ¶ 4. On or about July 8, 1932,

George Preston Marshall, along with Vincent Bendix, Jay O’Brien, and Dorland Doyle,

purchased a then-inactive Boston National Football League franchise. Pl.’s Stmt. ¶ 3. Within

the year, his co-owners dropped out and Mr. Marshall was left as the sole owner of the franchise.

Id. The Boston team played the 1932 season in Braves Field, home of Boston’s then-National

League baseball team, and like the baseball team, were known as "The Braves." Id. ¶ 4. On or

about July 8, 1933, Mr. Marshall officially changed the name of his franchise from the "Boston

Braves" to the "Boston Redskins." Id. ¶ 5. Mr. Marshall chose to rename his franchise the

Redskins in honor of the team’s head coach, William "Lone Star" Dietz, who was a Native

 American.  (Accent added)

Return to top of this page

American Indian Sports Team Mascots
AISTM.ORG

American Indian Sports Team Mascots © 2004
All rights reserved.