Native American mascots a concern

The role of racism in American sports mascots has long been a contentious issue in the Native American community. On Wednesday Feb. 18, in the Welles-Brown Room in Rush Rhees, Michael Taylor, a member of the Wolf Clan of the Seneca Nation in Western New York, spoke on opposing views of sports mascots in the Native American community.

Taylor said Native Americans remain ambivalent about the portrayal of their culture as mascots and logos for athletic teams. Many believe that the way the culture is represented is inaccurate and therefore offensive. Others do not see much harm in representing Native American culture in such a light.

Taylor spent a substantial amount of time discussing the public perception of Native Americans: the current logos and mascots depict how much of the illustration is pertinent to what Native Americans look like.

“Public gaze and perception is what sets up power,” Taylor said.

He added that Americans have become so accustomed to seeing Native American chiefs with feathered hats and elaborate costumes that they believe this is what their reservations look like.

Taylor explained that on a typical day, Native Americans do not dress at reservations elaborately.

“It has reached the point that a non-native can put on what Americans think is an authentic Native American costume and people will actually believe that the person wearing the costume is an actual native,” he said.

Taylor shared a story about the former mascot of the University of Illinois, the Fighting Illini, to underscore his point about society’s perception of Native Americans. The NCAA started a policy in the fall of 2008, which prohibited collegiate teams from using Native American mascots. TheUniversity of Illinois mascot was mistaken for an actual Native American chief and was asked to perform weddings.

The University fought to keep their mascot unchanged but eventually the mascot and logo were retired.Taylor felt that the effect of Native American mascots was most apparent at the high-school level.

Taylor pointed to Seneca High School, which recently changed its mascot from an aggressive chief to what it viewed as a more culturally relatable mascot. After the switch, the school saw a subsequent increase in Native American involvement in sports such as football and lacrosse.

Before the change in mascot, records showed that at Seneca, 25 percent of the student population was Native Americans, two-thirds of whom were expected to drop out before graduation. Taylor added that the change in the mascot has shown significant differences in test scores and retention rates of Native Americans in the school.    

Taylor is currently an assistant professor at Colgate University and teaches anthropology and Native-American studies. His Native American tribe, Seneca Nation, is located in western Upstate New York between the Genesee River and Canandaigua Lake.

Recent archaeological evidence shows that this tribe at one point may have extended all the way to the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania.

Hasan is a member of
the class of 2012.