Redskin#Red as a racial identifier

{{Redirect|Red people|the Malaysian online supergroup and artist management company|RED People}}{{other uses}}

Redskin is a slang term for Native Americans in the United States and First Nations in Canada. The term redskin underwent pejoration through the 19th to early 20th centuries{{cite web| url=http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/08/definition-redskin/| title=What is the definition of redskin?| access-date=September 3, 2016| publisher=Oxford University Press| archive-date=September 16, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916082935/http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/08/definition-redskin/| url-status=dead}} and in contemporary dictionaries of American English, it is labeled as offensive, disparaging, or insulting. Although the term has almost disappeared from contemporary use, it remains in use as a sports team name. The most prominent was the NFL's Washington Redskins, who resisted decades of opposition before retiring the name in 2020 following renewed attention to racial justice in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests. While the usage by other teams has been declining steadily, 37 high schools in the United States continue to use the Redskins name. School administrators and alumni assert that their use of the name is honoring their local tradition and not insulting to Native Americans.

The origin of the choice of red to describe Native Americans in English is debated. While related terms were used in anthropological literature as early as the 17th century, labels based on skin color entered everyday speech around the middle of the 18th century. "At the start of the eighteenth century, Indians and Europeans rarely mentioned the color of each other's skins. By midcentury, remarks about skin color and the categorization of peoples by simple color-coded labels (red, white, black) had become commonplace."{{cite book| title=A Strange Likeness: Becoming Red and White in Eighteenth-Century North America| chapter=Race| first=Nancy| last=Shoemaker| publisher=Oxford University Press| location=New York| year=2004| isbn=9780195167924| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/strangelikenessb00shoe}}

Red as a racial identifier

{{Further|Genetic history of indigenous peoples of the Americas}}

Documents from the colonial period indicate that the use of red as an identifier by Native Americans for themselves emerged in the context of Indian-European diplomacy in the southeastern region of North America, becoming common usage in the 1720s. Subsequently, variations of "red men" were adopted by Europeans, becoming a generic label for all Native Americans.{{cite book| last=Silver| first=James W.| title= Edmund Pendleton Gaines: Frontier General| location=Baton Rouge| publisher=Louisiana State University Press| year=1949}}{{cite journal| url=https://peopleofonefire.com/how_indians_got_to_be_red.pdf| last=Shoemaker| first=Nancy| title=How Indians Got to Be Red| journal=The American Historical Review| volume=102| issue=3| date=1997| pages=625–44| doi=10.2307/2171504| jstor=2171504| access-date=2017-08-14| archive-date=2017-07-31| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731152305/https://peopleofonefire.com/how_indians_got_to_be_red.pdf| url-status=live}}{{rp|627–28}}

Linguistic evidence indicates that, while some tribes may have used red to refer to themselves during the pre-Columbian era based upon their origin stories,{{rp|634}} the general use of the term was in response to meeting people who called themselves white and their slaves black.{{rp|629}} The choice of red rather than other colors may have been due to cultural associations, rather than skin color.{{rp|632}} Red and white were a dichotomy that had pervasive symbolic meanings in southeastern Native cultures which was less prevalent among northern tribes.{{rp|632}} While there was occasional use of red in Indian-European diplomacy in the northeast, it was still rare there even after it had become common in the southeast. Instead, Indian was translated into the native languages there as "men", "real people", or "original people".{{rp|629–30}} Usage in the northeast region by Europeans may have been largely limited to descriptions of tribes such as the Beothuk of Newfoundland, whose practice of painting their bodies and possessions with red ochre led Europeans to refer to them as "Red Indians".{{cite web |url=http://www.historica.ca/the_beothuk.php |title=The Beothuk Indians – "Newfoundland's Red Ochre People" |work=Historica Canadiana |date=6 December 2006 |access-date=3 September 2016 |archive-date=12 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512105609/http://www.historica.ca/the_beothuk.php |url-status=live }} The personification of the Americas was staged at Whitehall Palace in December 1613 by a dancer in The Somerset Masque wearing "a skin coat the colour of the juice of mulberries, on her head large round brims of many coloured feathers, and in the midst of it a small crown".Peter Holman, The Masque at the Earl of Somerset's Marriage, 1614 (Scholar Press, 1973), spelling modernised here: Virginia Mason Vaughan, Performing Blackness on English Stages, 1500–1800 (Cambridge, 2005), p. 71.

Early ethnographic writers used a variety of terms; olivastre (olive) by François Bernier (1684),Anonymous [F. Bernier], [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k56535g/f135.item "Nouvelle division de la terre par les différentes espèces ou races qui l'habitent"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316220010/http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k56535g/f135.item |date=2018-03-16 }}, Journal des Sçavants, 24 April 1684, p. 133–140. rufus (reddish, ruddy) by Linnaeus (1758),Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 Vol. 1. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/80764#page/31/mode/1up p. 21] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108003214/http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/80764#page/31/mode/1up |date=2012-11-08 }}. kupferroth ("copper-red") by Blumenbach (1779),Blumenbach, J. F. 1779. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 1, [http://www.deutschestextarchiv.de/book/view/blumenbach_naturgeschichte_1779?p=85 pp. 63f] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317164945/http://www.deutschestextarchiv.de/book/view/blumenbach_naturgeschichte_1779?p=85 |date=2018-03-17 }} and eventually simply "red" by René Lesson (1847).Charles Hamilton Smith, Samuel Kneeland, The Natural History of the Human Species (1851), [https://books.google.com/books?id=DnEuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47 p. 47] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317232734/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=DnEuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA47 |date=2018-03-17 }}, listing "Red Race" as one of the six races identified by René Lesson, Description de mammifères et d'oiseaux récemment découverts; précédée d'un Tableau sur les races humaines (1847), i.e. White (Caucasian), Dusky (Indian), Orange-colored (Malay), Yellow (Mongoloid), Red (Carib and American) and Black (Negroid). Early explorers and later Anglo-Americans termed Native Americans "light-skinned", "brown", "tawny", or "russet", but not "red" prior to the 19th century. Many did not view Natives as distinctly different in color from themselves, and thus could be assimilated into colonial society, beginning with conversion to Christianity.{{Cite journal | issn = 0002-8762 | volume = 87 | issue = 4 | last = Vaughan | first = Alden T. | title = From White Man to Redskin: Changing Anglo-American Perceptions of the American Indian | journal = The American Historical Review | date = 1982-10-01 | jstor = 1857900 |pages=918 | doi=10.2307/1857900}}

In the modern debate over sports teams with the name, Oklahoma News 4 asserted that Oklahoma should change its name. The name {{lang|cho|Oklahoma}} translates from Choctaw as 'red people' ({{lang|cho|okla}} 'people' + {{lang|cho|humma}} 'red').{{cite web| url=https://kfor.com/2014/06/19/if-redskins-change-name-should-oklahoma-change-its-name-too/| title=If Redskins change name, should Oklahoma change its name too?| date=June 19, 2014| first=Ed| last=Doney| website=KFOR.com| access-date=October 13, 2019| archive-date=October 13, 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191013230152/https://kfor.com/2014/06/19/if-redskins-change-name-should-oklahoma-change-its-name-too/| url-status=live}} However, {{lang|cho|humma}} has a number of possible meanings in Choctaw, one of which is "humma, an addition to a man's name which gives him some distinction, calling on him for courage and honor."{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/choctawlanguag00byinrich/choctawlanguag00byinrich_djvu.txt|title=Full text of "A dictionary of the Choctaw language" by Cyrus Byington| website=Archive.com|year=1915}} The name Oklahoma was created in 1866 by Principal Chief Allen Wright (Choctaw, 1826–1885).{{cite journal|title=History of Oklahoma Emblems|journal=Chronicles of Oklahoma|date=Autumn 1957 |volume=35|issue=3|page=349 |url=https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc1760990/m1/105/}} The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma states that in the Choctaw language Okla means "people" and humma means "red."Meserve, John Bartlett. Chronicles of Oklahoma vol. 19, no. 4, December,1941. Retrieved December 17, 2012. [http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v019/v019p314.html Chronicles of Oklahoma] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060507052851/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/chronicles/v019/v019p314.html|date=May 7, 2006}}

Origins of redskin in English

The first combination of red with skin, to form the term redskin, is dated to 1769 by Ives Goddard, linguist and curator emeritus in the Department of Anthropology of the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution. Goddard begins by pointing out that what had previously been considered the earliest English use of the term, a letter purported to have been written to an Englishman living in Hadley, Massachusetts in 1699, was spurious.The letter supposedly contains both "ye Red Skin Men" and "ye Red Skins". Based on this source, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) had suggested that the term was specifically applied to the Delaware Indians and "referred not to the natural skin color of the Delaware, but to their use of vermilion face paint and body paint".

Goddard pointed out that OED had mis-dated the source, the letter was in fact a piece of historical fiction written in 1900.The OED agreed with Goddard's findings, stating that the quotation was "subsequently found to be misattributed; the actual text was written in 1900 by an author claiming, for purposes of historical fiction, to be quoting an earlier letter".

{{cite magazine |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/12/18/redskins_the_debate_over_the_washington_football_team_s_name_incorrectly.html |title=The Real History of the Word Redskin |magazine=Slate |date=18 December 2013 |first=David |last=Skinner |author-link=David Skinner (journalist) |access-date=20 September 2014 |archive-date=17 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917031608/http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/12/18/redskins_the_debate_over_the_washington_football_team_s_name_incorrectly.html |url-status=live }}

Goddard's alternative etymology is that the term emerged from the speech of Native Americans themselves, and that the origin and use of the term in the late 18th and early 19th century was benign. When it first appeared "it came in the most respectful context and at the highest level. ... These are white people and Indians talking together, with the white people trying to ingratiate themselves".{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/02/AR2005100201139.html |title=A Linguist's Alternative History of 'Redskin' |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 3, 2005 |access-date=August 21, 2011 |first=Guy |last=Gugliotta |archive-date=November 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113044524/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/02/AR2005100201139.html |url-status=live }} The word later underwent a process of pejoration, by which it gained a negative connotation.{{cite web|title=redskin|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/redskin|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630064019/http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/redskin|archive-date=2013-06-30|access-date=2013-06-09|work=OxfordDictionaries.com}} Goddard suggests that redskin emerged from French translations of Native American speech in Illinois and Missouri territories in the 18th century. He cites as the earliest example a 1769 set of "talks", or letters, from chiefs of the Piankeshaw to Col. John Wilkins an English officer at Fort de Chartres. One letter included "{{lang|fr|si quelques peaux Rouges}}", which was translated as 'if any redskins', and the second included "{{lang|fr|tout les peaux rouges}}", which was translated as 'all the redskins'.{{cite journal |last=Goddard |first=Ives |author-link=Ives Goddard |date=2005 |title="I Am A Red-Skin": The Adoption of a Native American Expression (1769–1826) |url=http://esq.h-cdn.co/assets/cm/15/06/54d44abb4e540_-_redskin.pdf |journal=European Review of Native American Studies |volume=19 |issue=2 |access-date=2017-05-12 |archive-date=2017-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729143643/http://esq.h-cdn.co/assets/cm/15/06/54d44abb4e540_-_redskin.pdf |url-status=live }}{{rp|4}} The term here refers to warriors specifically. The term redskin enters wider English usage only in the first half of the 19th century.{{rp|4–5}} However, in an interview, Goddard admitted that it is impossible to verify whether the French translations of the Miami-Illinois language were accurate.

The term was used in an August 22, 1812, meeting between President James Madison and a delegation of chiefs from western tribes. There, the response of Osage chief "No Ears" (Osage: {{lang|osa|Tetobasi}}) to Madison's speech included the statement, "I know the manners of the whites and the red skins," while French Crow, principal chief of the Wahpekute band of Santee Sioux, was recorded as having said, "I am a red-skin, but what I say is the truth, and notwithstanding I came a long way I am content, but wish to return from here." However, while these usages may have been earliest, they may not have been disseminated widely. While the 1812 meeting with President Madison was contemporaneously recorded, the records were not published until 2004.{{rp|6}}

The earliest known appearance of the term in print occurred in multiple periodicals in October 1813 quoting a letter dated August 27, 1813. It concerned an expedition during the War of 1812 led by General Benjamin Howard against Indians in the Illinois and Mississippi territories: "The expedition will be 40 days out, and there is no doubt but we shall have to contend with powerful hordes of red skins ..."{{cite news |author= |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025561/1813-10-07/ed-1/seq-2/ |title=War Events |work=The Rhode-Island Republican |publisher=William Simons |location=Newport, Rhode Island |volume=5 |issue=28 |date=7 October 1813 |page=2 |access-date=3 December 2024 }}

{{cite news |author= |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024710/1813-10-07/ed-1/seq-2/ |title=Domestic |work=Virginia Argus |publisher=Samuel Pleasants |location=Richmond, Virginia |volume=21 |issue=3022 |date=7 October 1813 |page=2 |access-date=3 December 2024 }}

{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Md0-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA98 |title=Events of the War |magazine=The Weekly Register |publisher=H. Niles |volume=5 |issue=6 |date=9 October 1813 |page=98 |access-date=23 March 2016 |archive-date=22 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140722102619/http://books.google.com/books?id=Md0-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA98 |url-status=live }}

Goddard suggests that a key usage was in a 20 July 1815 speech by Meskwaki Chief Black Thunder at the treaty council at Portage des Sioux, in which he is recorded as stating, "My Father – Restrain your feelings, and hear ca[l]mly what I shall say. I shall tell it to you plainly, I shall not speak with fear and trembling. I feel no fear. I have no cause to fear. I have never injured you, and innocence can feel no fear. I turn to all, red skins and white skins, and challenge an accusation against me." This speech was published widely, and Goddard speculates that it reached James Fenimore Cooper. In Cooper's novels The Pioneers (published in 1823) and The Last of the Mohicans (1826), both Native American and white characters use the term. These novels were widely distributed, and can be credited with bringing the term to "universal notice". The first time the term appears in Bartlett's "Dictionary of Americanisms" (in 1858), Goddard notes, the illustrative reference is to Last of the Mohicans.{{rp|15–16}}

Johnathan Buffalo, historic preservation director of the Meskwaki, said that in the 1800s redskins was used by the tribe for self-identification. Similarly, they identified others as "whiteskins" or "blackskins".{{cite news |url=http://thegazette.com/subject/news/redskins-name-has-complicated-history-for-meskwaki-other-tribes-20140810 |title='Redskins' name has complicated history for Meskwaki, other tribes |work=The Gazette |date=11 August 2014 |access-date=5 July 2015 |archive-date=6 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150706042147/http://thegazette.com/subject/news/redskins-name-has-complicated-history-for-meskwaki-other-tribes-20140810 |url-status=live }} Goddard's evidence for indigenous usage includes a 1914 phonetic transcription of the Meskwaki language in which both {{lang|sac|eesaawinameshkaata}} 'one with brown skin' and {{lang|sac|meeshkwinameshkaata}} 'one with red skin' were used to refer to Indians, while {{lang|sac|waapeshkinameshkaanichini}} 'one with white skin, white person' was used to refer to Europeans.{{cite web| url=http://anthropology.si.edu/goddard/redskin-examples.htm| title=The use of words meaning 'redskin' and 'whiteskin' in the Meskwaki language| first=Ives| last=Goddard| access-date=November 14, 2017| archive-date=May 3, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503170725/http://anthropology.si.edu/goddard/redskin-examples.htm| url-status=live}} However, the pre-contact Meskwaki use of red in identifying themselves did not refer to skin color, but to their origin stories as the "red-earth" people.{{cite journal| last=Jones | first=William| title=Episodes in the Culture-Hero Myth of the Sauks and Foxes| journal=The Journal of American Folklore| volume=14| issue=55| year=1901| pages=225–39| jstor=533350| doi=10.2307/533350}}{{rp|239}}

Historian Darren Reid of Coventry University states it is difficult for historians to document anything with certainty since Native Americans, as a non-literate society, did not produce the written sources upon which historians rely. Instead, what is cited as Native American usage was generally attributed to them by European writers. Any use of red in its various forms, including redskin, by Native Americans to refer to themselves reflected their need to use the language of the times in order to be understood by Europeans.{{cite web| url=http://www.darrenreidhistory.co.uk/why-the-redskins-is-a-racist-name/| title=Why the 'Redskins' is a Racist Name| first=Darren R.| last=Reid| date=28 August 2014| access-date=August 29, 2014| archive-date=September 4, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904000318/http://www.darrenreidhistory.co.uk/why-the-redskins-is-a-racist-name/| url-status=live}}

Sociologist James V. Fenelon makes a more explicit statement that Goddard's article is poor scholarship, given that the conclusion of the origin and usage by Natives as "entirely benign" is divorced from the socio-historical realities of hostility and racism from which it emerged.{{cite book| title=Redskins?: Sport Mascots, Indian Nations and White Racism| first=James V.| last=Fenelon| publisher=Routledge| date=2016| isbn=978-1315520674| page=40| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aafgDAAAQBAJ| access-date=December 18, 2017| archive-date=October 7, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007215152/https://books.google.com/books?id=aafgDAAAQBAJ| url-status=live}}

=Pejoration=

File:Pawnee the Redskin Giant LCCN92508709.tif

The pejoration of the term redskin arguably begins as soon as its introduction in the early 19th century. A linguistic analysis of 42 books published between 1875 and 1930 found that negative contexts for the use of redskin were significantly more frequent than positive ones. However, the use of the word "Indian" in a similarly selected set of books was nearly the same, with more frequent negative than positive contexts, indicating that it was not the term "redskin" that was loaded pejoratively, but that its usage represents a generally negative attitude towards its referent.{{cite book| title=Redskins: Racial Slur or Symbol of Success?| date=March 6, 2001| first=Bruce| last=Stapleton| publisher=iUniverse| isbn=0-595-17167-2}} The word was first listed in Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary in 1898 as "often contemptuous."{{cite dictionary| title=Redskin – Trending| date=November 1, 2013| url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/news-trend-watch/redskin-2013-11-01| dictionary=Merriam-Webster| access-date=December 17, 2017| archive-date=December 22, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051117/https://www.merriam-webster.com/news-trend-watch/redskin-2013-11-01| url-status=live}}

Sociologist Irving Lewis Allen suggests that slang identifiers for ethnic groups based upon physical characteristics, including redskin, are by nature derogatory, emphasizing the difference between the speaker and the target.{{cite book| title=Unkind Words: Ethnic Labeling from Redskin to WASP| first=Irving Lewis| last=Allen| publisher=Praeger| date=August 27, 1990| isbn=0897892208| page=18}} However, Luvell Anderson of the University of Memphis, in his paper "Slurring Words", argues that for a word to be a slur, the word must communicate ideas beyond identifying a target group, and that slurs are offensive because the additional data contained in those words differentiates those individuals from otherwise accepted groups.{{cite journal| author1=Anderson, L.| author2=Lepore, E.| date=2013| title=Slurring Words| journal=Noûs| volume=47| issue=1| pages=25–48| doi=10.1111/j.1468-0068.2010.00820.x| doi-access=free}}

Some Native American activists in the 21st century, in contradiction of the etymological evidence discussed above, assert that redskin refers directly to the bloody, red scalp or other body part collected for bounty.{{cite news|last1=Leiby|first1=Richard|title=Bury My Heart at RFK|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/2013/11/06/2eb626ee-4720-11e3-a196-3544a03c2351_story.html|access-date=7 June 2017|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=November 5, 1994|archive-date=28 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828105233/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/2013/11/06/2eb626ee-4720-11e3-a196-3544a03c2351_story.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news| last1=Holmes| first1=Baxter| title=A 'Redskin' Is the Scalped Head of a Native American, Sold, Like a Pelt, for Cash| url=http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a29445/true-redskins-meaning/| access-date=14 May 2017| work=Esquire| date=June 17, 2014| archive-date=8 May 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508153647/http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a29445/true-redskins-meaning/| url-status=live}} While this claim is associated in the media with litigants in the Washington Redskins trademark dispute; Amanda Blackhorse{{Cite web| title = Meet the Navajo Activist Who Got the Washington Redskins' Trademark Revoked: Amanda Blackhorse| work = Democracy Now!| access-date = June 19, 2014| date = June 19, 2014| url = http://www.democracynow.org/2014/6/19/meet_the_navajo_activist_who_got| archive-date = June 22, 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140622010220/http://www.democracynow.org/2014/6/19/meet_the_navajo_activist_who_got| url-status = live}} and Suzan Shown Harjo,{{cite news|url=http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411092 |title=Dirty Word Games |author=Suzan Shown Harjo |publisher=Indian Country Today |date=17 June 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010125236/http://www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096411092 |archive-date=10 October 2007 |access-date=1 November 2013 }} the National Congress of American Indians' support indicates that the belief is widespread. Goddard denies any direct connection to scalping, and says there is a lack of evidence for the claim.{{rp|1}}{{cite magazine |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/12/18/redskins_the_debate_over_the_washington_football_team_s_name_incorrectly.html |title=The Real History of the Word Redskin |magazine=Slate |date=18 December 2013 |first=David |last=Skinner |author-link=David Skinner (journalist) |access-date=20 September 2014 |archive-date=17 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917031608/http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2013/12/18/redskins_the_debate_over_the_washington_football_team_s_name_incorrectly.html |url-status=live }} C. Richard King argues that the lack of direct evidence for the assertion does not mean that those making the claim are "wrong to draw an association between a term that empathizes an identity based upon skin color and a history that commodified Native American body parts".{{cite book| last=King| first=C. Richard| title=Redskins: Insult and Brand| publisher=University of Nebraska Press| year=2016 |isbn=978-0-8032-7864-6}}{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0IYGAQAAIAAJ| title=Flintlock and Tomahawk: New England in King Philip's War| first=Douglas Edward| last=Leach| publisher=WW Norton & Company| location=New York| year=1958| page=237| quote=Hunting redskins for the time being became a popular sport in New England...| isbn=9780881508857| access-date=2020-11-02| archive-date=2021-06-02| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602230733/https://books.google.com/books?id=0IYGAQAAIAAJ| url-status=live}}

The term red-skin was, in fact used in conjunction with scalp hunting in the 19th century. In 1863 a Winona, Minnesota, newspaper, the Daily Republican, printed an announcement: "The state reward for dead Indians has been increased to $200 for every red-skin sent to Purgatory. This sum is more than the dead bodies of all the Indians east of the Red River are worth."{{cite news |date=1863-09-25 |title=A brief history of the word 'redskin' and how it became a source of controversy |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-brief-history-of-the-word-redskin-and-how-it-became-a-source-of-controversy/2016/05/19/062cd618-187f-11e6-9e16-2e5a123aac62_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 28, 2017 |archive-date=2017-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818172719/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-brief-history-of-the-word-redskin-and-how-it-became-a-source-of-controversy/2016/05/19/062cd618-187f-11e6-9e16-2e5a123aac62_story.html |url-status=live }} A news story published by the Atchison Daily Champion in Atchison, Kansas, on October 9, 1885, tells of the settlers' "hunt for redskins, with a view of obtaining their scalps", worth $250.{{cite news| url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/01/26/seeking-250-reward-settlers-hunted-redskin-scalps-during-extermination-effort-158865| title=Seeking $250 Reward, Settlers Hunted for 'Redskin Scalps' During Extermination Effort| first=Simon| last=Moya-Smith| date=January 26, 2015| publisher=Indian Country Today| access-date=August 8, 2017| archive-date=March 3, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303062332/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2015/01/26/seeking-250-reward-settlers-hunted-redskin-scalps-during-extermination-effort-158865| url-status=dead}} In his early career as the owner of a newspaper in South Dakota, L. Frank Baum wrote an editorial upon the death of Chief Sitting Bull in which he advocates the annihilation of all remaining redskins in order to secure the safety of white settlers, and because "better that they die than live the miserable wretches that they are."{{cite news|last1=Sutherland|first1=JJ|title=L. Frank Baum Advocated Extermination Of Native Americans|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/10/27/130862391/l-frank-baum-advocated-extermination-of-native-americans|access-date=20 May 2017|publisher=NPR|date=October 27, 2010|archive-date=16 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616120930/http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/10/27/130862391/l-frank-baum-advocated-extermination-of-native-americans|url-status=live}}

File:The Death Mask (1914) - Ad 1.jpg, 1914 silent film. The Native American roles were played by Native and Japanese actors.]]

When Hollywood westerns were most popular, roughly 1920–1970, the term redskins was often used to refer to Native Americans when war was imminent or in progress.{{cite journal| title=Before the Redskins Were the Redskins: The Use of Native American Team Names in the Formative Era of American Sports, 1857–1933| author=J. Gordon Hylton| journal=North Dakota Law Review| volume=86| pages=879–903| year=2010}} In the Washington Redskins trademark dispute, the main issue was the meaning of the term in the period when the trademark registrations were issued, 1967–1990. The linguistic expert for the petitioner, Geoffrey Nunberg, successfully argued that whatever its origins, redskins was a slur at that time based upon passages from books and newspapers and movie clips, in which the word is inevitably associated with contempt, derision, condescension, or sentimental paeans to the noble savage.{{cite news| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/a-linguist-on-why-redskin-is-racist-patent-overturned/373198/| title=When Slang Becomes a Slur| first=Geoffrey| last=Nunberg| date=June 23, 2014| work=The Atlantic Monthly| access-date=March 11, 2017| archive-date=February 21, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221101100/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/a-linguist-on-why-redskin-is-racist-patent-overturned/373198/| url-status=live}} John McWhorter, an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University, had compared the evolution of the name into a slur to that of other racial terms such as Oriental which also acquired implied meanings associated with contempt.{{cite magazine| url=https://time.com/4070537/redskins-linguistics/| title=Why 'Redskins' Is a Bad Word| first=John| last=McWhorter| date=October 12, 2015| magazine=Time| access-date=October 14, 2015| archive-date=October 14, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151014161908/http://time.com/4070537/redskins-linguistics/| url-status=live}}

Current use

File:Redskin Theater, Anadarko, Oklahoma.JPG. The town proclaims itself to be the "Indian Capital of the Nation", and its population is 41% Native American.]]

In the United States, redskin is regarded as a racial epithet by some,"Slang epithet ... Redskin is regarded as highly offensive" to Native Americans {{Cite book | publisher = Intercultural Press | isbn = 1877864978 | last = Herbst | first = Philip | title = Color of Words: An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias in the United States | year = 1997 | page = 197}} but as neutral by others, including some Native Americans.{{cite news| url=http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/10/08/how-many-native-americans-think-redskins-is-a-slur/| title=How Many Native Americans Think 'Redskins' is a Slur?| date=October 8, 2013| publisher=CBSDC| access-date=June 19, 2014| archive-date=June 17, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617112107/http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/10/08/how-many-native-americans-think-redskins-is-a-slur/| url-status=live}} The American Heritage style guide advises that "the term redskin evokes an even more objectionable stereotype" than the use of red as a racial adjective by outsiders,{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xb6ie6PqYhwC&q=redskin| title=The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style| year=2005| publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt| page=399| isbn=0618604995| access-date=2016-03-23| archive-date=2014-06-29| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629200003/http://books.google.com/books?id=xb6ie6PqYhwC&q=redskin| url-status=live}} while others urge writers to use the term only in a historical context.{{Cite book | publisher = Allyn and Bacon | isbn = 9780205359226 | last1 = Yopp | first1 = Jan Johnson |first2=Katherine C.|last2=McAdams| title = Reaching Audiences: A Guide to Media Writing| year = 2003 | page =198 }} In modern dictionaries of American English it is labeled "usually offensive",{{cite dictionary| url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redskin| title=Definition of REDSKIN| dictionary=Merriam-Webster| quote=Definition of REDSKIN (offensive): American indian| access-date=November 7, 2014| archive-date=October 25, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025203324/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/redskin| url-status=live}} "disparaging",{{cite book| url=http://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=redskin| title=The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition| year=2011| publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company| quote=n. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a Native American.| access-date=November 7, 2014| archive-date=October 6, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006222841/https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=redskin| url-status=live}}{{cite dictionary| url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/redskin| title=Redskin| dictionary=Dictionary.com| quote=noun, Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. 1. a North American Indian.| access-date=November 7, 2014| archive-date=October 27, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027123950/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Redskin| url-status=live}} "insulting",{{cite web| url=http://www.kdictionaries-online.com/DictionaryPage.aspx?ApplicationCode=18#&&DictionaryEntry=redskin&SearchMode=Entry| title=definition of redskin| publisher=Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary| access-date=November 7, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006084452/http://www.kdictionaries-online.com/DictionaryPage.aspx?ApplicationCode=18#&&DictionaryEntry=redskin&SearchMode=Entry| archive-date=October 6, 2014}} or "taboo".{{cite dictionary| url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/redskin?| title=Definition of redskin| dictionary=Collins English Dictionary| access-date=2013-06-09| archive-date=2014-10-08| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008130820/http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/redskin| url-status=live}}

=Use among Native Americans=

Three predominantly Native American schools use the name for their athletic teams, two of which serve reservations: Red Mesa High School in Teec Nos Pos, Arizona where the student body is 99% Navajo,{{cite news| url=http://cnsmaryland.org/interactives/other-redskins/#aboutproject| title=The Other Redskins| publisher=Capitol News Service| access-date=June 16, 2013| archive-date=June 15, 2013| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615012233/http://cnsmaryland.org/interactives/other-redskins/#aboutproject| url-status=live}} and Wellpinit High School in Wellpinit, Washington, on the Spokane Indian Reservation.{{cite news|first=Erik |last=Lacitis |title=Redskins controversy? High school with debated name just wants to be left alone |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/redskins-controversy-high-school-with-debated-name-just-wants-to-be-left-alone/ |access-date=3 May 2017 |newspaper=The Seattle Times |date=June 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170303024020/http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/redskins-controversy-high-school-with-debated-name-just-wants-to-be-left-alone/ |archive-date= 3 March 2017 }} The principal of Red Mesa said in 2014 that use of the word outside American Indian communities should be avoided because it could perpetuate "the legacy of negativity that the term has created."{{cite news|url=http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2013/05/in-debate-over-redskins-name-is-the-r-word-for-racism-or-respect/|title=In debate over Redskins name, is the 'R-word' for racism or respect?|date=May 1, 2013|first=Michelle|last=Peirano|newspaper=Cronkite News|access-date=2014-02-06|archive-date=2014-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221163616/http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2013/05/in-debate-over-redskins-name-is-the-r-word-for-racism-or-respect/|url-status=live}} In 2014, Wellpinit High School voted to keep the Redskins name.{{cite news| url=http://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-news/school-board-votes-to-keep-wellpinit-redskins/26580298| title=School board votes to keep name Wellpinit Redskins| date=June 19, 2014| access-date=September 5, 2017| publisher=KXLY-TV| archive-date=August 18, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818142007/http://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-news/school-board-votes-to-keep-wellpinit-redskins/26580298| url-status=dead}} Native American writer and attorney Gyasi Ross compares Native American use of variations of the word Redskin with African-American use of variations of the word nigger. Use of these terms by some members of minority communities does not mean that these words may be used by outsiders. Ross also notes that while activism on the issue may be from a minority of Native Americans, this is due to most being concerned with more immediate issues, but also says "The presentation of the name 'Redskins' is problematic for many Native Americans because it identifies Natives in a way that the vast majority of Natives simply don't identity ourselves."{{Cite web| last = Ross| first = Gyasi| title = "Redskins": A Native's Guide To Debating An Inglorious Word| work = Deadspin| access-date = 2014-11-10| date = 2013-10-16| url = http://deadspin.com/redskins-a-natives-guide-to-debating-an-inglorious-1445909360| archive-date = 2014-11-12| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141112211825/http://deadspin.com/redskins-a-natives-guide-to-debating-an-inglorious-1445909360| url-status = live}}

=Sports teams=

Numerous civil rights, educational, athletic, and academic organizations consider any use of native names/symbols by non-native sports teams to be a harmful form of ethnic stereotyping which should be eliminated.{{cite web| url=https://www.apa.org/pi/oema/resources/communique/2010/08/native-themed-mascots| title=Legislative efforts to eliminate native-themed mascots, nicknames, and logos: Slow but steady progress post-APA resolution| publisher=American Psychological Association| date=August 2010| access-date=2022-01-12}}

==Washington Redskins==

{{quote box| quote=The R-word is the moral equivalent of the N-word. It packs the same level of bigotry and insensitivity for Native Americans as any other racial slur. We cannot tolerate the NFL’s continued commitment to normalizing this demeaning characterization of Native Americans. The success of the Washington football franchise does not depend on the name of its team, but rather the talent of its players and leadership. The NFL must abandon its tone-deaf culture as it relates to people of color and change the hurtful name of this team.| author=Marc H. Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League{{cite web |title=NAACP Leading National Civil Rights and Racial Justice Organizations Announce Joint Opposition to Washington NFL Team Locating New Stadium in District of Columbia |url=https://www.naacp.org/latest/leading-national-civil-rights-racial-justice-organizations-announce-joint-opposition-washington-nfl-team-locating-new-stadium-district-columbia/ |website=NAACP |access-date=7 April 2019 |language=en |date=24 August 2018 |archive-date=25 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825112714/https://www.naacp.org/latest/leading-national-civil-rights-racial-justice-organizations-announce-joint-opposition-washington-nfl-team-locating-new-stadium-district-columbia/ |url-status=live }}|width=320px| align=right}}

The controversy regarding Native mascots in general, and use of the name Redskins, was most prominent in the name used by the Washington National Football League team from 1933 to 2020. Public protest of the name began in 1968, with a resolution by the National Congress of American Indians.{{Cite book | publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group | isbn = 0313320020 | last = Rosier | first = Paul C. | title = Native American issues | date = 2003-01-01 | page = 4 }} Native American groups and their supporters argue that since they view the word redskin as offensive, it is inappropriate for an NFL team to continue to use it, regardless of whether any offense is intended.{{cite web| title=Redskin| url=http://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=redskin| work=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language| publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt| access-date=July 20, 2012| quote=n. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a Native American.| archive-date=October 6, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006222841/https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=redskin| url-status=live}}{{cite news| last=Masters| first=Brooke A.| title=Redskins are denied trademark| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/redskins/daily/april99/03/patents3.htm| access-date=20 July 2012| newspaper=Washington Post| date=3 April 1999| page=A1| archive-date=4 November 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104142926/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/redskins/daily/april99/03/patents3.htm| url-status=live}}

After decades of opposition to the name of the team by Native Americans, major sponsors responded to opponents of systemic racism in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. FedEx, Nike, and PepsiCo advocated changing the name. On July 3, 2020, Washington owner Daniel Snyder and team management announced a process of review of the name.{{cite news|title=NCAI Response to the Washington Football Team's Commitment to Addressing Name Change|url=https://www.ncai.org/news/articles/2020/07/03/ncai-response-to-the-washington-football-team-s-commitment-to-addressing-name-change|publisher=National Congress of American Indians|website=NCAI.org|date=July 3, 2020|access-date=July 12, 2022|archive-date=July 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713042808/https://www.ncai.org/news/articles/2020/07/03/ncai-response-to-the-washington-football-team-s-commitment-to-addressing-name-change|url-status=dead}}{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/07/03/washington-redskins-launch-review-controversial-team-name/| title=Washington Redskins move toward changing controversial team name| first1=Rick| last1=Maese| first2=Mark| last2=Maske| first3=Liz| last3=Clarke| date=July 3, 2020| newspaper=The Washington Post| access-date=July 4, 2020| archive-date=July 13, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200713172705/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/07/03/washington-redskins-launch-review-controversial-team-name/| url-status=live}} On July 13, 2020, the team made an official statement that their review would result in the retirement of the Redskins name and logo.{{cite press release|title=Statement From The Washington Football Team|url=https://www.commanders.com/news/washington-redskins-retiring-name-logo-following-review|publisher=NFL Enterprises, LLC|website=Commanders.com|date=July 13, 2020|access-date=July 12, 2022}} The new name, Washington Commanders was announced on February 2, 2022.{{cite press release|title=The Washington Football Team is now the Washington Commanders|url=https://www.commanders.com/news/the-washington-football-team-is-now-the-washington-commanders|publisher=NFL Enterprises, LLC|website=Commanders.com|date=February 2, 2022|access-date=July 12, 2022}}{{cite news|last=Shook|first=Nick|title=Washington announces new team name: Washington Commanders|url=https://www.nfl.com/news/washington-commanders-new-team-name|publisher=NFL Enterprises, LLC|website=NFL.com|date=February 2, 2022|access-date=July 12, 2022}}{{cite news|last=Jhabvala|first=Nicki|title=Washington Football Team announces 'Commanders' as its new name|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/02/02/washington-football-team-new-name/|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=February 2, 2022|access-date=February 2, 2022}}

=== Public opinion ===

The meaning of the term redskin was directly relevant to the controversy, with supporters pointing to public opinion polls. Both a 2004 poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania,{{cite web|author=Kathleen Hall Jamieson Ph.D. |title=Most Indians Say Name of Washington "Redskins" Is Acceptable While 9 Percent Call It Offensive |url=http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/most-indians-say-name-of-washington-redskins-is-acceptable-while-9-percent-call-it-offensive/ |website=The Annenberg Public Policy Center |access-date=September 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014154005/http://www.annenbergpublicpolicycenter.org/most-indians-say-name-of-washington-redskins-is-acceptable-while-9-percent-call-it-offensive/ |archive-date=October 14, 2013 |date=September 24, 2004 }} and a May 2016 poll by The Washington Post produced the same results, that 90% of the self-identified Native American respondents were "not bothered" by the team's name.{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/new-poll-finds-9-in-10-native-americans-arent-offended-by-redskins-name/2016/05/18/3ea11cfa-161a-11e6-924d-838753295f9a_story.html | title=New poll finds 9 in 10 Native Americans aren't offended by Redskins name | newspaper=Washington Post | date=19 May 2016 | access-date=19 May 2016 | author=Cox, John Woodrow | archive-date=19 May 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519133901/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/new-poll-finds-9-in-10-native-americans-arent-offended-by-redskins-name/2016/05/18/3ea11cfa-161a-11e6-924d-838753295f9a_story.html | url-status=live }}{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/how-the-washington-post-conducted-the-survey-on-the-redskins-name/2016/05/19/98c0a4ae-1b8c-11e6-9c81-4be1c14fb8c8_story.html| title=How The Washington Post conducted the survey on the Redskins' name| first1=Scott| last1=Clement| first2=Emily| last2=Guskin| date=May 19, 2016| newspaper=The Washington Post| access-date=October 1, 2016| archive-date=July 11, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711003145/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/how-the-washington-post-conducted-the-survey-on-the-redskins-name/2016/05/19/98c0a4ae-1b8c-11e6-9c81-4be1c14fb8c8_story.html| url-status=live}}{{cite news| url=https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/washington-post-poll-of-native-americans-on-redskins-team-name/2032/| title=Washington Post poll of Native Americans on Redskins' team name – Survey conducted December 16, 2015 to April 12, 2016| access-date=May 24, 2016| newspaper=The Washington Post| archive-date=May 24, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524213428/http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/page/national/washington-post-poll-of-native-americans-on-redskins-team-name/2032/| url-status=live}} However, in a commentary published soon after the 2004 poll, fifteen Native American scholars collaborated on a critique that stated that there were so many flaws in the Annenberg study that rather than being a measure of Native American opinion, it was an expression of white privilege and colonialism.{{cite journal| title=Indigenous Voice and Vision as Commodity in a Mass-Consumption Society: The Colonial Politics of Public Opinion Polling| author=D. Anthony Tyeeme Clark| journal=American Indian Quarterly| volume=29| issue=1/2 (Winter–Spring)| year=2005| pages=228–238| publisher=University of Nebraska Press| jstor=4138809| doi=10.1353/aiq.2005.0039| s2cid=154986058}} Similar objections were made after the 2016 poll, mainly with regard to the use of self-identification to select Native American respondents.{{cite web| url=http://www.ncai.org/news/articles/2016/05/19/ncai-response-to-new-poll-on-r-skins-team-name| title=NCAI Response to New Poll on R*skins Team Name| date=May 19, 2016| access-date=August 8, 2016| archive-date=August 26, 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826214913/http://www.ncai.org/news/articles/2016/05/19/ncai-response-to-new-poll-on-r-skins-team-name| url-status=live}}{{cite web| url=http://www.naja.com/news/m.blog/509/naja-and-unity-respond-to-recent-washington-nfl-team-name-poll| title=NAJA and UNITY respond to recent Washington NFL team name poll| date=May 20, 2016| access-date=October 1, 2016| archive-date=September 29, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929092543/http://www.naja.com/news/m.blog/509/naja-and-unity-respond-to-recent-washington-nfl-team-name-poll| url-status=dead}}

A 2020 study at UC Berkeley which found that 49% of self-identified Native Americans responded that the Washington Redskins name was offensive or very offensive, while only 38% were not bothered by it. In addition, for study participants who were heavily engaged in their native or tribal cultures, 67% said they were offended, for young people 60%, and those with tribal affiliations 52%.{{cite web| url=https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/02/04/native-mascots-survey/| website=Berkeley News| title=Washington Redskins' name, Native mascots offend more than previously reported| first=Yasmin| last=Anwar| date=February 4, 2020| access-date=May 20, 2020| archive-date=June 25, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625094127/https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/02/04/native-mascots-survey/| url-status=live}}{{cite journal| last1=Fryberg| first1=Stephanie A.| first2=Arianne E.| last2=Eason| first3=Laura M.| last3=Brady| first4=Nadia| last4=Jessop| first5=Julisa J.| last5=Lopez| year=2020| title=Unpacking the Mascot Debate: Native American Identification Predicts Opposition to Native Mascots| journal=Social Psychological and Personality Science| volume=12| pages=3–13| doi=10.1177/1948550619898556| s2cid=216371787| url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OWzT1FyVMF6dKzTlipaAKyiOVErRL3r6/view| access-date=2020-05-20| archive-date=2020-12-14| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214035812/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OWzT1FyVMF6dKzTlipaAKyiOVErRL3r6/view| url-status=live}} These results are similar to that found in a study by the Center for Indigenous Peoples Studies at California State University, San Bernardino. A survey of 400 individuals, with 98 individuals positively identified as Native Americans, found that 67% agreed with the statement that redskins is offensive and racist. The response from non-natives was almost the opposite, with 68% responding that the name is not offensive.{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/lindseyadler/native-americans-offended-by-racial-slur|title=New Study Finds 67% Of Native Americans Find Redskins Name Offensive|publisher=Buzzfeed.com|date=June 4, 2014|access-date=September 10, 2017|archive-date=November 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101151035/https://www.buzzfeed.com/lindseyadler/native-americans-offended-by-racial-slur|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://cips.csusb.edu/docs/PressRelease.pdf|title=Survey on Redskins team name found most American Indians believe it to be offensive and racist.|access-date=June 22, 2014|archive-date=June 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140620200943/http://cips.csusb.edu/docs/PressRelease.pdf|url-status=live}}

===Trademark case===

On June 18, 2014, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) cancelled the six trademarks held by the team in a two-to-one decision that held that the term redskins is disparaging to a "substantial composite of Native Americans", and this is demonstrated "by the near complete drop-off in usage of 'redskins' as a reference to Native Americans beginning in the 1960s".{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/sports/football/us-patent-office-cancels-redskins-trademark-registration.html?_r=0| title=U.S. Patent Office Cancels Redskins Trademark Registration| first1=Ken| last1=Belson| first2=Edward| last2=Wyatt| date=June 18, 2014| newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=March 3, 2017| archive-date=May 1, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170501221331/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/19/sports/football/us-patent-office-cancels-redskins-trademark-registration.html?_r=0| url-status=live}}{{cite news| url=http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92046185&pty=CAN&eno=199| title=USPTO TTABVUE. Proceeding Number 92046185| publisher=United States Patent and Trademark Office| date=June 18, 2014| access-date=June 18, 2014| archive-date=February 14, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214104220/http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pno=92046185&pty=CAN&eno=199| url-status=live}} Evidence of disparagement submitted by the petitioners in the TTAB case include the frequent references to "scalping" made by sportswriters for sixty years when reporting the Redskins loss of a game,{{cite news| url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/lindseyadler/redskins-puns-in-sports-headlines| title=60 Years of Shocking Redskins Headlines: A sampling of violent wordplay| date=June 18, 2014| first=Lindsey| last=Adler| publisher=BuzzFeed| access-date=September 10, 2017| archive-date=October 25, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025022155/https://www.buzzfeed.com/lindseyadler/redskins-puns-in-sports-headlines| url-status=live}} and passages from movies made from the 1940s to the 1960s using "redskin" to refer to Native Americans as a savage enemy.{{cite news| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/06/18/here-are-some-of-the-movie-clips-cited-in-the-redskins-trademark-case/| title=Here are some of the movie clips cited in the Redskins trademark case| first=Dan| last=Steinberg| date=June 18, 2014| newspaper=The Washington Post| access-date=September 10, 2017| archive-date=July 13, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713105613/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2014/06/18/here-are-some-of-the-movie-clips-cited-in-the-redskins-trademark-case/| url-status=live}} A linguistics expert for the team unsuccessfully argued that the name is merely a descriptive term no different than other uses of color to differentiate people by race.{{cite magazine| url=http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/06/dan-snyder-and-the-redskins-take-a-loss.html| date=June 18, 2014| title=Dan Snyder and the Redskins Take a Loss| author=Jay Caspian Kang| magazine=The New Yorker| access-date=November 14, 2014| archive-date=July 14, 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714120758/http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/06/dan-snyder-and-the-redskins-take-a-loss.html| url-status=live}} The linguistic expert for the petitioners, Geoffrey Nunberg, argued that whatever its origins, redskins was a slur at the time of the trademark registrations, based upon the passages from books and newspapers and movie clips, in which the word is inevitably associated with contempt, derision, condescension, or sentimental paeans to the noble savage. Although the USPTO decision was upheld upon appeal,{{cite web| url=http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/ProFootball%20Blackhorse%20opinion.pdf| title=Memorandum Opinion and Order, Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse, et al.| access-date=July 8, 2015| archive-date=July 9, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709141339/http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/ProFootball%20Blackhorse%20opinion.pdf| url-status=live}} on June 19, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in another case, Matal v. Tam, that the disparagement clause of the Lanham Act violated the First Amendment's Free Speech Clause.{{cite web|title=15-1293 Martal V. Tam|url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-1293_1o13.pdf|access-date=19 June 2017|archive-date=19 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619175314/https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/16pdf/15-1293_1o13.pdf|url-status=live}} Both the Native American petitioners and the Justice Department withdrew from any further litigation, the legal issue being moot.{{cite news| title=Washington Redskins win trademark fight over the team's name| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/2017/06/29/a26f52f0-5cf6-11e7-9fc6-c7ef4bc58d13_story.html| access-date=30 June 2017| first1=Ian| last1=Shapira| first2=Ann E.| last2=Marimow| date=June 29, 2017| newspaper=The Washington Post| archive-date=30 June 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630032613/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/2017/06/29/a26f52f0-5cf6-11e7-9fc6-c7ef4bc58d13_story.html| url-status=live}}

==College and secondary school teams==

{{see also|List of secondary school sports team names and mascots derived from indigenous peoples#Redskins}}

College teams that formerly used the name changed voluntarily; the University of Utah became the Utah Utes in 1972, Miami University (of Ohio) became the RedHawks in 1997 and Southern Nazarene University became the Crimson Storm in 1998.

The number of high schools using the Redskins name has been in steady decline (some of which closed or merged), with 36 remaining. In a survey conducted in 2013, 40% had local efforts to change the name, while 28 high schools in 18 states had done so. By December 2017, the number of high school "Redskins" had continued to decline from 62 to 49,{{cite news| first1=Adam| last1=Zielonka| first2=Dylan| last2=Sinn| title=More than a Mascot: Redskins High Schools| agency=Capital News Service| publisher=Philip Merrill College of Journalism| date=December 19, 2017| url=http://cnsmaryland.org/more-than-a-mascot-redskins-high-schools/| access-date=December 20, 2017| archive-date=December 23, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223052025/http://cnsmaryland.org/more-than-a-mascot-redskins-high-schools/| url-status=live}} including four affected by a 2015 California law.{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-me-pc-redskins-mascot-banned-20151011-story.html| title=California schools barred from using 'Redskins' as team name or mascot| first=Melanie| last=Mason| date=October 11, 2015| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| access-date=March 15, 2020| archive-date=February 7, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207033543/https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-me-pc-redskins-mascot-banned-20151011-story.html| url-status=live}} In 2019, Teton High School in Idaho{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/07/17/amid-dueling-student-protests-high-school-will-retire-its-redskins-mascot-after-years/|title=Amid dueling student protests, a high school will retire its Redskins mascot after 90 years|newspaper=The Washington Post|last1=Bogage|first1=Jacob|date=July 17, 2019|access-date=March 15, 2020|archive-date=February 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203105838/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/07/17/amid-dueling-student-protests-high-school-will-retire-its-redskins-mascot-after-years/|url-status=live}} and in March 2020 Paw Paw High School in Michigan{{cite web| url=https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2020/03/michigan-school-scraps-redskins-mascot-citing-division.html| title=Michigan school scraps Redskins mascot, citing division| date=March 9, 2020| website=MLive.com| access-date=March 15, 2020| archive-date=March 10, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200310103056/https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2020/03/michigan-school-scraps-redskins-mascot-citing-division.html| url-status=live}} retired the name. The rate of change increased following the decision by the Washington Football Team, Anderson High School in Ohio and Clinton Community Schools in Michigan{{cite web| url=https://www.fox19.com/2020/07/02/forest-hills-school-district-board-vote-anderson-high-school-mascot/| title=Forest Hills School District Board votes to retire Anderson High School logo, nickname| first=Brian| last=Planalp| date=July 2, 2020| website=Fox19.com| access-date=August 29, 2020| archive-date=August 9, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809173241/https://www.fox19.com/2020/07/02/forest-hills-school-district-board-vote-anderson-high-school-mascot/| url-status=live}}{{cite news| last=Paul| first=Tony| title=Clinton Schools Drops Redskins Nickname, Leaving Just Three Left in Michigan| newspaper=Detroit News| date=July 21, 2020| access-date=July 22, 2020| url=https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/high-school/2020/07/21/clinton-community-schools-drops-redskins-nickname-leaving-just-three-left-michigan/5478520002/| archive-date=July 22, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722050154/https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/high-school/2020/07/21/clinton-community-schools-drops-redskins-nickname-leaving-just-three-left-michigan/5478520002/| url-status=live}} changing immediately, followed by La Veta High School in Colorado.,{{cite news| url=https://huerfanoworldjournal.com/la-veta-re-2-votes-to-change-mascot/| title=La Veta RE-2 votes to change mascot| date=September 17, 2020| newspaper=Huerfano World Journal| first=Conner| last=Orr| access-date=September 9, 2021| archive-date=October 31, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031015310/https://huerfanoworldjournal.com/la-veta-re-2-votes-to-change-mascot/| url-status=live}} Union High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma),{{cite web| url=https://www.newson6.com/story/5fa9f92b47f9e60bebfbc003/union-school-board-votes-unanimously-to-discontinue-use-of-redskins-mascot| title=Union School Board Votes Unanimously To Discontinue Use Of 'Redskins' Mascot| date=November 9, 2020| website=News On 6| access-date=September 9, 2021| archive-date=December 3, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203235539/https://www.newson6.com/story/5fa9f92b47f9e60bebfbc003/union-school-board-votes-unanimously-to-discontinue-use-of-redskins-mascot| url-status=live}} Wichita North High School,{{cite web| url=https://www.kwch.com/2021/02/09/wichita-boe-votes-to-discontinue-redskin-mascot-for-north-high/| title=Wichita BOE votes to discontinue 'Redskin' mascot for North High| date=February 8, 2021| website=KWCH| access-date=September 9, 2021| archive-date=February 10, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210201040/https://www.kwch.com/2021/02/09/wichita-boe-votes-to-discontinue-redskin-mascot-for-north-high/| url-status=live}} Cuyahoga Heights High School in Ohio{{cite web| url=https://www.cleveland.com/highschoolsports/2021/08/cuyahoga-heights-removing-redskins-nickname-effective-immediately-after-board-of-education-vote.html| title=Cuyahoga Heights removing 'Redskins' nickname, effective immediately, after board of education vote| date=August 26, 2021| website=Cleveland.com| first=Matt| last=Goul| access-date=September 9, 2021| archive-date=August 27, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827014939/https://www.cleveland.com/highschoolsports/2021/08/cuyahoga-heights-removing-redskins-nickname-effective-immediately-after-board-of-education-vote.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=clevelanddotcom_sf&utm_medium=social| url-status=live}} and Saranac High School in Saranac, Michigan.{{cite news| url=https://www.sentinel-standard.com/story/news/education/2021/10/28/saranac-community-schools-select-new-mascot-after-retiring-name/8570790002/| title=Saranac Community Schools to select new mascot after retiring name| first=Evan| last=Sasiela| newspaper=Ionia Sentinel-Standard| date=October 28, 2021}} In April, 2022 the Sandusky Community Schools Board of Education voted to retire its mascot at the end of the school year.{{cite news| url=https://www.thetimesherald.com/story/sports/2022/04/20/sandusky-to-retire-its-mascot-drop-redskins-nickname/7371909001/| title=Sandusky Community Schools votes to retire its mascot, will drop the Redskins nickname| first=Brenden |last=Welper| newspaper=Port Huron Times Herald| date=April 20, 2022}} In June 2024, the Oriskany, New York high school mascot became the Skyhawks.{{Cite web| last = McClendon| first = James| title = CNY school district unveils new mascot while holding on to history of 'beloved' former nickname| work = syracuse| access-date = 2024-06-11| date = 2024-06-11| url = https://www.syracuse.com/highschoolsports/2024/06/cny-school-district-unveils-new-mascot-while-holding-on-to-history-of-beloved-former-nickname.html}}

Some communities have been sharply divided, with long-term residents seeking to keep the mascot while newcomers being open to change. In Driggs, Idaho, the deciding factor was the participation of local tribes advocating change. Other school districts made changes with little opposition. The school board for Cuyahoga Heights Ohio voted unanimously to retire their mascot following the decision by the Cleveland Indians to become the Guardians. The Wichita school board followed the recommendations of a committee appointed to examine the issue.

References

External links

{{cite web|url=https://cnsmaryland.org/more-than-a-mascot-redskins-high-schools/|title=More than a Mascot|date=13 December 2017|publisher=Capitol News Service}}

Category:Native American topics

Category:Historical ethnonyms

Category:Ethnonyms of Native Americans

Category:Ethnic and religious slurs

Category:Ethno-cultural designations

Category:Anti-Indigenous racism in North America

Category:NFL controversies

Category:English words

Category:Anti-Indigenous racism in the United States

Category:Stereotypes of Native American people

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