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The propriety of using names and images referring to Native Americans as mascots in sports has been a topic of public controversy in the United States and Canada since the 1960s, as part of the movement for Native American civil rights. There have been protests and other actions targeting the more visible professional teams, such as the Cleveland Indians (in particular their "Chief Wahoo" logo), and the Washington Redskins, due to the name "Redskins" being defined in most American English dictionaries as derogatory slang. The issue is often discussed in the media in terms of offensiveness, which reduces it to feelings and opinions, and prevents full understanding of the history and context of the use of Native American names and images and why their use by sports teams should be eliminated. Social science research says that sports mascots and images, rather than being mere entertainment, are important symbols with deeper psychological and social effects. The accumulation of research on the harm done has led to over 115 professional organizations representing civil rights, educational, athletic, and scientific experts adopting resolutions or policies that state that the use of Native American names and/or symbols by non-native sports teams is a form of ethnic stereotyping that promotes misunderstanding and prejudice which contributes to other problems faced by Native Americans.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media )〕 Native mascots are also part of the larger issues of cultural appropriation and the violation of indigenous intellectual property rights, which includes all instances where non-natives use indigenous music, art, costumes, etc. in entertainment or other performances. It has been argued that harm to Native Americans occurs because the appropriation of Native culture by the majority society continues the systems of dominance and subordination that have been used to colonize, assimilate, and oppress indigenous groups. Defenders of the current usage often state their intention to honor Native Americans by referring to positive traits, such as fighting spirit and being aggressive, brave, stoic, dedicated, and proud; while opponents see these traits as being based upon stereotypes of Native Americans as savages.〔 Supporters also state that the issue is not important, being only about sports, and that the opposition is nothing more than "political correctness", which critics argue ignores the extensive evidence of harmful effects of stereotypes and bias. Surveys of public opinion consistently find that the majority of people in the United States support retaining the names and images in current use, however there has been a steady decline in the number of teams doing so. Native American images and nicknames nevertheless remain fairly common in American sports, and may be seen in use by teams at all levels from elementary school to professional. ==History== European Americans have had a history of drawing inspiration from native peoples and "playing Indian" that dates back at least to the 18th century.〔Calloway, Colin G. (2004) ''First Peoples'', 2nd Ed.〕 This practice led directly to the origins of many nicknames and mascots. Like the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) (in particular, the Order of the Arrow) and many summer camps, university students in the late 19th and early 20th centuries adopted Indian names and symbols for their group identities, not from authentic sources but rather as Native American life was imagined by European Americans. Professional team nicknames had similar origins. Founded as the Boston Red Stockings, the team became the Braves for the first time in 1912. Their owner, James Gaffney, was a member of New York City's political machine, Tammany Hall, one of the societies originally formed to honor Tamanend, a chief of the Delaware. The success of the Braves in the 1914 World Series may have been the reason for the Cleveland team, which was looking for a new nickname, to become the Indians in 1915. The story that the team is named to honor Louis Sockalexis, the first Native American to play Major League Baseball, cannot be verified from historical documents. The Redskins in Washington, D.C. were originally also known as the Boston Braves when formed in 1932, since it was the custom at the time to have the same team names when baseball and football teams shared the same stadium. After moving to the home of the Boston Red Sox, the team name was changed to Redskins in 1933, before moving again to Washington, D.C. in 1937. Thus, the use of Native American names and imagery by this team began before the hiring of William Henry Dietz as coach in 1933.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Boston Redskins )〕 The stereotyping of Native Americans must be understood in the context of history which includes conquest, forced relocation, and organized efforts to eradicate native cultures, such as the boarding schools of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which separated young Native Americans from their families in order to educate them as European Americans. As stated in an editorial by Carter Meland (Anishinaabe heritage) and David E. Wilkins (Lumbee) both professors of American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota: "Since the first Europeans made landfall in North America, native peoples have suffered under a weltering array of stereotypes, misconceptions and caricatures. Whether portrayed as ''noble savages'', ''ignoble savages'', ''teary-eyed environmentalists'' or, most recently, simply as ''casino-rich'', native peoples find their efforts to be treated with a measure of respect and integrity undermined by images that flatten complex tribal, historical and personal experience into one-dimensional representations that tells us more about the depicters than about the depicted." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Native American mascot controversy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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