Iowa's policy

Th policy has been around for awhile now, 1998 I think, they are just enforcing it now. No need to be offensive to some with a mascot, even if it seems a bit silly to those of us not Native-American.

 

I guess they should also ban anyone from campus who drives a Pontiac or a Jeep Cherokee. Might as well rip out their Mohawk carpets as well. I can imagine a scenario in college football where they are scheduled to play, say, the Florida State Seminoles in a BCS Bowl for millions of dollars. How many of you think they won't play in that game?

 

By the way, Florida State uses the Seminole nickname with the approval of the Seminole nation. So there, Hawkeyes!

 

I grew up in Oklahoma where over half of the high school teams have an Indian mascot, so it is a little odd to me. Of course most schools in Oklahoma have a good percentage of actual Native American students also. I think over half of my classmates were at least part Cherokee. If the actual Indian tribes have a problem with the team mascot, the mascot should be changed. If none of the actual Native Americans have a problem with it, then I don't see a problem with keeping the mascots.

 

The whole mascot thing is silly. The mascot is an object of HONOR when it represents a people, a a symbol of POWER when it's a powerful carnivorous animal such as a tiger, and a symbol of INTELLIGENCE when it's a name such as Engineers.

How can "Brave" be dishonorable to Indians? In many of their cultures, to become a brave was a high honor for a man. Thise things were told to me by several Mandan men at the annual "powwow" they and some other Indians hold each year at Proctorville, OH.

As for the title "Indian"-these Mandans don't recognize it as a bad thing. They say that after all, the first Europeans to see them thought they'd reached India & had no idea what a native of India looked like.

The name they DON'T like is "Native American". They say America is a white man's name for them; Amerigo Vespucci was white, and most of their ancestors became "Americans" quite unwillingly. One Mandan suggested "Continental Aboriginal" as an alternative, but he doubted if today's Liberals could spell it correctly.

Before adapting some silly nomenclature policy concerning Indians, perhaps the "powers-that-be" should actually ask the local Indians their opinions and reasons. After all, "Iowa" is an Indian name, as are the names of many of our states, including my home state of Ohio.