Indigenous group condemns Trump’s call to restore controversial team names

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WASHINGTON — The Association on American Indian Affairs is condemning U.S President Donald Trump’s call for Washington’s football team to revert to its old name, saying any claim that Indigenous nations support the use of Indigenous-themed mascots is false.

“These mascots and names do not honour Native Peoples — they reduce us to caricatures,” the Association on American Indian Affairs said in a statement.

“Our diverse Peoples and cultures are not relics of the past or mascots for entertainment. Native Nations are sovereign, contemporary cultures who deserve respect and self-determination, not misrepresentation.”

In a Sunday social media post, Trump threatened to hold up a new stadium deal if the NFL’s Washington Commanders don’t return to their old name, which was considered offensive by Indigenous Americans. In his post, the president claimed that “Indians are being treated very unfairly.”

The Commanders and the District of Columbia government announced a deal earlier this year to build a new home for the football team. It’s not clear if Trump can delay the deal.

The president also called for MLB’s Cleveland Guardians to revert to their former name, which was also seen as offensive to Indigenous Peoples.

In an earlier post, Trump called the NFL team the “The Washington ‘Whatever’s” and claimed Indigenous people “in massive numbers, want this to happen.

“Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!” Trump posted.

The Association on American Indian Affairs is the is the oldest national Native American non-profit in the United States and has been operating for more than 100 years.

It said Indigenous communities and experts have repeatedly and clearly said that these themed mascots are offensive and dehumanizing.

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The association pointed to research that found that these mascots are consistently associated with negative health outcomes for Indigenous people, especially youth, and lead to lower self-esteem, increased psychological distress and harm to community well-being.

“There is no genuine respect for Native Nations here — only empty gestures and political theatre. Claiming that ‘Indians are being treated very unfairly’ while simultaneously gutting Native programs is hypocrisy at its worst,” the statement said.

The Commanders and Guardians announced their name changes in 2020 as many sports franchises — including the CFL’s Edmonton Elks — stopped using similar names and logos in response to decades of pushback from Indigenous activists and communities.

The year 2020 saw the emergence of a wave of racial justice protests triggered by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died during an arrest in Minneapolis. Since his return to the White House, Trump has rolled back many of the changes made in the wake of Floyd’s death, including diversity, equity and inclusion programs throughout government.

The Elks dropped their former name in 2020 after years of criticism from representatives of the Inuit community, who called it offensive. The team was ultimately renamed the Elks the following year but the change divided some team supporters.

A new regime at the Elks has been subtly embracing the old name this year — and even put up a sign with the old name in a slogan above the entrance to the Elks’ locker-room.

— With files from The Associated Press.