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O'siyo Brothers and Sister!
Rah, Rah, Rah, Sisk, Boom, BAH! Y'all
Hoohah! for the Red Necks in Legislative Hall
Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen signed into law a measure that bars
state agencies from regulating American Indian school mascots.
The bill, introduced by State Reprepresentative Mike Bell, R-Riceville,
even had the gall to state the legislature recognized school
mascots "acknowledge admirable characteristics of American Indians and
... reflect a positive outlook and recognition upon the contributions
and the heritage of American Indians in Tennessee."
Mighty white of them! Let's translate that from political whitewash into
the real message: "We don't care that the people of this culture we
claim to admire have almost universally stood for decades saying these
mascots are derogatory and insulting. WE have the power and the money,
and since this is what we want to do -- we're doing it."
This is, of course, unvarnished bull crap and utter racism. It is a
bunch of racists justifying their chil'uns using other human beings as
their mascots. Indians are not goats, pigs or dogs and we are damn sure
not honored by being included among them as objects of some non-Indian's
fantasy and celebration.
The terms 'reds**n' and 'brave' are, by their definition alone, racial
slurs. 'Reds**n' came into use during the times when
Indian men, women and children were hunted like animals and murdered.
To collect the bounty for killin' an injun, the body or evidence of the
killing had to be presented. Scalps or a sufficient hunk of damaged hide
(reds**ns) were a lot easier to tote to the agent and for the agent to
dispose of.
Beyond the offensive names, the mascots themselves are an affront
because they continue the use of stereotypical, negative antics that
further the notion we are lesser beings. Dehumanizing is not honoring.
Indian children cannot possibly look at a stadium full of others mocking
their beliefs and very being without feeling humiliation.
Of course, this matters little as long as Bubba can pop a top and chant
some imagined war chant.
How assinine, how small, how racist. You go, Tennessee.
Dohiyi Ani Oginalii
Gary Smith (*,*)
wotanging@bellsouth.net
P. O. Box 672168 (`-') gars@nanews.org
Marietta, GA 30006, U.S.A. ===w=w===
http://www.nanews.org
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CONTENTS LIST OF ARTICLES IN
VOLUME 15, ISSUE 025
FOR ARTICLES GOT TO
WOTANGING IKCHE-Native American News
Editorial Section: . Tennessee's racist vote of
Shame
- Tennessee votes to protect Indian Mascots
- Meth Adds Scourge To Troubled Native Lands
- Tribal Leaders Unveil New 'Meth Toolkit'
- Seneca Tribe Seeks $2.1M For Road Use
- Moving Freeway Faces Tribal Opposition
- Indian Leaders Fight to save Holy Sites
- UND Indian Groups worry About Lack of Voice
- Judge Rejects Bush Count of Columbia River Salmon
- Native American Foster Homes
- Chad Smith: Cherokee Sovereignty at Stake
- Judge Hears Argument to Stop Cherokee Election
- Feds Won't Stop Cherokee Election
- Kiowas Lose Housing Administration
- Voting Rights: Oral, Written Help At Polls Lacks
- Shakopee Mdewakanton OK to Put Land in Trust
- Cowlitz Through Trying to Work with La Center
- Appropriations Include Language Revival
- Indian Lender Getting Federal Funds
- Letter: Women Bear Brunt Of Uranium Contamination
- Giago: Indians Still The Most Misunderstood
- Yellow Bird: Monarch Of Mystery, Beauty and Grace
- Spotlight on Environmental Catastrophe
- Staff Woes Plague Kuujjuaq Child Care Centres
- Sage Tells Feds `Quit Blowing Smoke Up Our Butts'
- Ontario Will Cover Legal Expenses For Land Claims
- Land Claims: It's About 'Our Jurisdiction'
- Committee Works To Transfer MCFD Authority
- Native Justice-- Court Asked To Quash Stonechild Inquiry Findings
-- Prison Time Is Urged For Griles
-- Fort Frances Youth JusticeFacility To Be Built
-- Build Jail For Labrador Women, Ombudsman Urges
- Rustywire: What Were Their Names
- Lee Goins Poem: The Mending And Pretending
- Upcoming Events
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"I want to hold you back because I am at the
edge of my bank. My life is at its end. I hold you back because your
life henceforth will be very different from what it has been. Buffalo
makes your body strong. What you will eat from this money will have your
people buried all over these hills. You will be tied down, you will not
wander the plains; the whites will take your land and fill it. You won't
have your own free will; the whites will lead you by the halter. That is
why I say don't sign. But my life is old, so sign if you want to. Go
ahead and sign the treaty." ---Pemmican, Blackfoot Madicine Keeper to
Chief Crowfoot on the brink of the signing of the Blackfoot Treaty of
1877 |