5th edition
A number of the participants in the NativeNet newslists have been working
together to compile a list of widely-known derogatory stereotypes of Native
Americans used on commercial products and as team mascots. We're creating
this list of currently-used stereotypes to try to publish it in national
publications, to educate the general public on how pervasive these derogatory
images are. If you would like to suggest an addition to the list, or ask
questions about things that are listed, or make corrections to errors that
you see, you can send a message to the NatChat list at
<natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us> or to Jim Postema at <postema@cobber.cord.edu>.
Here is the list in its most current form:
Sports Mascots:
Washington Redskins
Kansas City Chiefs--use of many "Indian" symbols and motifs
Atlanta Braves--the "tomahawk chop" and many stereotyped products
Cleveland Indians, with mascot Chief Wahoo
Edmonton Eskimos
Chicago Blackhawks
Indianapolis Indians?--minor-league baseball team, with logo designed
by Native American artist
Univ. of Utah Utes
"Scalping Braves," Alcorn State University (Mississippi?)
Indians, Arkansas State University
Florida Seminoles, Univ. of Florida--supported by Seminole tribe in
Florida?
Fighting IlOBlini, with mascot Chief Illiniwek, Univ. of Illinois
Fighting Sioux, Univ. of North Dakota
-what other schools are we missing here?
Many high schools with Indian team names
Commercial logos/names
Crazy Horse Malt Liquor--"Handcrafted Malt Liquor" that claims to
come from the Black Hills, with syrupy, stereotyped
description of the "land where wailful winds whisper of
Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Custer"; to top it off, it has
a mountain-man logo
G. Heileman Brewing Co.
4501 Hollins Ferry Rd.
Arbutus, MD
ph. (410) 204-7200
Dorito Original Pre-Columbian Recipe ad on CTV in Quebec--"Mayan"-
looking actors wearing false headdresses and speaking with
NewYawk accents
Tomahawk Missile, U.S. government--who manufactures these?
Apache, Kiowa, Comanche, and Blackhawk helicopters--who makes these?
Zia symbol, on the state flag of the state of New Mexico
Narragansett Potatoes?
Wild Injun Products
Laguna Niguel, CA 92677
Indian Motorcycles clothing--logo has a Plains Indian chief's head
superimposed on a "hog"-type motorcycle (is this a Canadian
company?)
Tommy Mohawk, Mohawk Carpet Company
Land o' Lakes "Indian Princess" logo
Redman tobacco
Calumet Baking Powder
Apache Oil
Leinenkugel Beer's Indian princess logo and "founding" legend of
Chippewa princess:
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewery
Chippewa Falls, WI
Amtrak Santa Fe Chief--does this still run in the southwest?
Corn Mother Blue Corn Chips
Apache Burgers
Dundas Street
Toronto, Ontario
Pontiac automobiles--are they still using the Indian-head logo?
should I keep them on this list?
Pontiac Firebird
Jeep Cherokee
Ford Thunderbird
Mazda Navajo 4x4--"No one knows the land like a Navajo"
Mazda Motors of America, Inc.
1755 Irvine Center Dr.
Irvine, CA 92718
Winnebago campers--used to have model named "Little Brave," etc. Do
they still?
Navajo Trucking
Dodge Dakota--is this after the state or the ethnic name?
Plymouth Sundance
Cheyenne pickup truck--who makes this?
Stereotyped products:
Cherokee Mfg. Company--is this a Native American firm? Are they
the people that make the tomahawks, etc., for the Atlanta
Braves?
Super Naturals Eagle Eye Action figure--transformer-type toy that
changes from a chief to a soaring eagle
Pez Indian candy dispenser
Butterick Indian Costume sewing pattern
Playmobil Indian Village and Figures (Germany--sold in US/Canada):
a chief sits in a rocking chair next to a birchbark canoe, a
totem pole, and a plains tepee decorated with Haida symbols
Thinkway Toys, Toronto, 50-piece set of warring cowboys and Indians
Native American Barbie Doll
Mattel Inc. (John Amerman, CEO)
333 Continental Blvd.
El Segundo, CA 90245
Morning Song Cheyenne Bridal Doll, by Judy Belle, and
White Feather, Princess of the Sioux doll, sold by
The Danbury Mint
47 Richards Ave.
Norwalk, CT 06857
Navajo Little One doll, by Ray Swanson, and
Deliverance plates, sold by
The Hamilton Collection
4810 Executive Park Ct.
P.O. Box 44051
Jacksonville, FL 32231-4051
Majestic Indian full-color art prints, sold by
National TV Bargains
Dept. MJ-1234OB
1 Eversley Ave.
Norwalk, CT 06851
Native American Prints, "buy now while N.A. Culture is so popular!"
Publishers Choice Gallery
Box 4171, Dept. BF60-PL
Huntington Station, NY 11746
Pride of the Sioux collectors' plates, by Paul Calle, depicting
"Chief High Pipe," who has learned the value of peace....
Franklin Mint
Franklin Center, PA 19091-0001
Buffalo Child Doll, part of the "Children of the Great Spirit"
collection, by Carol Theroux--the ad for these does say
her dolls celebrate "her American Indian ancestry," but
it also describes the doll as saying "She will be a princess
among her people"???
Georgetown Collection
866 Spring St.
PO Box 9730
Portland, ME 04104-5030
Other:
"Indian Outlaw," country song by Tim McGraw
Sonny James, "Running Bear" song, still played on radio stations
"Indian Lake" song, still played on radio stations
Indian Nation musical group--are there Native American members?
Apache Indian musical group--formed by Don Raja, an East Indian
musician
Walt Disney, _Peter Pan_--still in circulation, I believe
Harlequin-style romance novels--there's a whole line of stories
which blond, blue-eyed women have adventurous affairs with
stereotyped N.A. men
comic books--what current titles use N.A. stereotypes?
Indian Guides--boys' groups (do these still exist?)
Camp Fire Girls?--originally founded on NA stereotypes
Sundance Film Festival--do they use obviously Native American images
in their promotional materials? If not, maybe we should
remove them from this list, since the derivation of the
name has several layers: Robert Redford, the "Sundance Kid"
is one of the major players and sponsors, taking the name
from the charactter in the movie.... this may be getting a
little thin in terms of obvious derogatory quality, unless
they continue to market the festival with N.A. images
Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation--named for the two rivers?
White Buffalo Society? (what does this group do?)
Derogatory place names (Note: For now, I'm not including place names that
are derived from Native American terms or names unless there is an
obvious derogatory quality to them. "Pontiac, Michigan," for example,
seems to me less objectional than seeing an Indian head on a Pontiac
car):
Squaw Valley--the word "squaw" seems to be derived from slang
for female genitalia
Devil's Lake, ND--corruption of "Minnewakan," water of spirits
A fuzzier area--product names with Native American/place name titles: these
will be removed from the list, pending Vince Petronio's discussions with
a Wampanoag spokesman this coming week.
Wampanoag Mall, Trail, etc., in Rhode Island
Narragansett Beer
What are the missing ADDRESSES of the relevant organizations??
Contributors--I'm including the names of everyone who has participated
in the formation of the list by suggesting additions, making qualifications,
or commenting on it in general. If I've left anyone out unintentionally,
let me know. If you would like to add your name to this list, to support
what we're doing, let me know, as well.
Also, I think it would be wise to show the variety of back-
grounds that we have, so it might be good to include your tribal or
organizational affiliations, or even just where you're from--so please
send me that information:
Benay Blend
Jackie Brown
Jay Brummett
Lin Collette
Sam Cronk
John Crooks
Pat Crowe
Orenda Davis
Lyn Dearborn
Jordan Dill
Debbie Falcone
Andrea Gadberry
Douglas Gerhardt
Glenn [?]
Elizabeth Grannell
Richard L. Haan
Regina Harrison
Jenny
Theodore S. Jojola
Kayoshk
Walter Kawamoto
Anne Kirby, Langsdale Library, U. of Baltimore
Brian Klopotek
Graham Knopp
Raj Krishnan
Scott Mauk, Evergreen State College, Washington
Mary Jane Miller
David L. Moore
Kate Nickerson
Gary Night Owl
Michael Patterson
Vince Petronio
James Postema, Concordia College, Moorhead, MN
Gary Priester
Joe Quickle
Henning Riebe
Mary Ritchie
Tina Stinnett
William Tate
Anneliese Truame
Gary Trujillo
Renn Tumlison
Gerard Vandeberg
Ernest Webb
Ted Wyly
If for some reason you would prefer not to have your name on this
list, let me know and I'll remove it.
If you'd like to add something to this list, please do! And you would
do so by email-ing your suggestion to NatChat or directly to Jim
Postema, at "postema@cobber.cord.edu"
Jim Postema
postema@cobber.cord.edu