The Stereotyping of Native Americans

Hatfield, Dolph L., The Humanist

Names, images, and mascots that symbolize native Americans are used extensively in the United States, particularly in sports and advertising. In sports there are the Washington Redskins football team, the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians baseball teams, and the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team. Fans of the Atlanta Braves use the "tomahawk chop" accompanied by a chant to intimidate visiting teams, while the Cleveland Indians use the mascot Chief Wahoo and the University of Illinois uses the mascot Chief Illiniwek.

In advertising, Chief Crazy Horse appears on cans of malt liquor, a "redman" lends his heritage to packs of chewing tobacco, and a native American princess sells cartons of butter. Even the Department of Agriculture's Soil and Water Conservation Society uses the image of a native American on its posters. This is by no means a complete list of such uses, but these examples serve to illustrate how freely this minority is symbolized in society.

As a non-native American who believes this kind of …

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Publication information: Article title: The Stereotyping of Native Americans. Contributors: Hatfield, Dolph L. - Author. Magazine title: The Humanist. Volume: 60. Issue: 5 Publication date: September 2000. Page number: 43. © 1999 American Humanist Association. COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group.

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