Arkansas State Weekly
aveach17"Indian" mascot and nickname is retired
Jonesboro -- On Thursday, February 28, 2008, Arkansas State University had a ceremony to retire its nickname the “Indians” and the Indian family mascot during the men’s basketball game against Louisiana-Monroe at the ASU Convocation Center in Jonesboro. The Indian family consisted of three students dressed in authentic Native American wear. One student represented Chief Big Track, a legendary chief of the Osage tribe, and the two other students symbolized an Indian princess and a brave.1 Former Indian Family members were honored at the ceremony. They held single feathers as the current Indian family entered the arena.2 Chad Shurley, a member of the Indian family, said he was on the verge of tears after the ceremony.3
In 1931, Arkansas State University took on the athletic nickname of “Indians” as a tribute to the fighting spirit of the Osage tribe that inhabited northern Arkansas. The Osage Indians were at war during the 18th century with almost all plains and woodland tribes.5
Minority groups may feel offended when aspects of their culture are portrayed in a controversial way in the majority culture. Arkansas State University was opposed to changing its Indian mascot to the Red Wolves in 2008 after the NCAA claimed the mascot violated ethical guidelines because the university had so much respect and pride for the former Indian mascot.
Dean Lee, the athletic director at Arkansas State University, commented "It is an emotional night. Obviously our fans have been attached to the Indian mascot for 77 years and they've held it in the highest esteem, with the utmost respect, honor and dignity. ... It is emotional, but it's also the beginning of the new era."4
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The Ncaa
Their policy against Native American mascots and nicknames
6 The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced on August 5, 2005 that in February of 2006 it would limit participation in NCAA postseason championships for 18 schools with Native American mascots or nicknames that they considered “hostile” or “abusive”. This came after four years of discussion between members of the NCAA to decide which colleges had Native American mascots or nicknames that could be considered derogatory. The press release stated that these institutions could not host NCAA national tournaments. If they were already scheduled to host these events, they would have to remove Indian imagery from the arenas or stadiums. Any aspect of Indian culture would not be permitted at NCAA tournaments.6
Some universities were able to keep their Native American based mascots or nicknames as the NCAA did not find them abusive or hostile. The schools unaffected by the new rule either had a large population of Native Americans or the mascot or nickname did not tie in directly with Native American culture.8
There were many unanswered questions about this policy when it was first released. The colleges with the Indian mascots or nicknames were confused as to what standards the NCAA used to decide whether the mascot or nickname was “hostile”. Most of the schools wanted to keep their mascot and wanted to know how would the restrictions the NCAA set would apply if they kept their Indian imagery.9
Walter Harrison, chair of the NCAA’s Executive Committee and former president at the University of Hartford shared the NCAA's view on Indian mascots when he stated that “Colleges and universities may adopt any mascot that they wish, as that is an institutional matter. But as a national association, we believe that mascots, nicknames or images deemed hostile or abusive in terms of race, ethnicity or national origin should not be visible at the championship events that we control.”7
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WELCOMING Change
While many students, faculty, alumni and long time fans of Arkansas State University mourn the forced retirement of their beloved Indian family mascot, there are others who celebrate. Some members at the university have been trying to get rid of the Indian mascot for some time.12 Some fans at Arkansas State University were scared to embrace the Indian mascot during the years where it was considered offensive to the American Indians. They see Indian mascots as stereotypical and Indian nicknames as racist. These individuals welcomed the new Red Wolves mascot with open arms. Some believe that the new name is beneficial to the university since sales in ASU licensed products have increased after the university rebranded.13
Keep the Mascot
Some universities had alumni and donors that were against eliminating Native American mascots so they payed the schools to keep their Indian imagery.10 Arkansas State University did not want to get rid of its Native American based mascot. They attempted to keep the their nickname by abandoning the “Running Joe” mascot and replacing it with the "Indian family", a more respectful representation of Native Americans. However, this did not work. The legal fees to fight the NCAA on the issue would be around $300,000, so the university finally caved. Many ASU fans and alumni still feel attached to the "Indian" nickname, so a popular t-shirt in Jonesboro reads, “My Indian name is Red Wolf.”11
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Some Indians Don't Mind
"The majority of American Indians I know say that compared to poverty on reservations and other issues we deal with every day that are challenging to our very existence, this is a very secondary issue." This was said by Steve Denson, a member of the Chickasaw Nation and the director of diversity at Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business.14
