I chatted with this "Indian" guy while standin in line at the pisser yesterday!

[cmh6476]

I posted some of the conversation at FFT, and just thought I'd share them here:

well, he wasn't really Indian. But he had on the beads and the clothes and stuff, so I asked him, "so umm, are you of native american heritage?"

I was kinda stumped at first, on how to approach the conversation :unsure:


But then he was like, "no, I'm not. But a bunch of my friends are and they are down here today protesting and I am trying to find them."

So we started talking, and I asked if they were offended by the names of the teams. He mentioned not so much the Chiefs but with the redskins. And I kinda agreed and mentioned the fact that the term redskin is actually derogative.

So then I started going on about the Chiefs and where they got their name. The Chiefs were actually named (when they moved from Dallas) for the mayor of KC (could have been former mayor), Roe Bartle. They called Mayor Bartle "Chief", because of what he had done to honor the native americans and his leadership skills. I don't know all the specifics, just have heard the story.


But to pay tribute to the mayor, who had paid tribute to the native americans during his lifetime, the city decided to call the team the Chiefs.

The Indian looking guy said the use of the word "Chief" really wasnt an issue, but the tomahawk chop and guys dressed up in headbands with gold and red paint was a disgrace to their culture.

Then we started going on about how most people don't think of any of it as offesnive, just team names and something they have grown accustomed to with the major sports. I don't think anyone means any harm, it's just a mascot of a sports franchise.

I did mention that it was kind of sad that when the Spaniards invaded Mexico, they blended with the natives on the land and still incorporate some of those same customs and heritage in today's culture. However, here in the US we just basically murdered all the natives and sent them to refuges.

What's weird is I'm probably more native american than the guy I was talking to was. I think my great-grandfather's dad was full-blooded native american, but my great-grandfather was adopted by a different faimly. or something like that :unsure:

It still seems weird to me that native americans would be offended by the use of Mascots. I guess you can't really relate or understand it, because you are not one. But I didn't see what the big deal was :unsure:

http://www.fftodayforums.com/forum/i...owtopic=174101