Washington nickname not hailed by all

Since the Washington football team is playing against the only NFL quarterback whom many Native American peoples proudly claim as their own this weekend, I thought I would stroll over to the National Museum of the American Indian on Thursday and see if I could find some conflicted souls.

So who’s it going to be: Sam Bradford, the quarterback of the St. Louis Rams who is listed as an official citizen on the Cherokee Nation’s tribe rolls, or those hometown Washington Redskins from Burgundy and Gold Nation?

Ben Norman, a member of the Pamunkey tribe of Virginia working the museum’s front desk Thursday afternoon, looked at me quizzically.

“The majority of the native people are against the name; you know that, right?” he said. “I mean, the museum is not supposed to have an official opinion. But for me, the way I look at it is, if you’re going to be taken seriously you can’t be a cartoon or somebody’s mascot.”

To my wonder, many people, native and non-native, shuddered when asked.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/washington-nickname-not-hailed-by-all/2011/09/30/gIQAQz8TDL_story.html

started when I lived there in the second grade (era of the Over The Hill Gang). But a couple of years ago, I realized I just couldn't support them due to the name, so I switched to New Orleans (since that's my favourite city in the US).

Of course, the Saints promptly won the Super Bowl, making me feel like a bandwagoner.

One sportswriter used to call the 'Skins the Chesapeake Watershed Region Indigenous Persons. :D