I have to admit, this is not a fight that I have been willing to jump into. They say “you have to pick your battles” and suppose that this can be true sometimes. There are some fights that I feel are worth getting into and some that I do not see that way. Of course, “they” say a lot of things and sometimes it is not wise to listen to any of “them”….

When Indianapolis finally got a minor league team to locate in the city I was truly excited. I love baseball. I played women’s slow pitch softball for 20 years. It is a game that I understand very well. The finesse of each position, the skill, the power…all of these, I get. Then came the task of giving the team a name. Like many cities do these days they opened it up in contest form to pick a name that best represented the city and the pride that would become the focal point of all the money everyone planned on being able to make off having another sports team come into the city. I wasn’t involved in any of that. I just remember when it all happened because of the media that was reporting on the progress. The day finally arrived when they announced the name of “our” new team.

I cannot tell you how deflated I was to learn that in this day and age and political correctness that the city of Indianapolis decided that the Indianapolis Indians was the perfect name for a minor league baseball team. Needless to say, I have yet to enter the ballpark. I do not attend solely on principle.

I would rather drive to another state (Kentucky) and watch that minor league team play. I don’t know for sure but the bats in Kentucky may be offended…I however, am not. This is a team I can support.

Now comes all the media hype about what Native people think about these major league and national league teams that have Native mascots and logos. Most recent, the debate of whether or not the name Redskins is offensive. Like I said in the beginning, this isn’t a fight that I have been willing to jump into. I cannot say that I think it is just fine, what team owners or cities want to name their teams, but I have to say that I do agree that using Native names is VERY offensive to me. While some teams try to keep the dignity that the name may portray in the front, at some point these names, no matter how majestic, do eventually become cartoons.

Can I laugh at myself in a cartoon, of course I can. But I am a grown person. I know who I am. I know who my People are. I know where I come from and I know where I am going. I am a Native American woman, are you?

I have yet to be asked by anyone, let alone someone who claims to have a say in keeping the name of a professional sports team in place, if I find any of the names they chose offensive.

I have to ask myself, who is being hurt most by letting someone call themselves “redskins”? Go ahead, call me a redskin to my face and see what happens. Do you have to know the origin of that particular phrase to understand how much or why it is offensive? Just like black people did not start calling themselves “niggers”, Native people did not start calling themselves “redskins”…skinning a body and noticing that the skins dries with a red tint is not something that any Native would have thought would make a great insult to another Native person. Do you teach your children what that means? I did.

When my child was very small I explained these things to her. As she grew she was not scarred by the name of a football team. She is not scarred by the name of a minor league baseball team. Is she offended? I supposed you will have to ask her to find if that particular Native woman is offended, just like you would have to ask me to find out what I think. As this subject has not been key conversation in any dinner setting with my family I cannot say that I can tell you if my family is offended. What I do know about my family, close and extended, is that some of us are serious sports fans. We enjoy sports from peewee league to pro…we play, we cheer, we coach, we support.

I will tell you, not that you asked, but yes, I am offended. Will I continue to watch NFL football, yes, I will. I love football, not like I love baseball, but I do love football. Will I ever be a Redskins fan, no I will not. I am offended by the name.