The Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation was a nonprofit organization started by Daniel Snyder, controlling owner of the Washington Redskins football team. It was formed in 2014 under a climate of controversy around the name of the team, which Native American organizations such as the National Congress of American Indians consider offensive. According to a letter[1] from Snyder, it "will address the urgent challenges plaguing Indian country based on what tribal leaders tell us they need most."[2] In the letter to season ticket holders, announcing the Foundation, Snyder stated that he and other team representatives had visited 26 reservations in twenty states to "listen and learn first-hand about the views, attitudes, and experiences of the Tribes". The letter quotes Pueblo of Zuni Governor Arlen Quetawki, saying "I appreciated your sincerity to learn about our culture and the real life issues we face on a daily basis". Torrez-Martinez of Desert Cahuilla was quoted in the letter as saying, "There are Native Americans everywhere that 100 percent support the Redskins".[2] Snyder also used his letter to cite instances of support for the team name by other Native Americans during his visits.[3]
After decades of defending the name, amidst the removal of many names and images as part of the George Floyd protests, and pressure from investors and sponsors, the Redskins began the process of changing their name.[4][5] On July 23, 2020 the team announced that, given that a rebranding will take 12 to 18 months, they will be called the Washington Football Team with a block "W" logo for the 2020 season.[6] In September 2020 the foundation was renamed Washington Football Team Original Americans Foundation, but in November 2020 the team announced that it would no longer have any connection to the foundation.[7] On February 2, 2022, the new team name, Washington Commanders, was announced.
Background
Prior to the official announcement of the foundation, there had been news reports of meetings by Snyder with tribal leaders in Alabama and New Mexico to discuss charitable donations and economic development; which received mixed responses from Native Americans. Some welcome any assistance with poverty and the other problems poverty creates; while others see it as purely public relations. Robert McGhee, treasurer of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Atmore, AL said: "I thought the whole meeting was odd."[8][9] On his visit to the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center in New Mexico, Snyder was given a guided tour by the director, Jim Enote. When Enote told Snyder he was not pleased with the Redskins mascot and team name Snyder snapped back with, "We are a football team."[10][11]
Gary L. Edwards (Cherokee), the chief executive of the National Native American Law Enforcement Association (NNALEA) was named director of OAF. As CEO of NNALEA, Edwards serves or has served on the following advisory committees and task forces: the National Incident Management System; the National Response Plan; the Funding of First Responders; Preparedness and Information Sharing; Pilot Capabilities Assessment Project; SAFECOM Advisory Group; the Department of Homeland Security's National Preparedness Goal State, Tribal and Local Working Group; as well as the Department of Justice's Counter-Terrorism Training Coordination Working Group, Intelligence Training Coordination Working Group and Officer Safety and Wellness Task Force. The NNALEA was cited in a US Dept. of Interior Inspector General's (IG) report for failing to produce any usable work to fulfill a contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, leading to cancellation of that contract. Edwards was not mentioned by name.[12] The IG report was most critical of the BIA for allowing language in the contract that resulted in the NNALEA being paid almost $1 million without requiring results.[13] A number of female employees accused Edwards of sexual harassment, and said that they received expensive gifts from him purchased with foundation funds.[14]
Reception and criticism
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stated that he takes the creation of the foundation as an indication that Snyder is "doing his due diligence when it comes to listening to the public about the franchise's controversial name, and he continues to stand behind the name due to strong public support."[15]
The National Congress of American Indians issued a statement saying it is glad that Snyder is dedicating time and resources to Native American issues. "However, this Foundation will only contribute to the problems in Indian Country if it does not also address the very real issue of how Native people are consistently stereotyped, caricatured, and denigrated by mascot imagery and the use of the R-word slur," the statement read. "For Mr. Snyder and the Foundation to truly support and partner with Indian Country, they must first change the name of the D.C. team and prove that the creation of this organization isn't just a publicity stunt."[16] In an editorial in the Washington Post, Brian Cladoosby, the president of the NCAI wrote: "Snyder, his team and the NFL are welcome to join Indian country as allies and partners but only when they make their most significant contribution up front: Retire the name of this team. Only then will we truly know Snyder's commitment to Indian country, to Native youth and to a future where tribal nations and our people are treated as equal to all other Americans."[17] The initial critical responses to the foundation from some Native American advocates was almost overshadowed in the media by the response to Stephen Colbert's attempt at satire.[18]
In response to the foundation, ESPN commentator Keith Olbermann asked why, if "Redskin" is not insulting, Snyder never uses the term to refer to Native Americans?[19] Senator Harry Reid called the foundation "a phony deal" and predicted that the name will change within three years.[20] In a letter posted on her website, Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) calls the foundation an "attempt to buy the silence of Native Americans with a foundation that is equal parts public relations scheme and tax deduction."[21] In The New York Times, author David Treuer (Ojibwe) places the creation of the foundation in the context of the long history of Native American being given gifts rather than real change that would make a difference.[22]
In an editorial Rick Cohen, a former executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) notes that there are signs that any assistance given to Native Americans will be contingent on silence, if not support of the team name by the recipients. Also, the creation of a new foundation, by joining the team name with Native Americans, is an obvious public relations tactic, since both Snyder and the team have existing charitable foundations which could have made contributions to existing Native American organizations.[23] Diana Aviv, president and CEO of Independent Sector, a leadership organization representing nonprofits, foundations and corporate grant makers, criticized the Washington NFL team's Original Americans Foundation stating: "Creating a new foundation using the language found in the Washington NFL team's name is offensive not only to Native communities, but to all people of goodwill who believe it is important to treat others with respect and dignity".[24] The Joint Affinity Groups and Native Americans in Philanthropy have issued a statement that the OAF's "laudable philanthropic goals are undermined by the continued use of a racist slur in the name of the foundation and the franchise that founded it", and asks "Is it exploitive to offer funds or other financial benefits to under-served tribal communities in exchange for tacit permission to continue using that identifiably racist/stereotypic mascot term?"[25]
Redskins general manager Bruce Allen responded to the criticism by saying the foundation is not intended to buy support.[26]
Funded projects and results
For recipients of one of the initial donations, the Lame Deer, Montana public schools on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, there is a range of opinion regarding the name of the Washington team, but the tribe's Economic development administrator Steve Small, said "We had to weigh need against principle." The publisher of the reservation newspaper called the foundation "...a slick PR move to gain support from poor Native Americans to keep the Redskins mascot. It's cheaper than changing the brand name and commerce associated with the current mascot and logo."[27]
Upon learning that the OAF would be the title sponsor of a celebrity golf tournament in Arizona, two of the other sponsors withdrew their participation in protest. First was the National Indian Gaming Association, whose chairman, Ernest Stevens, said his organization finds the NFL team's name to be offensive and is skeptical about the motives of the foundation".[28] Next was the Notah Begay III Foundation, its executive director Crystal Echo Hawk stating: "I find it underhanded and despicable that the Washington football team would co-opt this event. As soon as we found out about their involvement we withdrew our support."[29] Later, an additional sponsor, the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise, stated that they would have declined sponsorship had they known in advance of the Redsk*ns involvement.[30] After the event, the Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly thanked the sponsors and expressed disappointment at those who had withdrawn support.[31]
Members of the Fort YumaQuechan Tribe say they refused a "bribe" from the Washington Redskins organization, which tribal members say offered a blank check to fund a skatepark in their community.[32] The Quechan Memorial Skatepark is an existing project intended to provide an activity for young people, while serving as a memorial to those lost to suicide.[33]
The Chippewa Cree Tribe of Montana accepted money from the foundation to build a playground, leaders stating that they do not care about the controversy.[34]
The Zuni Pueblo tribe sent notice to Native artists that representatives of the OAF would be visiting on August 11, 2014 to buy artwork, in particular anything that incorporated the team logo or colors.[35] The director of the Zuni Museum and Heritage Center characterized the event as part of a "spin doctoring" campaign, and wondered why the purchases would not be made through the existing markets for Zuni artworks.[10]
According to a report filed with the IRS, the OAF donated $3.7 million to 20 tribes during 2014, its first year of operation.[36] The amount dropped to 1.6 million in the second year, with no explanation being given.[37] However, the team has spent at least a half a million dollars lobbying Congress regarding the foundation since 2014.[38]
Current status
It has been noted that there has been no reports of activity by the foundation in the first months of 2015, and references to the OAF have disappeared from the main website of the team.[39] The chairwoman of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Gari Pikyavit Lafferty, has been removed from office by a majority vote of the tribal council for accepting personal gifts in exchange for her support of the OAF and the Redskins team name.[40] Lafferty's subsequent appeal of her impeachment has been denied.[41] Phil Gover, a member of the Paiute tribe and one of the petitioners in the case that cancelled the Redskins trademarks, states that the foundation is having a corrupting influence.[42] In August, 2015, the Cheyenne River Sioux Council in South Dakota voted to return a $25,000 check issued to the Cheyenne River Rodeo Association on July 10, and decline any further donations from the Original Americans Foundation.[43] After accepting a $200,000 donation for the prior year, the Indian National Finals Rodeo (INFR), which says it is the U.S.' and Canada's largest rodeo organization for Native Americans, sent a letter refusing any further donations. INFR Vice President Michael Bo Vocu stated "After much soul searching, we have decided that we cannot in good conscience accept resources from you on the terms you have offered, no matter how desperately we need it ... because, as you know, the resources you are offering are not truly philanthropic – they come with the expectation that we will support the racial slur that continues to promote your associated professional football team's name." Last year the Redskins primary logo appeared at many Native rodeo events, creating a backlash from those offended by it.[44]
With the announcement in July, 2020 that the Redskins management is doing a review of the team name, Sports Illustrated investigated the foundation and found that funding was cut back after the resolution of the trademark cases in 2017. In addition, some of the funds that were spent went not to Native Americans, but to schools that also used Redskins as their sport team name, such as St. Johns High School in Arizona and McLoud High School in Oklahoma were Native Americans are only a minority of students, 7% and 13% respectively.[45]
Soon after the team dropped the Redskins name, the foundation's charitable activity dwindled, and its corporate existence lapsed due to the failure to file reports to the Virginia State Corporation Commission. In September, 2020 the foundation was reinstated and the name was changed to Washington Football Team Original Americans Foundation. When a prior recipient of donations requested aid from the foundation to pay for COVID-19 testing, the request was denied. In October, the team said it had decided to no longer sponsor the foundation.[14]
In popular culture
Comedy Central aired a segment of The Colbert Report that attempted to satirize the establishment of the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation by proposing a foundation called the "Ching-Chong Ding-Dong Foundation for Sensitivity to Orientals or Whatever".[46] The resulting campaign to "CancelColbert" by Asian Americans overshadowed the initial response from Native Americans opposed to the Redskins foundation.[47]
George Preston Marshall was an American professional football executive who founded the National Football League (NFL)'s Washington Redskins. He founded the team as the Boston Braves in 1932. The following season, he relocated the club from Braves Field to Fenway Park and renamed them as the Redskins. Prior to the start of the 1937 NFL season, Marshall relocated the team to Washington, D.C.
Redskin is a slang term for Native Americans in the United States and First Nations in Canada. The term redskin underwent pejoration through the 19th to early 20th centuries and in contemporary dictionaries of American English, it is labeled as offensive, disparaging, or insulting. Although the term has almost disappeared from contemporary use, it remains in use as a sports team name. The most prominent was the NFL's Washington Redskins, who resisted decades of opposition before retiring the name in 2020 following renewed attention to racial justice in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests. While the usage by other teams has been declining steadily, 37 high schools in the United States continue to be Redskins. School administrators and alumni assert that their use of the name is honoring their local tradition and not insulting to Native Americans.
Daniel Marc Snyder is an American businessman and former owner of the Washington Commanders, an American football franchise belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He bought the team, then known as the Redskins, from the estate of Jack Kent Cooke in 1999. Snyder is widely considered one of the worst owners in the history of professional sports, with the team managing only six playoff appearances and two playoff wins during his 24 years of ownership.
Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo, 415 F.3d 44, is a case in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia considered the decision of the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to cancel the registration of the Washington Redskins football team, based on the claim that the name was disparaging to Native Americans. The Court of Appeals did not actually reach the merits of the TTAB's decision; it sent the case back to the trial court for consideration of a procedural issue.
Suzan Shown Harjo is an American advocate for Native American rights. She is a poet, writer, lecturer, curator, and policy advocate who has helped Native peoples recover more than one million acres (4,000 km²) of tribal lands. After co-producing the first American Indian news show in the nation for WBAI radio while living in New York City, and producing other shows and theater, in 1974 she moved to Washington, D.C., to work on national policy issues. She served as Congressional liaison for Indian affairs in the President Jimmy Carter administration and later as president of the National Council of American Indians.
Since the 1960s, the issue of Native American and First Nations names and images being used by sports teams as mascots has been the subject of increasing public controversy in the United States and Canada. This has been a period of rising Indigenous civil rights movements, and Native Americans and their supporters object to the use of images and names in a manner and context they consider derogatory. They have conducted numerous protests and tried to educate the public on this issue.
The Washington Redhawks was a culture jam created by a group of Native Americans to draw attention to the Washington Redskins name controversy. In 2020, the team retired the Redskins branding amidst the removal of many names and images as part of the George Floyd protests. The football team was renamed the Washington Commanders in 2022.
Arthur Raymond (Ray) Halbritter is an American businessman who is the current Nation Representative and CEO of Oneida Nation Enterprises, a major casino and tobacco conglomerate in Upstate New York. He is a member of the Oneida Indian Nation's Wolf Clan.
The Washington Redskins name controversy involved the name and logo previously used by the Washington Commanders, a National Football League (NFL) franchise located in the Washington metropolitan area. In the 1960s, the team's longtime name—the Redskins—and the associated logo began to draw criticism from Native American groups and individuals. The topic, part of the larger Native American mascot controversy, began receiving widespread public attention in the 1990s. In 2020, the team responded to economic pressure in the wake of the George Floyd protests by retiring the name and logo. The team called itself the "Washington Football Team" before rebranding as the Commanders in 2022.
Amanda Blackhorse is a social worker and member of the Navajo people who is known for her work as an activist on the Washington Redskins name controversy. She is the lead plaintiff in Blackhorse v. Pro-Football, Inc.
The Washington Redskins trademark dispute was a legal effort by Native Americans to define the term "redskin" to be an offensive and pejorative racial slur to deprive the owners of the NFL's Washington Redskins of the ability to maintain federal trademark protection for the name. These efforts had primarily been carried forward in two cases brought before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). While prevailing in the most recent case in which the trademarks were cancelled, petitioners withdrew for further litigation now that the legal issue has become moot due to a decision in another case which found the relevant portion of the trademark law to be an unconstitutional infringement on freedom of speech.
Sports teams named Redskins are part of the larger controversy regarding the use of Native American names, images and symbols by non-native sports teams. Teams of this name have received particular public attention because the term redskin is now generally regarded as disparaging and offensive.
During the years of increasing awareness of the Washington Redskins name controversy, public opinion polls were part of the discussion about whether Native Americans found the term redskin insulting. Other polls gauged how the general public viewed the controversy.
The use of terms and images referring to Native Americans/First Nations as the name or mascot for a sports team is a topic of public controversy in the United States and in Canada, arising as part of the Native American/First Nations civil rights movements. The retirement of the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Indians has tipped public opinion in favor of eliminating Native mascots by public school, more states considering or passing legislation to do so, heeding tribal leaders who have advocating for change for decades.
First Nations Development Institute is a nonprofit organization that assists Native American tribes, their communities, and Native nonprofits in economic development by providing technical assistance, training, policy, and the awarding of grants. Public education is another area of focus. It is based in Longmont, Colorado. Charity Navigator gave First Nations Development Institute a four-star rating.
The Chicago Blackhawks name and logo controversy refers to the controversy surrounding the name and logo of the Chicago Blackhawks, a National Hockey League (NHL) ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. Like other teams with tribal mascots, there are calls from Indigenous activists and organizations to change the Blackhawks' name and logo and eliminate tribal mascots and imagery throughout sports. In contrast to generic names used by other teams, Blackhawks refers to a World War I-era U.S. Army division which was named for prominent Illinois-based Native American chief Black Hawk.
The Kansas City Chiefs is one of the professional sports teams involved in the controversy regarding the use of Native American names and imagery, but received less attention than other teams until 2013 when fan behavior at games, including stereotypical headdresses, face paint, performing a "war chant" and tomahawk chop became more publicly known. Protests by change advocates intensified following the name changes of the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians. In addition, the Chiefs have been highly visible due to their participation in the Super Bowl in the 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023 seasons and widespread media coverage. Native American groups demonstrated outside the stadium hosting Super Bowl LVII.
The Native American Guardians Association (NAGA) is an American Indian grassroots movement which was founded in June 2017 as a non-profit with the stated purpose of promoting Native American History and Preservation. Representatives of NAGA have primarily been active in debates over Native American mascots, opposing their removal both by providing non-Native opponents of change with talking points or by members giving testimony in support of mascot retention.
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