One of the methods of making a population non human/non vital is to cartoonize them..be it as glamor figures or as villains (the noble savage of Pocahontas Disney fame or the villain of so many cowboy and Indian movies)..either way does not speak to the men and women who are living...real people, not cartoons. Nor does it speak to the pain of those forced to attend schools and universities in this atmosphere of intimidation.

Whether well-intentioned or not, the result of this mascot usage is a dehumanization leading to objectification lending itself to convenient rationalizations, of which the "Keep the Indian name" votes are full. Hitler utilized the same strategy with the Jewish population in Europe..objectify...and dehumanize...

Moreover, each culture has its own heroes..folks which seem to embody the traits admired by that society..why is it that high schools, universities and sports teams seem to have none of their own, but insist upon borrowing from a culture they had all but succeeded in demolishing ???

This diminishment permits US policy that disregards the life of the people, the right to worship in peace, secure in their own lodges..the right to live free of polution from uranium mining and waste dumps, gold mining...corporate land grabs blessed by government policy.

We are still here...and we are still strong..!

Ish