on the face of it I always thought the Redskins nickname and Cleveland's mascot Chief Wahoo clearly were more demeaning than something like the Fighting Sioux. Redskins has taken on a more derogatory meaning in recent years than when it was orginally chosen, but it would still be like having a team called the Washington Whites or the Washington Blacks, which seems odd if not overly offensive. (I would equate the name Indians more along the line of saying the Washington Europeans or, I guess, Washington Native Americans)
It is difficult to tell if indians are upset with the nicknames or if it is just indian activists. In most cases I do think the indians should have a say in names that depict their race or culture, but I'm not completely convinced it is a cause of disturbance to the average indian. Here in Alaska many schools still have indian names that do seem a bit more appropriate since many of the players are indians themselves, but of course not all of them are. And there is a school with the nickname halfbreeds (Aniak) which takes immense pride in its name.
In the past I've seen many refer to fighting irish being on an equal level as indian names, but really it is not because irish-americans at Notre Dame were responsible for choosing the name (and the same for the Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens and New York Yankees - which was and in some circles still is a derogatory name). I doubt indians were involved in the choice of too many school nicknames.
In my view most of the nicknames and mascots should and could be looked at as sources of pride among tribes and possibly used (like it was and is in North Dakota) as a tie-in with the school/organization for education and support, but if the tribe (the whole tribe and not a few talking heads) is vehemently against it, I think it should be changed whether there is a legal right to keep it or not. In other words although I don't find it offensive, my opinion matters less than somebody who belongs to the Dakota/sioux tribe.
I just hope the polar bear activists don't start coming after the Nanooks and their mascot for giving polar bears a bad rap (in a destorying the world kind of way).
Kudos to anyone who makes it through this long, rambling post!
