TOPIC: This week the Native American Guardians Association filed a lawsuit against the Washington Commanders football team, alleging that despite overwhelming Native American support for the Red Skins, the team actually denied the group existed, dismissed petitions to change the name back, and ignored Native support. In other words, the Commanders organization got rid of the Indian, changed the name, then denied Native American’s their opinion, and published press releases claiming everyone loved the new team name. These are apparently the Washington White Skins. The Native American group, and others, say that the original logo “was never intended as a derogatory or offensive term but as a symbol of respect and admiration." It’s a very similar situation with Indigenous Peoples’ Day which was established by an old white racist President in 2021 to control the historical narrative.

Native Americans are often romanticized as being morally and culturally superior to barbaric outsiders who chose to destroy these innocent people living in harmony with nature. Such a notion is likewise accompanied by the idea that Europeans and Russians stole from Natives because they didn’t have a concept of the value of property or land. But how can you hold both of the previous beliefs - they don’t align. Natives absolutely knew the value of property and goods, and as James Cook said this was a major reason for conflict - Europeans, Russians, and Natives saw each other as savages and refused to give stuff away or trade at low prices. Many of the conflicts that did arise were a result of cultural misunderstandings and exploiters looking to make money. It’s like painting Native Americans as a singular entity and denying tribal and cultural differences in order to dismiss complex political and economic customs. Natives were, like Europeans and Russians (on the west coast), overhunting, overfishing, and destroying landscapes.

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