...It was the Native Americans who first used the term “red” in order to differentiate between indigenous, white, and black people. When not referring to their individual and other tribes collectively, why would they use Indian, Native, or other adjectives to describe their obvious skin differences back then? Ives Goddard is a senior linguist at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of History. Goddard wrote the book, I am a Redskin: The Adoption of a Native American Expression (1769-1826) and notes the earliest uses of “red skin” were in recorded statements from Natives by the French who generally traded amicably with them. The French were careful to denote the “red” distinction was made by Natives themselves. By the time of the Phips Proclamation, according to Goddard, “red” to describe Natives was used “by both French and English…. Although Europeans sometimes used such expressions among themselves, however, they remained aware of the fact that this was originally and particularly a Native American usage.” Also citing Goddard in the recent article, “Before The Redskins Were The Redskins: The Use Of Native American Team Names In The Formative Era of American Sports, 1857-1944,” Professor of Law and historian J. Gordon Hylton writes about the term, “…throughout the nineteenth century, the term was essentially neutral when used by whites, reflecting neither a particularly positive or particularly negative connotation.” Even Sitting Bull once remarked, “I am a red man. If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man he would have made me so in the first place.” Regardless, over the years, the scalp-equals-redskin theory has gained traction as well-meaning people took Harjo’s word on the matter as fact—including ICTMN. In Montana last year, a Gros Ventre friend of mine, Nona Main, was invited to speak at a high school as they debated the fate of the Red Lodge Redskins mascot. To support the successful bid to retire the mascot, she spoke eloquently, "We are not asking you to change your religious beliefs or the language you speak. The change we ask for is minimal compared to the changes we have gone through." A letter addressed to the mostly white Red Lodge High School was from Native American Public Communications, Inc. Executive Director Shirley K. Sneve. Attached to the letter was a photocopy of an ICTNM article highlighting the Maine Indian Tribal State Commission’s struggle to change the Sanford High School Redskins’ name. With the Penobscot Nation being in Maine, the Phips Proclamation/redskin-equals-scalp theory was of course repeatedly mentioned during heated debates. The Sanford Redskins name was eventually retired on May 7 of this year. But after seeing what happened in Washington state—and the former Red Lodge Redskins mascot aside—I can’t help but think how the banning of all Native American-related mascots would go over in my home state of Montana. It’d undoubtedly be ironic seeing as the reservation schools have names like the Browning and Lodge Grass Indians, the Heart Butte and Pryor Warriors, as well as the off-reservation but predominately Northern Cheyenne attended school of the St. Labre Braves just to mention a few. Go figure, the Navajo school in Teec Nos Pos, Arizona is called the Red Mesa Redskins, and there’s a 2002 Chris Eyre film that takes place on the Pine Ridge Reservation called “Skins.” However, I still respect opinions that are against the term redskin, as it’s hard to imagine a white person seriously saying it without at least some condescension. So protest if you feel it collectively demeans Natives. I’m also annoyed by shirtless white guys putting on fake war paint and headdresses while mockingly chanting ‘Whoo whoo whoo!’ And although I don’t believe the redskins and scalp theory was contrived with devious intent, remember, in the study of history, one should not let their own passions of today override existing facts of the past just because they don’t fit our own modern version of political correctness. A lifelong Montana resident, Adrian Jawort is a freelance journalist, writer, and poet. A proud member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, he is a contributor to Indian Country Today Media Network as well as Native Peoples, Cowboys & Indians, and many other publications.
