Sports Cultural appropriation

the washington redskins logo in maryland

while history of colonization , marginalization not unique americas, practice of non-native sports teams deriving team names, imagery, , mascots indigenous peoples still common in united states , canada, , has persisted extent despite protests indigenous groups. cornel pewewardy, professor , director of indigenous nations studies @ portland state university, cites indigenous mascots example of dysconscious racism which, placing images of native american or first nations people invented media context, continues maintain superiority of dominant culture. argued such practices maintain power relationship between dominant culture , indigenous culture, , can seen form of cultural imperialism.

such practices may seen particularly harmful in schools , universities have stated purpose of promoting ethnic diversity , inclusion. in recognition of responsibility of higher education eliminate behaviors create hostile environment education, in 2005 ncaa initiated policy against hostile , abusive names , mascots led change of many derived native american culture, exception of established agreement particular tribes use of specific names. other schools retain names because founded education of native americans, , continue have significant number of indigenous students. trend towards elimination of indigenous names , mascots in local schools has been steady, 2 thirds having been eliminated on past 50 years according national congress of american indians (ncai).

while native americans , tribes object depictions sports mascots, 1 tribe explicitly approves of such representations. florida state seminoles use iconography of seminole tribe. mascots osceola , renegade, depictions of seminole chief osceola , appaloosa horse. after ncaa attempted ban use of native american names , iconography in college sports in 2005, seminole tribe of florida passed resolution offering explicit support fsu s use of seminole culture , osceola mascot; university granted waiver, citing close relationship , consultation between team , tribe. in 2013, tribe s chairman objected outsiders meddling in tribal approval, stating fsu mascot , use of seminole iconography represents courage of people here , still here, known unconquered seminoles. conversely, in 2013, seminole nation of oklahoma expressed disapproval of use of american indian sports-team mascots in public school system, college , university level , professional sports teams , , not members of tribe s florida branch supportive of stance.

in other former colonies in asia, africa, , south america, adoption of indigenous names majority indigenous teams found. there ethnicity-related team names derived prominent immigrant populations in area, such boston celtics, notre dame fighting irish, , minnesota vikings.

the blacks have performed traditional haka dance (an element of māori culture) @ start of of matches since @ least 1905, though significant part of matches (certainly earlier ones) did not have any, let alone majority, of indigenous players.

the 2018 commonwealth games held on gold coast in australia 4 april 2018 has named mascot borobi, local yugambeh word koala, , has sought trademark word through ip australia. application being opposed yugambeh cultural heritage organisation, argues games organising committee used word without proper consultation yugambeh people.