Hundreds of Native Americans expected to protest Redskins name at Vikings game
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Version 0 of 1. MINNEAPOLIS — Hundreds of Native Americans are expected to gather here Sunday morning to stage what could be the largest-ever protest against the name of the Washington Redskins. Native American leaders, student organizations and other activists have been preparing for weeks to rally at an American Indian community center, then march two miles to the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium, where the Redskins will face the Minnesota Vikings at 1 p.m. A Facebook page — #NotYourMascot Global Convergence, Rally & March — indicates that 12,000 people have been invited to participate, and 1,300 have pledged to attend. Last November, when the Vikings hosted the Redskins for the first time since 2007 at the now-demolished Metrodome, more than 700 people protested outside. The protest, scheduled for the hours leading up to kickoff, will include speeches from Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), Ray Halbritter of the Oneida Indian Nation and Navajo Nation activist Amanda Blackhorse, all of whom have played prominent roles in the movement to change the name. They consider the moniker a deeply offensive racial slur, while Redskins owner Daniel Snyder argues it honors Native Americans and has vowed never to change it. Controversy has swirled around the Vikings game for months because of demands by the University of Minnesota to limit use of the team name and logo inside the stadium. It remains unclear whether the Vikings will honor that request in its game-day materials and public address announcements. School officials have insisted they can’t dictate behavior to the Vikings organization, which is paying the university $300,000 a game to use the stadium while its new facility in Minneapolis is being built. One of the protest’s organizers said he doesn’t believe the demonstration will spill into the stadium or affect the game. “We don’t look to have any kind of disturbance. If it happens, it won’t be because of the coalition,” said David Glass, president of the National Coalition Against Racism in Sports and Media, which is based in Minneapolis. Unlike many NFL cities where Native Americans have little presence, their influence in the Twin Cities — and throughout Minnesota — is robust. TCF Bank Stadium was built with the help of a $10 million donation from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. At the time, it was largest private gift ever to Gophers athletics. The stadium features a plaza that honors Minnesota’s 11 federally recognized tribes. More than 1,100 students throughout the University of Minnesota system identify themselves as Native Americans. The school has an American Indian Student Cultural Center and a Department of American Indian Studies. According to its Web site, the university has produced more Native American physicians than any other medical school in the country but one. More than a decade ago, well before the NCAA restricted use of ethnic mascots and nicknames, the university adopted a policy requiring its athletic department to “make every effort to avoid scheduling home events with schools that use Native American mascots.” |