In response to President Donald Trump’s public threat to block a new stadium deal unless the Washington Commanders reinstate their former name and his demand that the Cleveland Guardians also revert back, the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) unequivocally opposes any effort to revive racist mascots that demean Indigenous communities. Since 1950, NCAI’s priorities have included the eradication of harmful, unsanctioned Native “themed” mascots and propaganda. 

“Any attempt to distract by invoking our names and purporting to speak for our communities is an affront to tribal sovereignty and is not taken lightly. For seventy-five years, NCAI has held an unbroken voice: Imagery and fan behaviors that mock, demean, and dehumanize Native people have no place in modern society. NCAI will continue to stand in support of the dignity and humanity of Native peoples,” said NCAI President Mark Macarro. 

In May of this year, NCAI Executive Director Larry Wright, Jr., responded to a mascot-related decision by the Department of Education, noting “our youth deserve to see themselves treated with dignity, not as punchlines or cartoonish relics of the past. The continued defense of these mascots is a refusal to confront racism. Enough is enough.” 

In July 2020, NCAI commended the Washington Commanders for “eliminating a brand that disrespected, demeaned, and stereotyped all Native people.” In July 2021, NCAI commended the Cleveland Guardians for “[taking an] important step forward in healing the harms its former mascot long caused Native people, in particular Native youth.” Our position and that of Indian Country broadly — rooted in unanimously passed resolutions reflecting the perspectives of hundreds of tribal nations — has not changed. 

Tribal governments have been outspoken and unambiguous on this issue for generations. Contrary to President Trump’s assertion that “[o]ur great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen,” Indian Country has repeatedly come together to condemn the unsanctioned use of harmful Native “themed” mascots, particularly those which sexualize, stereotype, or dehumanize American Indian and Alaska Native people. 

Conditioning federal policy or development deals on the revival of racist language contradicts the government’s responsibility to uphold tribal rights and dignity, threatens the integrity of lawful governance, and opens the door to further discriminatory policy demands. We are not your mascot. We are not your distraction.