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List of sports team names and mascots derived from indigenous peoples


While the history of colonization and marginalization is not unique to the Americas, the practice of deriving sports team names, imagery, and mascots from indigenous peoples of North America is a significant phenomena in the United States and Canada. The rise of indigenous rights movements in these counties has also led to controversy regarding the continuation of practices rooted in colonialism. Such practices maintain the power relationship between the dominant culture and the indigenous culture, and can be seen as a form of cultural imperialism. Such practices are seen as particularly harmful in schools and universities, which have the a stated purpose of promoting ethnic diversity and inclusion. In recognition of the responsibility of higher education to eliminate behaviors that creates a hostile environment for education, in 2005 the NCAA initiated a policy against "hostile and abusive" names and mascots that led to the change of many derived from Native American culture, with the exception of those that established an agreement with particular tribes for the use of their specific names. Other schools retain their names because they were founded for the education of Native Americans, and continue to have a significant number of indigenous students. In other former colonies in Asia, Africa and South America, the adoption of indigenous names for majority indigenous teams is also found. However, there are also a number of teams outside the Americas with team names derived from Native Americans.

The trend towards the elimination of indigenous names and mascots in local schools has been steady, with two thirds having been eliminated over the past 50 years according to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). In a few states with significant Native American populations, change has been mandated by law, such in Wisconsin,Oregon, and Washington.

While there are team names derived from immigrant/settler groups, such as the Boston Celtics, the University of Notre Dame "Fighting Irish" and the Minnesota Vikings (the latter name was selected in reference to the Scandinavian settlers of that region), none of which are indigenous. The Irish and other ethnic groups in America were sometimes subject to marginalization, but not colonization. Colonization of the Celtic peoples in their native lands by the English did occur, but lies outside of the scope of this article.


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