REGINA -- The review of some professional sports team that feature Indigenous logos and nicknames has spurred a similar conversation in Saskatchewan.
Lyle Daniels has long advocated for sports teams, both youth and professional, to drop Indigenous terms from their names.
“I was always torn whether or not they should use it,” said Daniels. “A lot of people used the names because they wanted to convey things like: First Nations people being strong, brave and that their warriors.”
“But in my view, Indigenous people were always portrayed in ways without the due respect of our community.”
In the recent weeks, Washington’s NFL franchise retired its controversial name. The Edmonton Eskimos have also been under scrutiny for its use of the Inuit term.
“Remember the Washington Redskins were around for 87 years,” said Daniels. “You think about the time, it’s in around when those type of names were used to describe who we are.”
Daniels says the antics by fans at events, like the Atlanta Braves’ tomahawk chop, are racist at the core – even if the fans do not know it.
“That is the most demeaning thing that I find is really difficult for me to watch and to handle. That’s why you won’t find me being a fan of any of those teams.”
In a tweet, Perry Bellegarde, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations voiced his support for the changing of the Edmonton Eskimos name.
Regina sports journalist Rob Vanstone says there has been a large shift in the way people view traditional terms.
“Maybe the marker that should be used is: if you were forming a team today, would you choose this label.”
For Regina, the dropping of Indigenous mascots is not new. In 2014, Balfour Colligate dropped its ‘Redmen’ mascot in favour of becoming the ‘Bears’. Daniels attended that high school when he was a teenager.
“As an athlete playing during that time, I didn’t cause any trouble because I was the only indigenous person playing sports for that high school,” said Daniels. “I didn’t want to rock the boat because I was trying to be accepted.”
Daniels wants people to stop selecting one view point in support of these team’s names. He wants the public to look at the views of the entire community.
“If there’s a large number of people that are against it, you need to really look at it and make the effort to make the change.”
Daniels said that regardless of what a team’s name was chosen to represent back then, the fight against systemic racism has one essential step – change these names.
