The Legal Frontier of Native American Team Names

Legal Brief

When the Washington Redskins pro football franchise changed its name last year after many years of vocal opposition, it underscored the longstanding debate over Native American team names, mascots and logos in sports.

In New Jersey, where I represent school districts across the state, about 20 Indians, Chiefs and Braves team names exist among our roughly 600 public high schools. In some towns, it’s not been raised as an issue. In others, it’s a community relations nightmare.

Opponents of such names contend that appropriation of Native American symbols and personalities is disrespectful and sends the wrong message to students of all backgrounds. They point to research from the American Psychological Association citing the negative effect on self-esteem of American Indian children. To supporters, these symbols have been bound up in the very identity of the school district for generations and honor the nation’s indigenous peoples, not demean them.

Relevant history or context may weigh against a one-size-fits-all policy. In one northern New Jersey district, legend has it that its high school teams were named the Chiefs to honor an athletic director from the 1930s who was bestowed that very title by a Native American tribe he invited to the high school to educate the school community. Then there are the numerous tribal high schools across the country where the student body has authentic cultural ties to that heritage.