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Let's not stop the madness with native mascots. Don't you think PETA should get involved? What kind of negative stereotypes are we enforcing when we name our teams The Bears, The Lions or The Wolverines? Haven't these creatures suffered enough at our hands?

Mercilessly hunted to the brink of extinction, tigers now have to suffer the humiliation of having a baseball team named after them. Eagles were nearly wiped out by our use of pesticides that weakened the shells of their eggs. How many mother eagles suffered through the stillbirth of a chick? That's not enough suffering? We have to name a football team after them? When is enough enough?

Yes, okay, I'm being facetious. But the point I'm trying to make is naming a sports team is not at all related to any harm done to the namesake. Does anyone think that the New England Patriots named their team with the intention of insulting the memory of the people who lost their lives birthing this nation? If the Daughters of the Revolution proposed this idea it might cause a chuckle but there wouldn't be any uproar to change the team's name.

It's a compliment to be the namesake of a sports team. In naming a team one searches for a totem possessing qualities the team aspires to. Names are chosen to invoke courage, strength, speed or tenacity.

Often the team tries to tie itself to some aspect of it's home town or home state. The Steelers of Pittsburgh are an example of this. My grandfather worked 42 years for U.S. Steel. Do you think his memory is being insulted by the NFL? Where is the outcry for this son of immigrants who slaved 42 years making steel only to have a football team make a mockery of his life? There is no outcry because we understand the implication is that steelworkers are tough and so is the football team. This concept is easily understood until native mascots are mentioned and then it becomes difficult for some people to grasp.

Somehow they decide naming a team the Vikings is okay but naming a team the Blackhawks is insulting. Being called a Celtic is good. Being called a Brave is bad. Yankee, good. Warrior, bad.

If someone is looking for a cause and the best they can come up with is this one, they need to look harder. Or they need to see this problem from a larger perspective. Native Americans face health issues such as suffering from TB, Alcoholism and diabetes at rates 5 or 6 times higher than other ethnic groups. Homicide and suicide rates are dramatically higher among Native Americans than among the general population. The percentage of Native Americans living below the poverty level is double the rate of the general population.

If your father was a ranch hand in Wyoming and he was suffering with diabetes and tuberculosis would you be in Dallas picketing at a Cowboys football game? Someone very wise once said you should remove the beam from your own eye before you try to take the splinter out of someone else's.

Learn more about this author, Charles Popielarz.
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