Critical Mass

The College of William and Mary has joined the growing number of higher education institutions in this country forced to buckle under NCAA rulings about inappropriate athletics mascots or logos - inappropriate in this case because the logo might have offended some Native Americans (to use PC terms).  William and Mary has decided to drop the two feathers protruding from the letters WM  in their athletics logo (seen at the top of this page) because of the NCAA's policy against using "American Indian mascots, names and imagery."  But even local First Peoples don't have a problem with the logo:

William P. "Bill" Miles, chief of the Pamunkey Indians, whose reservation is in King William County, said he was unaware of any American Indian tribes that objected to the W&M logo, but believed that there may have been some.

"I guess if I had a reaction [to W&M dropping the feathered logo], it would be that there are some natives that are sensitive to the feathers," he said.

And some are not, including you, Mr. Miles! 

Gene Nichol, president of W&M, has a letter on the website explaining the college's decision, and celebrating the fact that "the Committee concluded that the College’s use of the term 'Tribe' reflects our community’s sense of shared commitment and common purpose," and so was allowed to keep the nickname.  Again, local Native Americans weigh in:

"It's a tribe. We root for those," Gertrude Minnie-Ha-Ha Custalow, historian for the Mattaponi Tribe, which lives on a reservation in King William, said in April 2005.

"I've never heard of any other tribes who think it's improper. You know, sometimes this type of thing can get a little bit ridiculous."

 But perhaps the most telling quote of all:

Miles, chief of the Pamunkey Indians, had downplayed the issue last year.

"When we take care of some of the poverty and crime and drug problems and that sort of thing in this country, then we'll worry about names," he said.

 No frigging kidding.

Now, I must confess, I am not American Indian, Native American, Indian, a First People, however you want to put it (well, actually I am, but not to a significant degree) so I probably come at this with some biases.  I have spent a fair amount of time on reservations, however, both in nearby Oklahoma and in South Dakota, and it has been my experience that what Native Americans need is not modified sports logos; it is direction, purpose, unification, and escape from the cycles of "poverty and crime and drug problems," as Miles put it.  Perhaps if we cared a little more about those things in the first place, situations like these might work themselves out a little easier.

I'm Irish; do I have a problem with Notre Dame's Fighting Irishmen?  Not in the least.  I kind of like it, actually.  It hearkens back to a celebrated group of people in whom I happen to find my ancestry.  Plus, they happen to have a pretty good football team.