Indian Country Today says, “It is unfortunate the Navajo Nation administration of Ben Shelly is so out of step with the Navajo people, particularly the young people, regarding this issue. Obviously, offensive cultural appropriation done by non-Native fans of Native Mascots does not generally include Navajo culture. We do not see them performing Sand Paintings at halftime or dressed like Yeii, but we should understand that most Americans are unable to differentiate between tribes enough to understand that and that Navajo children, two-thirds of whom live off the reservation, are subjected to these ignorant ideas about who they are as Native Americans.”
Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly was seated next to Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder at the team’s Week 6 match-up against the Cardinals. Shelly was wearing a hat emblazoned with the recently-controversial team logo, as he sat in a suite at University of Phoenix Stadium.
The irony, Sporting News notes, is that the Navajo Nation voted against the use of the name earlier this year.
But this isn’t the first time the Navajo Nation has been connected to Snyder and the Redskins. The two have met on several occasions, and the Navajo Nation radio station hosted a golf tournament that was sponsored by Daniel Snyder’s Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation.
The Inquisitr has followed the controversy, highlighting the former Chicago Bears player and coach’s sentiments shared with The Redskins Historian.
“What’s all the stink over the Redskins name? It’s so much horse [expletive], it’s incredible. We’re going to let the liberals of the world run this world. It was said out of reverence, out of pride to the American Indian. Even though it was called a Redskin, what are you going to call them, a Brownskin? This is so stupid it’s appalling, and I hope that owner keeps fighting for it and never changes it, because the Redskins are part of an American football history, and it should never be anything but the Washington Redskins. That’s the way it is.”
The article also shared the opposing perspective from Mike Carey, the NFL referee who asked not to be scheduled to officiate Washington games. His request dates back to 2006, of which he said, “The league respectfully honored my request not to officiate Washington. It happened sometime after I refereed their playoff game in 2006, I think. It just became clear to me that to be in the middle of the field, where something disrespectful is happening, was probably not the best thing for me.”