Washington Football Team's Future to Include No Connection to Native Imagery

WASHINGTON - The Washington Football Team on Monday announced that its new team name, and associated imagery, will have no reference to Native American imagery, names, or culture.

The announcement came a year after Washington announced it would be dropping its "Redsk!ns" name and logo on Washington's website, after years of criticism by Native leaders, allies, and organizations. The Washington National Football League's team hasn't officially made a decision on its new team name, but the announcement is seen as a step in the right direction.

"A year ago, they gave in to the reckoning and dropped the 'R' word," Suzan Shown Harjo said to Native News Online. "So, after a year of listening to us, the consensus has been, 'leave us alone and move on from using Native imagery.'" Harjo is Cheyenne and Muscogee Creek and winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her service to Native people. In 1992, she petitioned the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to cancel the trademarked image and name used by the Washington Redskins football team. The claim cited that the name was disparaging to Native Americans.

https://nativenewsonline.net/currents/washington-football-team-s-future-to-include-no-connection-to-native-imagery