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This article focuses on two important concepts in the way many Indian mascots are treated in North American sports culture. The first is the deculturation process of stripping away the culture of an ethnic group by replacing them with images of the dominant group. The second concept is that of dysconscious racism-a form of racism that unconsciously accepts dominant white norms and privileges as played out as Indian mascots in North American sports culture. Educators need to be better informed about First Nations Peoples and their communities. Doing so will help them see that as long as such negative mascots and logos remain in the arena of school activities, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children are learning to tolerate racism in schools. What children see displayed at school and on television only reinforces the ethnic images projected by popular culture. This is precisely what sports teams with mascots and logos of First Nations Peoples teach them-that it is acceptable racism to demean a race or group of people through North American sports culture. This article challenges educators to provide the educational leadership That will teach a critical perspective of the deculturation process that takes place when Indian mascots are used in schoolrelated activities.
Introduction
Invented media images prevent millions of people from understanding the past and current authentic human experience of First Nations People. My response to the usage of Indian1 mascots for sports teams has always been a reaction to these trappings. Seasonal insults offend the intelligence of thousands of Indigenous Peoples in North America. This article speaks to the average educator and discusses how, as educators, we are responsible for maintaining the ethics of teaching and for helping to eliminate racism in all aspects of school life. According to Spring (1997), deculturation is the educational process of eliminating cultures. Many mascots represent stereotypical racist images that relegate Indigenous Peoples to a colonial representation of the historical past. The exploitation involved in the use of Indian mascots becomes an issue of decolonization and educational equity.
Dysconscious Racism
Why should educators know about the issues of Indian mascots, logos, nicknames, and the tomahawk chop? As someone who has spent his entire adult life teaching and administrating elementary schools for Indigenous children, I see that...