Racist Stereotypes and Cultural Appropriation in American Sports
Thursday, November 1, 2012, 10:00 am – 5:45 p.m.
Rasmuson Theater
National Museum of the American Indian
4th Street and Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C.
Join commentators, scholars, authors, and representatives from sports organizations for a series of panel discussions on racist stereotypes and cultural appropriation in American sports. Explore the mythology and psychology of sports stereotypes and mascots, examine the retirement of “Native American” sports references and collegiate efforts to revive them despite the NCAA’s policy against “hostile and abusive” names and symbols, and engage in a lively “community conversation” about the name and logo of the Washington, D.C. professional football organization. A reception will follow immediately after the symposium.
To RSVP or for further information, please contact NMAI-SSP@si.edu.
Live webcast at: http://nmai.si.edu/multimedia/webcasts/.
PROGRAM
Welcome
10:00 a.m.
Hon. Kevin Gover, Esq., Director, National Museum of the American Indian
Mascot Origin Myths
10:15 a.m.
Dr. Manley A. Begay, Jr., Moderator. Associate Social Scientist/Senior Lecturer, American Indian Studies Program, The University of Arizona; and Co-Director, Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Dr. C. Richard King, Co-Editor, Team Spirits, Native Athletes in Sport and Society, and Encyclopedia of Native Americans in Sports; and Professor and Chair, Department of Critical Gender & Race Studies, Washington State University
Dr. Ellen Staurowsky, Professor, Department of Sport Management, Goodwin School of Professional Studies, Drexel University
Ms. Linda M. Waggoner, Author, Fire Light: The Life of Angel De Cora, Winnebago Artist, and Editor, “Neither White Men Nor Indians”: Affidavits from the Winnebago Mixed-Blood Claim Commissions, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, 1838-1839
Lunch on your own
12:15 p.m.
Case Studies
1:30 p.m.
Dr. Suzan Shown Harjo, Moderator. President, The Morning Star Institute; Past Executive Director, National Congress of American Indians; and a Founding Trustee, National Museum of the American Indian
Dr. Jerry C. Bread, Sr., Outreach Coordinator, Facilitator and Adjunct Associate Professor, Native American Studies, The University of Oklahoma
Ms. Lois J. Risling, Educator and Land Specialist for the Hoopa Valley Tribes; and Retired Director, Center for Indian Community Development, Humboldt State University
N. Bruce Duthu, Esq., Chair and Professor, Native American Studies, Dartmouth College
Hon. Oren Lyons, Council of Chiefs, Onondaga Nation, and SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and Professor Emeritus of American Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Buffalo
Delise O’Meally, Esq., Director of Governance and International Affairs, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
Break
3:30 p.m.
A Community Conversation
3:45 p.m.
Dr. Philip J. Deloria, Moderator. Author, Playing Indian and Indians in Unexpected Places; Professor, History and American Studies, and Associate Dean, Undergraduate Education, College of Literature, Science and the Arts, University of Michigan
Hon. Judith Bartnoff, Esq., Deputy Presiding Judge, Civil Division, District of Columbia Superior Court
Rev. Graylan Hagler, Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, and Immediate Past President, Ministers for Racial, Social and Economic Justice
Mr. Robert I. Holden, Deputy Director, National Congress of American Indians
Mr. Mike Wise, Sports Columnist, The Washington Post
Turtle Talk 
Now that EMU has brought back it’s ‘Huron’ not as a mascot, but a ‘historical symbol’ on the band uniforms, I hope that comes up for discussion.