No More Indian Mascots Allowed? Are they demeaning or empowering?

**gazhekwe** · February-09-13, 10:08 AM

Coracle, I happen to be Native and grew up in a world of stereotypes. They are leveled at us daily and completely unknowingly by both children and adults. They just "expect" us to be that way, and if we aren't then we obviously aren't "real Indians". That you believe yourself to be free of stereotypes is refreshing, but probably not actually true, as most people do not realize their understanding is based on stereotypes until they spend time learning more about the people concerned.

Wheels, as far as Pontiac, the original image was actually quite accurate, and it depicted an individual in history, without any of the "woo woo woo" mouth tapping and dancing around. Pontiac, in his lifetime, actually did wear a fur headdress maybe with a feather straight back as shown in the original image. There was nothing associated with the town or the car that discussed any personal attributes of Pontiac or the Odawa people. There was no "mascot" paraded around to show how ferocious Pontiac was. He was actually a master strategist, which no one would ever learn from the motor company image, but they did not depict him as a blood dripping, tomahawk wielding warrior, either. In our age, the name was all that remained, and could just as well refer to the town of Pontiac, for all most people know history.