Notable Quotes

Views on stereotypes, symbols, and Native Americans.

"Indians seem to live ... outside time and history. No matter how much time passes, Indians are expected to remain aboriginal."

[He rejects performances that] "hearken back to almost a Disney-esque, Bambi kind of cultural perspective of what we used to be. I can't do that. I don't live there now, I will never live there and I will never tread in the past."

"Indian mascots and logos are how non-Native people view and remember the Native peoples of this nation. The aggressive acts and parodies performed by athletic team mascots and participating fans perpetuate ... myths that Native Americans were uncivilized peoples constantly involved in warlike activities."

"It is almost as if a culture that is literally saturated with allusions to fictional Indians had no interest in living Indians at all."

"Although many students view Chief Illiniwek in positive terms, he is nonetheless a stereotype that hinders our understanding of American Indian history and culture."

"Mascots playing dress up and want-a-be Indian are sadly sometimes the only representation other cultures see of us. It's stereotypes like Chief Illiniwek that keep Native Americans from being respected at schools and work."

"I find the Chief Illiniwek hurtful ... stereotypical, demeaning and dehumanizing."

"I don't think that this school would allow images of African Americans such as ... black Sambo dancing at half-time. We wouldn't have a Mexican in a serape and a sombrero dancing at half-time."

"Chief Illiniwek is not keeping Native culture alive, he is keeping a stereotype alive."

Stereotypes and symbolism:
Images can Hurt

What do you think of white people?

It's a simple enough question. "There are all sorts", you might say. Indeed, Hitler was white. Mario Cuomo still is. Perhaps you don't hold stereotypes of your race; rest assured that others may well have stereotypes of you.

Native Americans face extraordinarily powerful stereotypes. These include the "Good Indian": handsome, calm, dignified, brave - as well as the "Bad Indian": lazy and lecherous, constantly on the warpath. (Spindel).

Native American stereotypes are well entrenched, and perpetuate the image of the Indian of over 100 years ago. The images were created by "Generations of Wild West shows and Hollywood films" (Bordewich).

Once in place, stereotypes tend to have a life of their own. "Many interactions between American Indians and non-Indians serve to affirm stereotypes because people are looking for information to confirm their stereotypes", write authors Poupart and Becker.

This image also carries power and control over Native people, by changing the social environment around them. "Stereotyping and power are mutually reinforcing", writes Cornel Pewewardy, "because stereotyping itself exerts control, maintaining and justifying the status quo."

Such is the power and persistence of the non-Indian stereotype of Native Americans that historian Robert Berkhofer coined the phrase White Man's Indian - "the Indian of the Euro-American imagination." (Bordewich).

Where do we go from here? Imagery such as the Chief helps keep us rooted in the past - the mid-nineteenth century past.

We must move on from symbols such as the Chief.

Only by abandoning many long-held, often lovingly-held, myths and fantasies ... will we become able to shape a healthy national policy for peoples whose real life is far more complex, and interesting, than our persistent fantasies." (Bordewich).

The Chief is rooted in the past. He is a symbol and powerful stereotype of Native American life in the mid 1800's. Continuing use of the Chief as a University of Illinois symbol perpetuates an outdated image which tends to place today's Native Americans in the distant past, and which reinforces that outdated image in the eyes of non-Indians.

It is time - actually, it is past time. Isn't it time to retire the Chief? •

Let's do the right thing ... Retire the Chief