MASCOTS

Institutions that use Native mascots often use symbols that are objectifying and dehumanizing, and often, but not always, purport false and distorted characterizations of Native peoples and the United States’ colonial history. In short, and most importantly, these representations usually do not mirror self-defined representations used and preferred by Native peoples.

Several professional organizations have called for a ban on Native mascots and the imagery and traditions that may stick around after their removal, including the American Psychological Association (2005) and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (2001). The National Collegiate Atheltic Association (NCAA) banned the use of Native mascots within their organization in 2005.

Several studies have shown that Native mascots increase non-Native peoples’ biases towards Native people. One study from 2023 that reports this finding also found that, among non-Native people, support for Native mascots is also associated with more prejudice against and less support for Native people. Prejudices and stereotypes from Native mascots may contribute to misconceptions that Native people are all gone, as they can imply to students, particularly young students, that all Indigenous people look like these distorted, sometimes caricature-like mascots, and so when they never encounter anyone who looks like that, they assume they don’t exist. Not only does this imagery harm Native peoples, but another study from 2010 showed that participants primed with Native mascot imagery increased their stereotyping of other minority ethnic groups as well.

Furthermore, many studies have shown the negative effects of Native mascots on Native students. For example, when exposed to images of Native mascots, Native students reported lower self-esteem, lower community worth, and limited confidence in their future aspirations according to one study from 2010, likely because they reminded Native students of the limited ways in which other people perceive them.