In late 1899, the Carlisle Indian boarding school athletes traveled from Pennsylvania to California - the longest cross-country trip of that time ever made by a football team - and the San Francisco Chronicle illustrated their expectations as to what these young gentlemen would look like: barefeet or moccasins, fringed leggings of no pants at all, and each with feathers in their hair and blankets across their shoulders. But what walked off the train were young men in modern clothing, carrying suitcases and - apparently surprising those of the newspaper - pretty much looking like everybody else.
To this day, the feather-in-the-hair, moccasin-wearing Indian image remains prevalent, even though it didn't match the Native person of that day any more than it matches the Native people of today.
It's amazing how the expectations remained, and the reality disappeared. Here is a comparison of the 1899 image up against the mascots and logos that came after it:
If you read through these old newspaper clippings, often the Native people wearing these outfits while playing a football or baseball game are usually on "exhibit," in a sense, as entertainment for non-Native people who want to see them play the more dangerous version while in loin clothes and barefoot.
This article epitomizes the problem with Native-themed images in sports. It proves that this image in no way reflects the reality of Native people then or today. It is based on what the dominate society WANTED the Indian to look like. If they really wanted to honor Native people, why would they stick with the expectation rather than the reality? Why aren't Native people reflected in modern clothing, or even in 1899 clothing?
It's because the appropriation of Native Americans has NOTHING to do with actual Native Americans. The people of 1899 - and 1999 - and now, 2014 - want to see them in feathers and, of course, tomahawks.
