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“Imagining the Indian” Now Available on DVD and Streaming

“Imagining the Indian” Now Available on DVD and Streaming

Directed by Aviva Kempner (The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg) and Cheyenne filmmaker Ben West, Imagining The Indian is a comprehensive look at the movement to eradicate the words, images, and gestures that many Native Americans and their allies find harmful, demeaning, and offensive.

The film examines mascoting issues through archival footage and interviews with those involved in the fight. It shows how teams such as the Kansas City football team has refused to consider a change and brings a new attention and urgency to the issue.

See the film on DVD, Amazon Video, or Apple TV!

Bill would ban Native American mascots at Massachusetts public schools

Bill would ban Native American mascots at Massachusetts public schools

The 23 schools in Massachusetts that use an image of an indigenous person as their school mascot would have to start looking for new names and logos under a bill that advocates are hoping will get passed this session.

After years of contentious debate over Native American mascots in school districts, some indigenous activists say it’s time to take the decision out of local hands.

Native Americans hope Taylor Swift can help get tomahawk chop banned from Chiefs games

Native Americans hope Taylor Swift can help get tomahawk chop banned from Chiefs games

As romance rumors swirl around Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, a coalition of Native American leaders are hoping the pop star can help their cause against the tomahawk chop, a hand gesture they’ve been fighting to get banned from games for decades.

“We remain hopeful that an outside influence like Ms. Swift could be an ally for us in moving the conversation forward on why the chop is a racist act,” said a statement issued Monday by Not In Our Honor, a coalition of local Native American leaders and American Indian organizations in the Kansas City metro area.

Commanders owner on restoring the former name: ‘That ship has sailed.’

Commanders owner on restoring the former name: ‘That ship has sailed.’

The new owners of the Washington Commanders could opt for another name change, but they will not go back to using the team’s previous moniker, the Redskins.

“That ship has sailed,” Mitchell Rales, the top partner in Josh Harris’s ownership group, told a crowd of nearly 700 at a dinner hosted by David Rubenstein and the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. “We’re not going to re-litigate the past. We’re about the future. We’re about building the future and not having a divisive culture that we’re engaged in. We’re going to look at everything come the end of the year and think about a lot of different things and do a lot of testing and see what people think. And we’ll learn. The beauty is we have the time to look at all of this stuff intelligently and make fan-based decisions.”

Brave-Less New World

Brave-Less New World

Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American MascotingOnly once, in the nearly four years I lived in Washington, D.C., did I go to an NFL game. I was mostly indifferent to sports in general and to football in particular, but my girlfriend at the time was a rabid lifelong fan of the team there. It was the hardest ticket in town to get, so she was thrilled when she landed a pair somehow, during the 1991 season when they went on to win the Super Bowl.

What I remember is that when we walked in to the game on that very cold and cloudy November afternoon, a good-sized group of Native American protestors were drumming and chanting outside RFK Stadium. They were there, of course, in opposition to the team name and mascot.

Review: A pulsating documentary takes up ‘The Fight Against Native American Mascoting’

Review: A pulsating documentary takes up ‘The Fight Against Native American Mascoting’

Striving for meaningful visibility is hard enough for the marginalized Indigenous peoples of America without them having to also fight its spurious, racist flip side: the harmful stereotype industry of sports mascoting that keeps Native Americans in an Other-ized loop as a culturally disrespected and perpetually demeaned underclass.

The movement to get sports leagues, intransigent owners, and rabid fans to grasp the offensiveness in Native-themed team names, images and longstanding gestures — and harder yet, scrap them entirely — is the central subject of Ben West’s and Aviva Kempner’s pulsatingly argued, wide-ranging, and occasionally seething documentary “Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting.” Where movies and television have made the necessary changes onscreen (if not fully behind the camera), the sports world still clings to its affronts.

Review: A pulsating documentary takes up ‘The Fight Against Native American Mascoting’

The fight against Native American mascoting in sports: ‘You can still love your team and just hate the name’

The noise rumbles down from above like a booming sound wave at an athletic event. Doesn’t matter if it’s from Truist Park in Atlanta, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, or Doak S. Campbell Stadium on the campus of Florida State University.

What do these venues all have in common?

The Tomahawk Chop, that robotic arm movement to “honor” Native Americans all the while moaning some sort of call to battle for the fans.

Normalcy of tomahawk chop, Chiefs ‘war chant’ remains wrong and sickening | Opinion

Normalcy of tomahawk chop, Chiefs ‘war chant’ remains wrong and sickening | Opinion

About a half-hour before the Super Bowl 57 kickoff came the theme music, straight out of an Old West movie from the 1940s. And as the Kansas City Chiefs bolted out of the tunnel and onto the field at State Farm Stadium, they were greeted by arguably the most racist gesture demonstrated on the American sporting landscape: The tomahawk chop.

It was just like the scene at a Chiefs home game at Arrowhead Stadium.

And sadly, it was just as wrong and insensitive.

Press Coverage

Witness the films traction, as several news outlets, subject matter experts and concerned citizens voice their support.

‘It’s a public health issue’: inside the fight to change Native American mascots

‘It’s a public health issue’: inside the fight to change Native American mascots

The documentary film-maker Ben West hails from Washington DC, and thus grew up rooting for its football team. He wore the gear, watched the games, cheered on an organization named for a slur against Native Americans. Even as a kid, West, who is Cheyenne, felt the dissonance between the team he rooted for and the supposedly “honorific” idea it represented – that Native Americans were a symbol of war and violence, a costume to be donned in the name of gladiatorial sport. “Is that me on that helmet?” he recalled thinking. “Is that me on that jersey? And does that name have anything to do with me?”

‘It’s a public health issue’: inside the fight to change Native American mascots

Ahead of Super Bowl, filmmakers challenge ‘honor’ of Kansas City Chiefs name, Native mascots: ‘We are not OK with this’

As hundreds of thousands of football fans descend on Las Vegas for the Super Bowl this weekend, many Native American football fans will be bracing themselves for a familiar scenario they know, well, all too well — that is, tomahawk chops, plastic feather war bonnets and non-Native people beating a drum mimicking the same instrument used in sacred tribal ceremonies and celebrations.

That’s because going head-to-head Sunday with the San Francisco 49ers is a team that represents the last NFL holdout — and one of three remaining professional sports teams — to use Native American imagery in not only its team name but also its in-stadium practices: the Kansas City Chiefs. Read More

Documentary Calls Foul Against Racist Sports Mascots

Documentary Calls Foul Against Racist Sports Mascots

As fans cheer on the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, another group will also gather at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to make their voices heard: Not in Our Honor, a Kansas City coalition dedicated to ending the cultural appropriation of Native American people, plans to protest the AFC champions’ name, logo and chants.

The demonstration is part of a larger movement to eradicate Indigenous imagery throughout sports, an effort detailed in the documentary “Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting.” Co-produced by University of Maryland journalism Professor of the Practice and ESPN panelist Kevin Blackistone, it becomes available on Tuesday to stream on Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video.

“Imagining the Indian” Now Available on DVD and Streaming

“Imagining the Indian” Now Available on DVD and Streaming

Directed by Aviva Kempner (The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg) and Cheyenne filmmaker Ben West, Imagining The Indian is a comprehensive look at the movement to eradicate the words, images, and gestures that many Native Americans and their allies find harmful, demeaning, and offensive.

The film examines mascoting issues through archival footage and interviews with those involved in the fight. It shows how teams such as the Kansas City football team has refused to consider a change and brings a new attention and urgency to the issue.

See the film on DVD, Amazon Video, or Apple TV!

Native American mascoting documentary to be screened at McClung Museum

Native American mascoting documentary to be screened at McClung Museum

On Friday, Nov. 17, the Native American Student Association, in collaboration with Multicultural Student Life and the McClung Museum, is hosting a special screening of the documentary “Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting.” The gathering will commence at 5:30 p.m. at the Frank H. McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture. This evening promises not only a cinematic journey but also a live discussion with the film’s creators, Ben West and Yancey Burns.

Brave-Less New World

Brave-Less New World

Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American MascotingOnly once, in the nearly four years I lived in Washington, D.C., did I go to an NFL game. I was mostly indifferent to sports in general and to football in particular, but my girlfriend at the time was a rabid lifelong fan of the team there. It was the hardest ticket in town to get, so she was thrilled when she landed a pair somehow, during the 1991 season when they went on to win the Super Bowl.

What I remember is that when we walked in to the game on that very cold and cloudy November afternoon, a good-sized group of Native American protestors were drumming and chanting outside RFK Stadium. They were there, of course, in opposition to the team name and mascot.

Review: A pulsating documentary takes up ‘The Fight Against Native American Mascoting’

Review: A pulsating documentary takes up ‘The Fight Against Native American Mascoting’

Striving for meaningful visibility is hard enough for the marginalized Indigenous peoples of America without them having to also fight its spurious, racist flip side: the harmful stereotype industry of sports mascoting that keeps Native Americans in an Other-ized loop as a culturally disrespected and perpetually demeaned underclass.

The movement to get sports leagues, intransigent owners, and rabid fans to grasp the offensiveness in Native-themed team names, images and longstanding gestures — and harder yet, scrap them entirely — is the central subject of Ben West’s and Aviva Kempner’s pulsatingly argued, wide-ranging, and occasionally seething documentary “Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting.” Where movies and television have made the necessary changes onscreen (if not fully behind the camera), the sports world still clings to its affronts.

Review: A pulsating documentary takes up ‘The Fight Against Native American Mascoting’

The fight against Native American mascoting in sports: ‘You can still love your team and just hate the name’

The noise rumbles down from above like a booming sound wave at an athletic event. Doesn’t matter if it’s from Truist Park in Atlanta, Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, or Doak S. Campbell Stadium on the campus of Florida State University.

What do these venues all have in common?

The Tomahawk Chop, that robotic arm movement to “honor” Native Americans all the while moaning some sort of call to battle for the fans.

IMAGINING THE INDIAN – Promoting the ‘R’ Word

IMAGINING THE INDIAN – Promoting the ‘R’ Word

This emotionally charged documentary tells a tale that started 800 years ago. At this time, the citizens of 500 Indian nations were the only ones who called the US home. When their sovereignty was stolen, so their fight began. And they have been fighting ever since.

“It’s time for a reckoning.”

“This is an important subject and an important film.”

“Racial slurs shouldn’t be a regular part of everyday conversations, let alone cherished and institutionalized. It’s time for sports fans to open their eyes.”

Tribal Council

Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation
Northern California

Committed to
Our Mission

Our goal is to raise awareness of the issue of Native American Mascoting, expand the understanding, and appreciation, of Native American culture, and empower a movement towards widespread social sensitivity.

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Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation

Lead Executive Producer  |  Website

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians 

Executive Producer  |  Website

Jessica and Steve Sarowitz

Co-Executive Producer 

Aviva Kempner

Director & Producer  |  View Bio

Ben West

Director & Producer |  View Bio

Sam Bardley

Producer  |  View Bio

Kevin Blackistone

Producer  |  View Bio

Barbara Ballow

Editor  |  View Bio

Yancey Burns

Producer  |  View Bio

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