Native Americans respond to Washington Commanders' new polarizing logo

NAGA “is pleased to see the Washington Commanders incorporate a Native spear into their new logo design,'' Clayton-Anderson said in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports. "It’s encouraging to have a small piece of Native imagery represented again, honoring the deep connection between Native heritage and America’s sports traditions.’’

But another Native American group and other prominent people in Native American communities said they objected to the new logo.

Not In Our Honor, formed in 2005 by Native American college students to advocate against the use of Native American imagery in sports, said it didn’t find the logo acceptable or appropriate.

“They are backsliding from the correct decision to stop the Native American cultural appropriation,’’ Not In Our Honor said in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports. “…The spear on their helmet has no place with the new name and brand.’’

Marcus Briggs-Cloud, an Indigenous Maskoke scholar and language teacher, said the logo does not reflect the Maskoke People's core values, such as love, humility, meekness and truth.

“But publicly highlighting those virtues, which are rendered in our language, would not support some people's desire to uphold the raging Indigenous noble savage imagery in American sports arenas,’’ Briggs-Cloud wrote in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports.

Of the new logo, Briggs-Cloud also wrote, “The image harkens back to European contrived imaginaries of the noble savage that reduce Indigenous Peoples to identities rooted in violence.’’

Could logo cause harm?

Stephanie Fryberg, a social psychologist whose research has included social representations of Native Americans, suggested the new logo will cause harm.

“The reintroduction of imagery and language tied to the team’s former identity is a step backward,’’ Fryberg said in a statement provided to USA TODAY Sports. “Research has long shown that Native-themed mascots and symbols cause psychological harm, particularly to Native youth, by reinforcing stereotypes and contributing to the ongoing erasure of Native peoples in contemporary society….

“True progress means moving beyond harmful representations.’’

Philip Deloria, a Harvard professor of history whose research and teaching focus in part on relations among American Indian peoples and the United States, said by email it's "a shame that they decided to make this move.''

"They’d successfully rebranded and so why rebrand again?'' Deloria continued. "It let’s us see what they really want, which seems to be an incremental resurrection of a history that they could have gotten past—if they’d wanted to.''

Deloria also took issue with the team, stating “the spearhead symbolizes those leading the fight.”

"Symbols don’t work that way,'' Deloria wrote. "They are collectively created, transmitted, and interpreted, not invented by a marketing team.  So that statement is essentially meaningless. ...It’s just part of the long history of the team making up excuses and justifications for what has long been a racist practice.''

Harjo, who was involved in the lawsuits filed in 1992, began rooting for the team after the old mascot was retired. But now there's the new logo.

“Although I support the Commanders,’’ she said, “it may not be anymore.’’

"The spear is alive and well'

The new logo was part of new uniforms, and Commanders president Mark Clouse addressed the changes during an interview with Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier during their daily afternoon show on 106.7 The Fan (WJFK-FM) in Washington, D.C.

“Well, certainly we had a lot of discussion about the utilization of the spear and the alternate uniform,’’ Clouse said. “…And the spear became just this really interesting icon that you saw us utilize in a variety of things last year and in our marketing. And then bringing it to the uniform was really the next logical step.’’

Although Clouse did not directly address criticism of the spear, he did say, “And look, I know we're not always going to make everybody happy. And what I can say for fans is we really do listen. We care.’’

But don’t expect the spears to disappear.

“…We will continue to find ways to integrate it,’’ Clouse said. “We love it. Cooking up this ecosystem that we've built for the Commanders, that's probably best described as some intersection of the movie '300' and 'Game of Thrones,' the spear is alive and well in that environment. So expect to continue to see that in a variety of different ways.’’

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Commanders' new logo sparks response from Native American groups