The NFL has had a long and sordid history with Native Americans since the inception of the league. As we move past 100 years of the NFL, it’s important to reflect on where we are in 2023. It’s, of course, a mixed bag. Some things that haven’t changed yet will have you scratching your head, and others are heartwarming surprises. So where are we?
Good News Is The Best News
Native American Super Bowl Scores In 2023
The Super Bowl at the tail end of the 2022–2023 season was a victory for Kansas City and Native American culture. It is remarkable that the NFL acknowledged that the land on which the Super Bowl was played was previously Native American land for the first time. Here are some other ways that cultural influences were demonstrated during the event:
Sign-Language
In Arizona, the Navajo language is the third most commonly spoken language in the state.
Colin Denny of the Navajo Nation is a graduate student and research assistant at the University of Arizona in the College of Education. Denny is deaf and often felt isolated growing up due to a lack of resources for students who couldn’t hear.
Colin Denny on the job (JOHN G MABANGLO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock),
He felt the opportunity to perform was critical at the Super Bowl, saying via an interpreter, “I just want to be able to inspire and empower those who are on their own to look around and see that there are other people out there who are just like them, and to not feel so isolated or lonely. I want them to see me on that stage and see that I’m representing them.”
Denny used a blend of American Sign Language and North American Indian Sign Language during the “pre-kick” show.
Artistic Touch
Native American art was present from more than one artist in several different ways during the event.
Navajo artist Randy Barton created digital art for the event and endzone and ribbon designs.
Randy Barton was on the big stage at the Bowl’s opening night at the Footprint Center in Arizona (Photo by Dalton Walker, ICT).
Chicana and Native American artist Lucinda Hinojos of Yaqui, Chiricahua Apache, White Mountain Apache, and Akimel O’Odham descent also created super-bowl art. Most notably, her art was displayed on each Super Bowl ticket and on a football that she worked with Wilson Sporting Goods to create.
Dance
The NFL collaborated with the Indigenous Enterprise, a group of North and South American Indigenous people who do dances that celebrate the culture of their members.
The Super Bowl had dancers scheduled to do three separate performances outside of the State Farm Stadium while guests were welcomed into the game.
Important Representation Of Native Americans Players
At the Super Bowl itself, there were two Native American players in the game.
Native American James Winchester (#41) and Creed Humphrey (#52) with other NFL players from The University of Oklahoma (Creed Humphrey/NFL).
James Winchester of the Choctaw nation of Oklahoma is a long-snapper for the Chiefs. He has already played in three Super Bowls and is still playing for Kansas City in the 2023–2024 season.
What did Winchester have to say about the experience? “For me, honestly, I think it’s just exciting. It represents something bigger than myself. It represents the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and so many back home with my family and friends that I love and appreciate. It’s such a cool thing to represent a nation and my family, so that’s probably what means the most to me to play in the Super Bowl.”
Creed Humphrey is in his first Super Bowl ever. Humphrey hails from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and is the center for the Chiefs. Both in last year’s Super Bowl and this season.
There was also Native American representation on the referee side as well. Jerod Phillips of the Cherokee Nation officiated the game.
Jerod Phillips was a Super Bowl ref for the first time in 2023 (Peter Joneleit/AP Photo).
Outside of the Super Bowl, there are past players like Jim Thorpe, current players like Dak Prescott and Keenan Ellen, and up-and-coming players like Caleb Williams.
How Far We Haven’t Come
Despite incredible representation at the Super Bowl and in the NFL in general, there is still so much work to be done.
For example, a shop owner in Scottsdale, Arizona, purposely interrupted an ESPN Super Bowl promo, mocking the Native Americans being recorded. The owner faced three counts of disorderly conduct.
Why, Chiefs, Why?
The Kansas City Chiefs name is a problem, and there’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
Kansas City makes it abundantly clear that the source of the name is not Native American in origin (like it matters). Allegedly, the mayor of the city, H. Roe Bartle, was nicknamed “Chief,” and he was integral to bringing the former Dallas Texans to Kansas City. The name is in honor of the mayor.
The franchise was also able to find a group of Indigenous individuals that said change should occur, but the name should not. That’s all fine and good, but if the overwhelming majority of individuals feel differently, that matters. Several Indigenous advocacy groups and non-profits have raised impositions through things like the “Change the Name” campaign.
In 2005, the American Psychological Association called for “the immediate retirement of all American Indian mascots, symbols, images and personalities by schools, colleges, universities, athletic teams and organizations.” This is due to the negative effects on Native American children.
In another study, conducted in 2018, researchers found that using Native American mascots damages Native American children’s sense of community and self-worth.
Where else in society can a person do this? Why choose this for a football game? (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
If it hurts our children, that is a good enough reason to change the name. Children are our future, and we have to do the right thing for them, even if it’s “inconvenient,” “uncomfortable,” or “tradition.”
Even if the origin of the name is not Native American in nature, the fans missed the memo along with most of the rest of us NFL fans.
As of 2021, the Chiefs prohibited fans from entering the game with feathered headdresses or face paint (is this not 1821 or 1921, and not 2021? Surely no one does that?).
Warpaint, the horse mascot, was also retired in 2021.
Warpaint the horse with the original mascot horse-back rider Bob Johnson in his typical game garb (Local Kansas City History Buffs/Facebook).
Further work is being done on fake “war chants” from the fans and the infamous Tomahawk Chop.
Rhonda LeValdo, a professor at Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas, has been in protest of the chop for nearly 20 years. She feels that “they may not be intentionally making fun of our culture, but that’s what we take it as.”
Maybe the Kansas City Chiefs (who adopted the mascot, Warpaint) should let their fan base know that the team’s name is not Native American in origin, so the chop doesn’t make sense. That’ll change their minds!
If our sports traditions are hurting people, then we have to do better. The 31 other teams manage to have chants, cheers, symbols, and mascots that don’t appropriate the culture of Native American people or anyone else. Surely, the Chiefs can manage that too.
Several Indigenous Enterprise dancers at opening night (Noel Lyn Smith/ICT). A little positivity for the end of a somewhat somber article.
