Post by Okwes on Feb 28, 2007 16:33:13 GMT -5
Bonding Over a Mascot
Phil Sears for The New York Times
Toni Sanchez, a student who is from a family with Seminole and Hispanic
ancestry, is proud of the use of Seminole imagery at Florida State.
By JOE LAPOINTE
A few new statues of a Seminole family in 19th-century clothing stand
outside the football stadium at Florida State University
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/flo\
rida_state_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org> . The father holds a
long gun, the son a bow and arrow, and the mother an infant in her arms
as she looks warily to her right.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/sports/ncaafootball/29seminoles.html#\
secondParagraph> Small Colleges
* Div. I-AA
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cfoot2/score\
s/live/Top25.aspx?season=> | Div. II
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cf-div2/scor\
es/live/Top25.aspx?season=> | Div. III
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cf-div3/scor\
es/live/scoreboard.aspx?season=>
[0] Phil Sears for The New York Times
The statues represent the era when the Seminoles and the United States
were at war. The public art is part of a complex relationship between
Seminole culture and sports at Florida State. This bond has strengthened
since a crackdown by the National Collegiate Athletic Association
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/nat\
ional_collegiate_athletic_assn/index.html?inline=nyt-org> last year
against American Indian mascots, nicknames and imagery among sports
teams.
Not every university enjoys a harmonious relationship with Indians. But
a sense of cooperation seems to permeate the Florida State campus in
Tallahassee, Fla., where Toni Sanchez was among 21 students to complete
a new course this month called History of the Seminoles and Southeastern
Tribes.
Sanchez, a senior majoring in English, called the N.C.A.A. edict
"beyond idiotic" and offensive. She described the new statues as
beautiful.
"I know what a real Seminole is," she said. "This Anglo
guilt and regret don't affect me."
Sanchez is from a family with Seminole and Hispanic ancestry. Her
father, once a farm worker, is now a casino operator. Her mother is a
teacher. Sanchez also plays trumpet at football games in a marching band
that wears arrowheads on the back of its uniforms.
Of the tribal flag near the new statues, another recent addition, she
said, "Every time I look at it, I get really giddy inside." Of
the use of the Seminole imagery for the university's sports, she
said, "I'm so proud of it."
Florida State was one of 18 institutions cited by the N.C.A.A. in August
2005 for "mascots, nicknames or images deemed hostile or abusive in
terms of race, ethnicity or national origin." The institutions were
forbidden to use the symbols in postseason events controlled by the
N.C.A.A., like the national championship basketball tournament that
begins in March.
Five programs have since received permission to continue using their
imagery because they received approval from specific Indian groups, in
Florida State's case the 3,200-member Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Five others have changed or are in the process of changing, said Bob
Williams, an N.C.A.A. spokesman. The other eight, he said, remain on the
list and are subject to the policy, including the Illinois Fighting
Illini and the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.
Myles Brand, the president of the N.C.A.A., said in a telephone
interview last week that his organization made the right decision but
witnessed more negative reaction to the ruling than expected.
"What we've accomplished in part is to raise the level of
awareness nationally about how we treat Native Americans," Brand
said. "If we don't stand by our values, we lose our
integrity."
At times, Indians are reduced to casual caricature that would not be
tolerated by other groups, he said, adding that the N.C.A.A. had been
honored for its stance by Indian groups in Oklahoma and Indiana.
Less complimentary is T. K. Wetherell, the president of Florida State,
who said the N.C.A.A. was "more interested in being politically
correct" and did not consult the Seminole tribe before making its
decision.
"The way they weaseled out was to say, `O.K., as long as the
tribe continues to support it,' " he said.
Wetherell, a former Florida State football player who also teaches
history, wore a hunting outfit when interviewed recently in his office.
He pointed to a team logo of an Indian's face that he said had
elements of caricature. "That's not really a Seminole-looking
deal," Wetherell said. "This is a marketing tool." He said
the university might "gradually let certain things fade."
He said he told the Seminole Tribe of Florida's council, "If you
don't want Florida State to be the Seminoles, we ain't Seminoles
anymore." Wetherell said the tribe approved the use partly because
the campus is in the capital and tribal leaders "are not only good
businessmen, they are great politicians."
He said the new history course was proposed before the N.C.A.A. edict.
But Neil Jumonville, the chairman of the history department, said the
N.C.A.A. resolution accelerated the creation of the class and that his
staff received advice from local Seminole leaders.
"These are people who are savvy about their place in the American
myth," Jumonville said. "And they are smart enough to manipulate
the myth for their own good."
The first class was taught by Christopher R. Versen, who recently earned
his doctorate in American history.
"I wanted to challenge students to think about identity," Versen
said. "What is it inside us that makes us identify ourselves one way
or another? What external factors play into identity?"
The Seminoles are an amalgam of several tribes, predominantly Creek,
that included escaped slaves. They migrated south to the Everglades in
retreat from the United States Army. Some were driven out during the
Trail of Tears period under President Andrew Jackson.
Skip to next paragraph
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/sports/ncaafootball/29seminoles.html?\
_r=1&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin#secondParagraph> Enlarge This
Image [0] Phil Sears for The New York Times
Outside the football stadium are new statues of a family living when the
Seminoles and the United States were at war.
Division I-A
* Scores: Top 25
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/scores\
/live/Top25.aspx?season=> | All Div. I-A
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/scores\
/live/scoreboard.aspx?season=>
* Bowl Dates
<http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/stat/2006\
-07-BOWL-DATES.htm> | Statistics
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tm>
* Conferences and Teams
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ain.aspx?div=A>
* 2006 B.C.S. Rankings
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sc/new-bcs-poll.htm>
* A.P. Poll
<http://sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/misc/ap-poll.\
htm> | USA Today
<http://sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/misc/usa-toda\
y-poll.htm>
* Discuss College Football
<http://forums.nytimes.com/top/opinion/readersopinions/forums/sports/foo\
tball/collegefootball/index.html>
Small Colleges
* Div. I-AA
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cfoot2/score\
s/live/Top25.aspx?season=> | Div. II
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cf-div2/scor\
es/live/Top25.aspx?season=> | Div. III
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cf-div3/scor\
es/live/scoreboard.aspx?season=>
Enlarge This Image [0] Steve Cannon/Associated Press
Christopher R. Versen teaches a class in Seminole history at Florida
State.
Enlarge This Image [0] Phil Sears for The New York Times
A student dressed as the Seminole leader Osceola riding a horse named
Renegade onto the field.
Those descendants live as the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. The Seminoles
in Florida once had a commercial hunting economy. Since 1979, their
economic status has improved because of casino gambling.
Earlier this month, the Seminoles acquired Hard Rock International �
the music-themed chain of restaurants, hotels and casinos � for $965
million.
Versen said he did not discuss sports identity with his students because
he was afraid it would become a distraction. But a guest speaker who
raised the mascot issue was Max Osceola, one of three councilmen for the
Seminole Tribe of Florida.
"If I had a child and named it after you, would you consider it an
honor?" Osceola said he asked the students. He also reflected on a
former mascot, Sammy Seminole, who was retired in 1972.
"He had a big nose and he lived in a teepee," Osceola said.
"He looked like a buffoon."
The current mascot is named, coincidentally, Osceola, after a
19th-century warrior. A student dressed as Osceola rides a horse named
Renegade onto the football field and throws a flaming spear. This
mascot's clothing was designed by the tribe.
Tina Osceola, who is the executive director of the tribe's
historical resources department and is a cousin of Max Osceola's,
said, "We've given them license to be theatrical."
A statue of the warrior riding atop Renegade stands outside the stadium
above the word "Unconquered," because the Seminoles never
surrendered to the United States.
When the Seminoles announced in New York the purchase of Hard Rock, Max
Osceola joked that Indians once sold Manhattan for trinkets but were now
"going to buy Manhattan back, one burger at a time."
Not everyone outside the tribe approves of all of the Indian trappings
at sporting events, including the tomahawk chop hand gesture and a
droning cheer that sounds like background music heard in old western
movies.
Joe Quetone, the executive director of the nonprofit Florida
Governor's Council on Indian Affairs Inc., said, "Things fans do
are outrageous and ridiculous."
Bobby Bowden, the head football coach, did not respond to four recent
requests for comment on the issue placed with the university's
sports information department.
From a student's perspective, Sanchez said that people who were
genuinely concerned with the circumstances of Indians should concentrate
less on sports iconography and more on alcoholism, suicide, teen
pregnancy and high school dropout rates.
"After all those years of diseases, occupation and war, we're
still here," she said. "I refuse to believe that a silly mascot
will take us down."
Phil Sears for The New York Times
Toni Sanchez, a student who is from a family with Seminole and Hispanic
ancestry, is proud of the use of Seminole imagery at Florida State.
By JOE LAPOINTE
A few new statues of a Seminole family in 19th-century clothing stand
outside the football stadium at Florida State University
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/flo\
rida_state_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org> . The father holds a
long gun, the son a bow and arrow, and the mother an infant in her arms
as she looks warily to her right.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/sports/ncaafootball/29seminoles.html#\
secondParagraph> Small Colleges
* Div. I-AA
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cfoot2/score\
s/live/Top25.aspx?season=> | Div. II
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cf-div2/scor\
es/live/Top25.aspx?season=> | Div. III
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cf-div3/scor\
es/live/scoreboard.aspx?season=>
[0] Phil Sears for The New York Times
The statues represent the era when the Seminoles and the United States
were at war. The public art is part of a complex relationship between
Seminole culture and sports at Florida State. This bond has strengthened
since a crackdown by the National Collegiate Athletic Association
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/nat\
ional_collegiate_athletic_assn/index.html?inline=nyt-org> last year
against American Indian mascots, nicknames and imagery among sports
teams.
Not every university enjoys a harmonious relationship with Indians. But
a sense of cooperation seems to permeate the Florida State campus in
Tallahassee, Fla., where Toni Sanchez was among 21 students to complete
a new course this month called History of the Seminoles and Southeastern
Tribes.
Sanchez, a senior majoring in English, called the N.C.A.A. edict
"beyond idiotic" and offensive. She described the new statues as
beautiful.
"I know what a real Seminole is," she said. "This Anglo
guilt and regret don't affect me."
Sanchez is from a family with Seminole and Hispanic ancestry. Her
father, once a farm worker, is now a casino operator. Her mother is a
teacher. Sanchez also plays trumpet at football games in a marching band
that wears arrowheads on the back of its uniforms.
Of the tribal flag near the new statues, another recent addition, she
said, "Every time I look at it, I get really giddy inside." Of
the use of the Seminole imagery for the university's sports, she
said, "I'm so proud of it."
Florida State was one of 18 institutions cited by the N.C.A.A. in August
2005 for "mascots, nicknames or images deemed hostile or abusive in
terms of race, ethnicity or national origin." The institutions were
forbidden to use the symbols in postseason events controlled by the
N.C.A.A., like the national championship basketball tournament that
begins in March.
Five programs have since received permission to continue using their
imagery because they received approval from specific Indian groups, in
Florida State's case the 3,200-member Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Five others have changed or are in the process of changing, said Bob
Williams, an N.C.A.A. spokesman. The other eight, he said, remain on the
list and are subject to the policy, including the Illinois Fighting
Illini and the North Dakota Fighting Sioux.
Myles Brand, the president of the N.C.A.A., said in a telephone
interview last week that his organization made the right decision but
witnessed more negative reaction to the ruling than expected.
"What we've accomplished in part is to raise the level of
awareness nationally about how we treat Native Americans," Brand
said. "If we don't stand by our values, we lose our
integrity."
At times, Indians are reduced to casual caricature that would not be
tolerated by other groups, he said, adding that the N.C.A.A. had been
honored for its stance by Indian groups in Oklahoma and Indiana.
Less complimentary is T. K. Wetherell, the president of Florida State,
who said the N.C.A.A. was "more interested in being politically
correct" and did not consult the Seminole tribe before making its
decision.
"The way they weaseled out was to say, `O.K., as long as the
tribe continues to support it,' " he said.
Wetherell, a former Florida State football player who also teaches
history, wore a hunting outfit when interviewed recently in his office.
He pointed to a team logo of an Indian's face that he said had
elements of caricature. "That's not really a Seminole-looking
deal," Wetherell said. "This is a marketing tool." He said
the university might "gradually let certain things fade."
He said he told the Seminole Tribe of Florida's council, "If you
don't want Florida State to be the Seminoles, we ain't Seminoles
anymore." Wetherell said the tribe approved the use partly because
the campus is in the capital and tribal leaders "are not only good
businessmen, they are great politicians."
He said the new history course was proposed before the N.C.A.A. edict.
But Neil Jumonville, the chairman of the history department, said the
N.C.A.A. resolution accelerated the creation of the class and that his
staff received advice from local Seminole leaders.
"These are people who are savvy about their place in the American
myth," Jumonville said. "And they are smart enough to manipulate
the myth for their own good."
The first class was taught by Christopher R. Versen, who recently earned
his doctorate in American history.
"I wanted to challenge students to think about identity," Versen
said. "What is it inside us that makes us identify ourselves one way
or another? What external factors play into identity?"
The Seminoles are an amalgam of several tribes, predominantly Creek,
that included escaped slaves. They migrated south to the Everglades in
retreat from the United States Army. Some were driven out during the
Trail of Tears period under President Andrew Jackson.
Skip to next paragraph
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/29/sports/ncaafootball/29seminoles.html?\
_r=1&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin#secondParagraph> Enlarge This
Image [0] Phil Sears for The New York Times
Outside the football stadium are new statues of a family living when the
Seminoles and the United States were at war.
Division I-A
* Scores: Top 25
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/scores\
/live/Top25.aspx?season=> | All Div. I-A
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/scores\
/live/scoreboard.aspx?season=>
* Bowl Dates
<http://www.sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/stat/2006\
-07-BOWL-DATES.htm> | Statistics
<http://sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/stat/stats2.h\
tm>
* Conferences and Teams
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/conf/m\
ain.aspx?div=A>
* 2006 B.C.S. Rankings
<http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/mi\
sc/new-bcs-poll.htm>
* A.P. Poll
<http://sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/misc/ap-poll.\
htm> | USA Today
<http://sportsnetwork.com/default.asp?c=nytimes&page=cfoot/misc/usa-toda\
y-poll.htm>
* Discuss College Football
<http://forums.nytimes.com/top/opinion/readersopinions/forums/sports/foo\
tball/collegefootball/index.html>
Small Colleges
* Div. I-AA
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cfoot2/score\
s/live/Top25.aspx?season=> | Div. II
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cf-div2/scor\
es/live/Top25.aspx?season=> | Div. III
<http://sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=nytimes&page=cf-div3/scor\
es/live/scoreboard.aspx?season=>
Enlarge This Image [0] Steve Cannon/Associated Press
Christopher R. Versen teaches a class in Seminole history at Florida
State.
Enlarge This Image [0] Phil Sears for The New York Times
A student dressed as the Seminole leader Osceola riding a horse named
Renegade onto the field.
Those descendants live as the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. The Seminoles
in Florida once had a commercial hunting economy. Since 1979, their
economic status has improved because of casino gambling.
Earlier this month, the Seminoles acquired Hard Rock International �
the music-themed chain of restaurants, hotels and casinos � for $965
million.
Versen said he did not discuss sports identity with his students because
he was afraid it would become a distraction. But a guest speaker who
raised the mascot issue was Max Osceola, one of three councilmen for the
Seminole Tribe of Florida.
"If I had a child and named it after you, would you consider it an
honor?" Osceola said he asked the students. He also reflected on a
former mascot, Sammy Seminole, who was retired in 1972.
"He had a big nose and he lived in a teepee," Osceola said.
"He looked like a buffoon."
The current mascot is named, coincidentally, Osceola, after a
19th-century warrior. A student dressed as Osceola rides a horse named
Renegade onto the football field and throws a flaming spear. This
mascot's clothing was designed by the tribe.
Tina Osceola, who is the executive director of the tribe's
historical resources department and is a cousin of Max Osceola's,
said, "We've given them license to be theatrical."
A statue of the warrior riding atop Renegade stands outside the stadium
above the word "Unconquered," because the Seminoles never
surrendered to the United States.
When the Seminoles announced in New York the purchase of Hard Rock, Max
Osceola joked that Indians once sold Manhattan for trinkets but were now
"going to buy Manhattan back, one burger at a time."
Not everyone outside the tribe approves of all of the Indian trappings
at sporting events, including the tomahawk chop hand gesture and a
droning cheer that sounds like background music heard in old western
movies.
Joe Quetone, the executive director of the nonprofit Florida
Governor's Council on Indian Affairs Inc., said, "Things fans do
are outrageous and ridiculous."
Bobby Bowden, the head football coach, did not respond to four recent
requests for comment on the issue placed with the university's
sports information department.
From a student's perspective, Sanchez said that people who were
genuinely concerned with the circumstances of Indians should concentrate
less on sports iconography and more on alcoholism, suicide, teen
pregnancy and high school dropout rates.
"After all those years of diseases, occupation and war, we're
still here," she said. "I refuse to believe that a silly mascot
will take us down."