This past November I had a surprising opportunity to speak face-to-face for about 20 minutes with Dan Snyder, owner of the Washington Redskins football team. Snyder unexpectedly arrived with an entourage at the A:shiwi A:wan Museum and Heritage Center where I serve as director. Naturally, I saw his visit as part of a strategy to divert attention from the controversial and regressive “Redskins” mascot and team name.

I spoke to Snyder about A:shiwi heritage, our deep knowledge of cosmological processes, and of our artistic sensibilities and scholarly accomplishments as contributions to the universal human experience. Later I walked Snyder to his car, put my hand on his shoulder and told him I was not pleased with the Redskins mascot and team name and he snapped back with, “We are a football team.” I saw at that moment quite clearly, my objection did not concern Snyder.

Now a few months later, I am not surprised to hear about the establishment of the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation. While the foundation’s name appears charitable, I question whether it is genuinely altruistic because it grew from an unwillingness to understand and acknowledge the damage the Redskins mascot causes to Native American identity.