"The University of Utah has long referred to its athletic teams as the Utes. So long as the Ute Tribal Council continues to give its permission for the use of the tribe’s name, there is no immediate reason to change it.
Nevertheless, the university should take the initiative to change the name, if only because the drum and feather or circle and feather logo used by the team involve symbols held sacred by Native American cultures.
In addition, sports mascots are often chosen as representatives of ferocity in war or in nature. Given the long and unfortunate history of white American culture referring to Native Americans as warlike savages who are to be feared, naming the team after a tribe and using its symbols treads painfully close to racial stereotyping."
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Editorial: The Utah Utes
(The Salt Lake Tribune 1/13)
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