Terry Rambler celebrated his birthday with fellow leaders of the San Carlos Apache Tribe of Arizona in September 2015. Photo from Facebook

Chairman Terry Rambler of the San Carlos Apache Tribe of Arizona apologized on Thursday for wearing an offensive costume on Halloween.

Rambler dressed up as the late reggae musician Bob Marley. While his choice was not offensive in itself, he appeared in blackface in a photo that was posted to his public Facebook page.

"I am not a racist and I did not mean to offend anyone but I realize I did. There is no one to blame but me. I take full responsibility for my action," Rambler said yesterday after taking down the offensive photo.

Rambler, like many other tribal leaders, has joined the campaign against racist mascots and supporters of racist mascots are now taking aim at the chairman on Facebook and on websites that carried the Halloween photo.

Some media outlets are also trying to link Rambler to President Barack Obama, who spoke out against racist mascots at the White House Tribal Nations Conference in Washington, D.C., on Thursday and has done so in the past. Rambler introduced Obama at the 2014 event and was part of a small group of tribal leaders who met with the president at the White House prior to the 2013 conference.

The Washington Post said Rambler "applauded" Obama at that meeting for questioning the Washington NFL team's racist mascot but there is nothing in the record to support that claim. The meeting was closed to the press but media accounts from USA Today and the Associated Press did surface at the time.

According to USA Today, it was Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter -- not Obama -- who received applause from tribal leaders for talking about mascots. The AP based its report on "a tribal representative who was not authorized to discuss the private meeting publicly and insisted on anonymity."

Two days later, the tribe confirmed that it was Halbritter who thanked Obama for bringing up the team's racist name. Rambler was not mentioned.

Rambler was in D.C. this week to appear at a roundtable on sacred sites on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday, he spoke of the need to protect Oak Flat, a sacred site in Arizona, from a mining development.

He also met with Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Democratic presidential candidate. Sanders is sponsoring S.2242, the Save Oak Flat Act, to repeal a rider that authorizes a copper mine at the site. The House version is H.R.2811.

Rambler did not attend the White House Tribal Nations Conference yesterday.

Get the Story:
Apache leader apologizes for wearing Bob Marley costume (AP 11/5)
Apache leader who criticized Redskins is sorry for Halloween blackface costume (The Washington Post 11/6)
Lisa Blatt: The legal mind behind the Redskins ‘Take Yo Panties Off’ trademark defense (The Washington Post 11/5)
Should the ‘R-word’ be banned on attire at schools? One parent thinks so. (The Washington Post 11/5)
Dispute over 'Redskins' name hits home at Montgomery County school (The Baltimore Sun 11/4)

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