The Yale University football program. Photo by Mary Kathryn Nagle
Officials at Yale University in Connecticut offered apologies for using stereotypical and racist images in an official football program. The Association of Native Americans at Yale condemned the use of the images, which were chosen because the Yale Bulldogs played against Dartmouth College on Saturday. Dartmouth's unofficial mascot was once an "Indian" and images depicted a stereotypical "Indian" person in a negative light. "The promotion of racist mascots creates non-inclusive learning environments for Native students, compounds challenges in promoting accurate portrayals of Indigenous cultures and traditions, and perpetuates prejudice and discrimination against Native peoples," the Association of Native Americans at Yale said in a statement on Facebook. Both the university and the athletics program apologized, The Yale Daily News and The New Haven Register reported. Mary Kathryn Nagle, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation who serves as the executive director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program, had first posted the image of the program on Twitter on Saturday. "Cannot believe that @Yale & #Dartmouth would use such dehumanizing images of #Redface at a football game," Nagle, who is an attorney and advocate for Native women wrote. Yale defeated Darmouth at the game. Read More on the Story:
Football programs criticized for racist imagery (The Yale Daily News 10/10) Native American imagery on Yale-Dartmouth football program draws criticism (The New Haven Register 10/10)
Yale celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day (The Yale Daily News 10/11)
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