FROM THE ARCHIVE
Harjo: Seeking 'honor' in R-word
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2002

"The owner of the Washington football club is working his legal team and press flacks overtime, scouting Indian country for anyone who is Indian or "part-Indian" and likes the team's name.

They say the R-word honors Native Americans. When a Native person says it doesn't, they say, "Shut up!"

The team's owners have been most disrespectful to the seven of us who sued them in 1992. In the litigation documents before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, we were called "radicals" and militants." The national Indian organizations that filed a brief supporting us - National Congress of American Indians, National Indian Education Association, National Indian Youth Council and the Native American Rights Fund – were called our "amici cohorts." By engaging in direct and gratuitous name-calling in the legal proceedings, the football club made our points for us about public slurs and objectification. . ."

Get the Story:
Suzan Shown Harjo: Washington Chief-Making and the R-Word (Indian Country Today 2/4)

Relevant Links:
Redskins - http://www.redskins.com

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