THE PUBLIC MIND: READER CHALLENGES INDIAN PROTEST OVER CITY AND TEAM NAMES

For weeks now I have been seeing on TV news broadcasts and reading in the papers about all of the protests and complaints by the Indian activists, that they are being insulted, humiliated, demeaned, and just generally disgraced by the use of their names in various forms by schools, professional sports, organizations and a whole host of other sources. I can no longer hold my thick, dumb tongue.

Did you ever stop and contemplate what could happen if, by some crazy quirk of fate, we would be required to change the names of all these Indian-named places, teams and numerous other items?

Consider, if you will, the Quapaw Indians (originally known as Ugkhaph) later called the Arkansas Indians after which the state was named. They migrated to that south-central region from the Ohio Valley around 1500 A.D.

What about our own state? It was named after the Missouri Indians. Maybe we could just change it to "Show Me." What could we call Osage Beach? How about just Sage Beach?

Many of our neighboring states share their not-so-unique situation. Illinois, for instance, was named after an Indian tribe by the same name. Indiana means "land of the Indians." Utah was named for the Ute tribe. North and South Dakota were named for the Dakota (Sioux Indians). Our next door neighbor to the north, Iowa, was named for the Iowa Indian tribe. Their state nickname, "The Hawkeye State," was selected in honor of an Indian chief.

What should we call Sioux City, Ottumwa, Iowa City, Keokuk, and Sioux Falls? How about Pontiac, Mich., named for the famous Ottawa chief who planned the attack on a British fort in Detroit in 1763? Can you possibly imagine what a problem it would be to recall all the Pontiac automobiles for a name change?

Professional sports teams, of course, are deeply involved so we must briefly consider their plight. We must rename the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves (who really caused an uproar recently), the Golden State Warriors, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Washington Redskins. Maybe Washington could reactivate the old Washington baseball team name, the "Senators." Senators don't seem to be offended by anything anyway. I wonder what the Saints in heaven think about New Orleans.

And then we have the Southeast Missouri State University Indians and the Otahkians, the latter named to honor the Indian princess who died on the Trail of Tears. A gentleman who has been employed by Southeast Missouri State for some 20 years stated on a TV news spot that he has always objected to the school's teams using the Indian-related names. I would suggest that he may be happier working for Southern Illinois University or the University of Arkansas. Their teams are the Salukis (dogs) or the Razorbacks (hogs).

I have been a fan of Southeast Missouri high school basketball for many years. Here, we also have some "smoke signals." Close to home we have the Jackson Indians. Having followed closely for nearly 20 years the success of the Scott County (Morley) Central Braves coached by Don Cookson, who may just be the best high school coach in the state, I am concerned about what their new name could be. What if they tried something like "Scott County Central Cowards?" That would make Ronnie "the Coward of the County"! I don't think it will work.

Anyone who is still reading this must surely know that while some of the aforementioned statements are matter of fact and history, the rest were mostly jest and some of it may not be in the best taste. The whole point of this correspondence is to make a statement that I believe is shared by most people.

Not many would disagree that the American Indian has had some very hard knocks throughout history. They have been the victim of many injustices, both deplorable and disgraceful. However, I submit to you that the things we are talking about in this writing are not part of those injustices. On the contrary, I do not know of any state, city, street, park, lake, creek or team be they professional or high school that was named after any Indian-related name or tradition that was meant to be disrespectful in any way. In many cases, these names were intended as honors. The native American surely has some legitimate causes but, I'm sorry to say, this is not one of them.

Eugene Diebold

Scott City