Monday, May 23, 2016

Washington Post Writer: GIVE UP FIGHT AGAINST REDSKINS Nickname.

Looks like some of those who stood up against the Redskins nickname issue, are giving up the fight because a poll that was so skewed, as to not be trustworthy, told a story that Native Americans don't think the name is racist.
From Robert McCartney, senior of the WAPO
In light of the new facts, we non-Indian critics should stop pressing the team to change its name. We should drop the cause, even if we privately dislike the moniker. We shouldn’t let the name stand in the way of building a new stadium. If we really want to help Indians, we should instead advocate for better schools, job opportunities and social services for them.
I realize this lets down the minority of Native Americans who view the name as a vital problem. These advocates include many tribal leaders, educators, lawyers and journalists. They contend that the Washington team’s name perpetuates damaging stereotypes, as do other uses of Native American names and imagery as sports mascots.
A slur, no longer
I was most surprised by the finding that 4 out of 5 Native Americans said they would not be personally offended if a non-native person called them a “redskin.” That suggests that dictionaries should add some kind of caveat in defining the word as a slur. Perhaps the reference books should add a second, non-pejorative definition, with a capital “R”: “Redskins: a National Football League franchise based in the Washington, D.C., area.” There’s a good chance that decades of NFL publicity and millions of dollars of promotion have transformed the word’s meaning such that most people, on hearing it, think first of the team.
If so, it’s a fresh example of how language evolves. Another lesson may be that political and moral arguments can seem solid one day but flimsy the next.

FOR those of us who DO think it's a slur....do we give up the fight?  Or do you continue to educate?  Wrong is wrong, and when you let the wrongs pile up, they come back to harm you...quitting is easy, as we've seen in the disenrollment fight.


14 comments:

Reinstatement_Restitution said...

Although I do think it is a slur, we have so many more important problems to address that I hope you forgive me to focusing on those. Realistically, the federal government is creating problems in the name helping Indians and we have to be more vocal on these matters.

Think about the Cobell scholarships were Indians who received settlement money are being denied scholarships because they aren't members of federally recognized tribes.

Look at the Nooksack firing of their Chief Judge because the judge ruled against tribal leaders in disenrollment proceedings. Tribal Courts are not regulated by the federal government. However, when Tribal Courts rule in disenrollment matters it affects eligibility for federal programs. This is a part of the government to government relationship, and tribes are violating this relationship by making decisions that violate due process and the BIA is complicit.

Then we have the rampant civil rights violations throughout Indians country where tribal leaders make it a point to disenroll members so that these members can no longer participate in tribal government, lose their eligibility for federal programs, and their standing to pursue remedy in court. It is a triple whammy to which the feds seem oblivious.

I could go on, but the point is that there are more important issues than the name of a professional sports franchise. How many Indians are denied federal programs and benefits because the Washington football team calls itself the Redskins? See what I mean?

Anonymous said...

Who really cares? Our poverty level is high and job rate is minimal. This is, in my opinion a stupid subject. Natives have so much more shit going on and Bernie Sanders is going to fix it.

Anonymous said...

Cobell Scholarships are accepting applications from descendants of tribal members. Whoever is saying that they are not providing funding for children of eneolled members is lying. Get a life.

Reinstatement_Restitution said...

No lies. Check the Cobell Scholarships website. A Tribal Enrollment Form is required to prove enrollment in a federally recognized tribe.

What does having a life got to do with finding out the truth about the federal government's policies and procedures in regards to Indians? From my perspective those who refuse to find the truth (or to admit when they are wrong) are only cheating themselves.

Anonymous said...

The website cleaey states that an enrollment form from a federally recognized tribe is required, but if you read the directions and follow all instructions, it clearly says if you are not enrolled than you can use your desendency. That means Pala disenrolled can apply and successfully complete and receive funding from the Cobell scholarship because their parents were tribal memebers. Whoever was denied is probbably not reading the instructions correctly and filling out the form correctly.

Reinstatement_Restitution said...

That is not quite accurate. What it says is that you can list your descendancy on the Tribal Enrollment Form. In actual practice applicants are being denied because they are not enrolled members of federally recognized tribes. This determination is being made based on information provided by tribes.

"The above named student is applying to the Cobell Scholarship for a higher education scholarship. The Cobell Scholarship is requesting verification of tribal enrollment or descent from your office. The form should be completed and mailed directly to the Cobell Scholarship office. The Cobell Scholarship will not accept an emailed copy and we do not accept faxes. The deadline for this form to be submitted is listed above. The Cobell Scholarship reserves the right to validate all enrollments."

And:

"Provide this form to your tribes’ office of enrollment. They will submit it directly to the Cobell Scholarship. The Cobell Scholarship cannot accept tribal eligibility forms or other forms of proof of enrollment directly from students."

The gatekeepers of the Cobell Scholarship are called Indigenous Education, Inc. Indigenous Education is a group selected by the DOI to adminster the Scholarship fund. The DOI did not set the eligibility requirements as far as I know. However, it seems likely that the requirements are simply the same ones used by the BIA for Higher Education Grants:

"Must be a member of, or at least one-quarter degree Indian blood descendent of a member of an American Indian tribe which is eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States through the Bureau of Indian Affairs because of their status as Indians."

The way these requirements work for Pala disenrollees is that only Pala Band of Mission Indian blood is reported by the Band. For the disenrollees that means they are reported as 1/32nd degree Indian blood. Even if the BIA blood determination is used Pala disenrollees are considered to be 1/16th blood degree and do not meet the minimum. For someone like myself who has mixed Indian blood from Cupeno, Luiseno, and Cahuilla tribes that totals 11/32nds there is a gray area where I could be denied even though I am enrolled in the Agua Caliente Tribe of Cupeno Indians and am over 1/4 blood degree.

Blaming the applicants is a typical reaction. It is not a persecution complex. It is real discrimination. So I have told you of two real cases (names withheld to protect their privacy) where Pala disenrollees were denied. How about sharing your reports of Pala disenrollees who were approved?

Anonymous said...

You are reading the application wrong. All you have to do is tell the Pala enrollment office that you are a decendant from an enrolled tribal memeber and to fill out the form through decendancy. The application says nothing about 1/4 total decendancy. Figure it out yet. In other words, my father is enrolled in the Pala Band of Mission Indians, I am his descendant, I am eligible for a Cobell Scholarship regardless of blood quantum, I fill out the application and request the Tribal enrollment to send the enrollment form in on my behalf listing my fathers enrollment and stating that I am his decendant, if selected, I am awarded a scholarship. The tribe gives out decendancy letters all the time. Just a question, does everybody who applies for this scholarship approved of funding, or do other dactors play into the selection process like financial need and meritorious academic record? Sounds like the disenrolled are demanfing the tribe to use their old enrollment number, I am sure they will never recognize thier old numbers, but MUST recognize enrolled parents.

Reinstatement_Restitution said...

I think you need to speak to someone else about this. I have told you how it works. Financial need is a consideration. The Pala Enrollment Committee hates the disenrollees and does everything in its power to prevent them from obtaining benefits. If you think differently you are living in a fictional reality. Go ahead an apply and see what happens. If you are a disenrollee you will be denied.

Anonymous said...

I think you are full of shit and will continue to call you on your lies. I keep twlling you how it really is, not hkw you want it to be to fullfill your hatred for the EC and to push your agenda. Its this simple, 1)read the directions 2) follow the instructions 3) do not put your old non exsistent enrollment number down that is no longer re ognized by the tribe 4) fill out the form as a descendant.

The BIA eligibility for education has nothing to do with this application eligibility. If you cant figure this simple application out, then you dont deserve any funding and are probbably to stupid to go to college anyway.
P

Reinstatement_Restitution said...

Now you are making up stories about how the applications were filled out. How do you know if the applicants I spoke about used their old enrollment numbers and that is why they were denied? Now you have tell the success stories about the Pala disenrollees who received Cobell Scholarships. Keep in mind that the names of those who are accepted and receive scholarships are published.

That is the only way for you to prove your point. Otherwise you are sticking up for the BIA, Indigenous Education, and the Cobell Scholarship eligibility process. I have seen so much damage caused by the BIA that it is easy for me to believe any stories about harm inflicted. In case you didn't know the Cobell lawsuit was filed by Indians against the BIA for mismanagement of Individual Indian Money accounts. The award was over $8 billion dollars. The BIA was cited for contempt of court twice for refusing to turn over records, and was found at fault.

The Pala EC also has a long record of harming the Brittain descendants and continue to act in harmful ways. This is all truth and has been documented over and over again.

Now you are probably a little on the slow side so that is why you keep thinking that filling out an application means you will get funding. Go back to the website. There are financial need and tribal enrollment requirements. The people the DOI chose to adminster the fund, Indigenous Education, have a vested interest in preserving their jobs. Their jobs go away when the fund is depleted. That gives them a reason to limit the number of scholarships awarded.

I know giving you this information is probably futile. Maybe there are some other people who will benefit though. In the end your rants are unreasonable because they are not based on facts. However, if you do produce some names of Pala disenrollees who received Cobell Scholarships I will gladly apologize and go back to the ones who were denied and see if there is a way to refile.

Anonymous said...

So now you are arguing that the denial of scholarships is based on need and other factors. You are full of shit. I have been reading your posts for quite some time now, and I know more than you think. You are an anti-Indian advocate and you dont even realize it, most of your arguments, rhetoric, and discourse are being utilized by non-Indians to attack tribal sovereignty and tribal governments. The only thing I see is someone who is constantly trying to find an excuse to argue against something good for Indian people. You "sound" good through your usage of the English language, but your actual sub-text tells it all. Scholarships are given to help students, they have rules and eligibity requirements, to say that these scholarships are not for descendants is wrong, I really hope it makes you feel better knowing the outright lies you keep saying, and the nasty rehtoric you keep spewing, deters other Natives from even applying. You truely are a sad individual, that thinks highly of themself.

Reinstatement_Restitution said...

Well at least you are reading the posts although your understanding level leaves something to be desired. I am only reporting what is on the Cobell website, the fact that some Pala disenrollees were denied scholarships, and my utter indignation that Indians who should get help are being denied because of some bureaucratic dalliance.

I have no idea what you know, but you are unwilling to tell us all about the Pala disenrollees that have received Cobell scholarships. I have already told you that I will happily admit I am wrong and apologize if you can produce some names. The scholarships are good and I am glad that some Indians are getting them. The eligibility requirements are bad and prevent some deserving people from getting aid.

Now read these words clearly. The Cobell scholarships are supposed to be for Indians who need financial aid to continue their higher education. If Indigenous Education denies even one Indian funding because they aren't members of a federally recognized tribe then they inflicted harm. I could care less what you think of me. I want all eligible Indians to get their funding, and I hate that tribes can say so and so is disenrolled and not eligible for benefits. These are the most needy people of all because they have been so wornged.

Anonymous said...

Until you can produce proof that they were denied because they were not enrolled, you are full of shit...

Reinstatement_Restitution said...

On the contrary. OP has already posted here that disenrollees have been denied. I have only supplemented his original post. It is your statements that are dubious. And of course you have fallen into the trap of thinking that everything I say is questionable because you think this one point is incorrect. I already said that the people who were denied have the right to privacy and they have not given me permission publish their names. On the other hand people who have received Cobell scholarships are published and waive their right to privacy on the matter when they accept the scholarship award.

So without resorting to excrement, it is you who fail to prove your point. It's okay. The point is totally lost on you. You are laughable. You chastise me and claim that my statements are motivated hatred of the Pala EC, and then you share your irrational hatred of my statements and make invalid claims painting everything I say with with toilet talk.

It is time to pull your head out of your nether extremities and see things as they really are. If you do that the bad smell will go away...maybe...