(Reuters) – The Oneida Indian Nation in New York welcomed the Washington Football Team’s recent decision to ban fans from wearing Native American-inspired headdresses or face paint to games at its home stadium for the 2021 season.
The Washington Football Team said on its website on Wednesday https://www.washingtonfootball.com/news/the-washington-football-team-welcomes-fans-back-for-2021-season-announces-update: “We are excited to welcome everyone back wearing their Burgundy & Gold. However, Native American inspired ceremonial headdresses or face paint may no longer be worn into the stadium.”
This comes after the National Football League (NFL) franchise retired its “Redskins” team name and logo last July after 87 years, following longstanding criticism that it was an offensive racial slur toward Native Americans.
It has since adopted the temporary moniker “Washington Football Team” while it develops a new brand, which is expect next year.
The Oneida Indian Nation, which also led the “Change the Mascot campaign” against the team’s former nickname, said the ban on Native American-inspired headdresses or face paint is a “welcome update to the team’s policies and protocols.”
“By prohibiting fans from misappropriating and mocking Native culture, the Washington Football Team is demonstrating common decency and common sense,” Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter said in a written statement https://www.changethemascot.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CTM-Release-8.6.21-Washington-Football-Team-Banning-Headdresses-and-Face-Paint.pdf on Friday.
“We commend the Washington team for making these changes and for moving away from the racist name, logo and other iconography that offends our nation’s first Americans.”
In April, Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians – to be known as the Cleveland Guardians after this year – introduced a similar ban for its fans for the new season.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan Grebler)
