Other Key Resources
Illuminatives.org
Fighting Indians (Documentary Film)
National Museum of the American Indian: Changing the Narrative about Native Americans (Webinar)
American Indian Sports Team Mascots
Leading Research
Native Voices on Native Appropriation **NEW**
Native Appropriation in Sport: Cultivating Bias Toward American Indians
Twenty Years of Research into the Health Impacts of Native-themed Mascots: A Scoping Review
Dog whistle mascots: Native American mascots as normative expressions of prejudice
Study finds only harmful effects from Native themed mascots
Why Educators Should Not Ignore Indian Mascots
Partner Resolutions and Statements
National Education Association Resolution: Supporting Removal of Native Themed Mascots
American Psychological Association Resolution: Retiring American Indian Mascots
Short Videos
NCAI: Health Impacts of Native "Themed" Mascots
As/Is: Native Americans Review "Indian" Sports Mascots
Bioneers: How Indian Mascots Dehumanize
TPT Originals: Not Your Mascot - Native Americans and Team Mascots
Key NCAI Resources
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National School Mascot Tracking Database: The Current Numbers
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NCAI's National School Mascot Tracking Database: An Overview (Video)
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Ending the Legacy of Racism in Sports & the Era of Harmful "Indian" Sports Mascots
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NCAI: Learn About Tribal Nations, Citizenship, History, and Contemporary Issues
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Becoming Visible: A Landscape Analysis of State Efforts to Provide Native American Education for All
NCAI's Longstanding Opposition to Harmful Native "Themed" Sports Mascots
As the nation's oldest, largest, and most representative American Indian and Alaska Native advocacy organization, NCAI has long held a clear position against derogatory and harmful stereotypes of Native people—including sports mascots—in media and popular culture. Since NCAI launched its campaign to address stereotypes of Native people in popular culture, media, and sports in 1968, significant progress has been made in pursuit of ending the era of unsanctioned Native “themed” mascots.
NCAI's position is clear, longstanding, and deeply rooted in our 78 years as a leading voice for Indian Country — we advocate for and protect the civil rights, social justice, and racial equity of all Native people in all parts of American society.
NCAI's Work to Retire Unsanctioned Native "Themed" Mascots
NCAI is the oldest, largest, and most representative national organization sharing the unified voice of hundreds of Tribal Nations representing millions of Native people, and that voice has been consistent and clear for decades: unsanctioned sports mascots are symbols of disrespect that degrade, mock, and harm Native people, particularly Native youth. NCAI’s work to retire “Indian” or Native “themed” mascots, used interchangeably, is guided by our numerous resolutions pertaining to cultural appropriation and the harmful effects of these mascots. These resolutions—passed via consensus among NCAI membership—emphasize the importance of education by means of tribally-informed curriculum, such that stereotypical appropriation gives way to sanctioned representation. For decades, NCAI largely focused its efforts on ending Native “themed” mascots at the professional level, directing specific attention to the former mascot of the NFL’s Washington "Commanders". In 2020, NCAI formally expanded the initiative to include work at the K-12 level, which included the development of the National School Mascot Tracking Database. In 2021, NCAI further expanded the initiative to include work at the state level, developing a State Activity Tracker and engaging directly with state legislatures pursuing mascot bans through legislation.
NCAI’s Ending “Indian” Mascots initiative currently focuses on three primary levels: the K-12 school level, the state level, and the professional sports level.