The Stadium: An American History of Politics, Protest, and Play

by Frank Andre Guridy

In subsequent years, the Washington franchise remained obstinate in the face of growing criticism of Native mascotry, but eventually some Washington supporters began to question the allegiance to the team’s odious tradition. At a pep rally for the Washington pro football team at Union Station in January 2000, journalist Courtland Milloy was unnerved by the scene he witnessed: “One of the things I’ve always liked about having a winning football team is how it brings our community together,” he wrote. “We could all root—black, white, whatever—for our side. Nothing like a common enemy—say, the Dallas Cowboys—to make us forget our differences. But even this relatively harmless bit of fantasy is no longer possible for me, not after seeing how hurtful the pep rally at Union Station was for [Suzan] Harjo.” Milloy’s reflection came as he watched Zema “Chief Zee” Williams obliviously asking Harjo if she was having a good time at the rally as the Redskins Band blared a “Hollywood version of Indians-on-the-warpath music.” Harjo, a Native American activist, grimaced and later characterized Williams as a “black man [who] gets paid to put on an Indian outfit and tap-dance for the white man.”41 Milloy’s article reveals the ways even longtime football fans began to see the cruelty of a community coming together around a phenomenon that celebrated the degradation of Native peoples. Native activism was finally moving the needle on the question of Indian mascots and logos.