In Whose Honor? Indian Mascots and Nicknames in
Sports.
Color, 57 minutes. Written, produced and distributed by Jay
Rosenstein, P. O. Box 2483, Champaign, IL. 61825-2483. 1996.
$30 for individuals; $100 for high schools; $195 for
libraries and universities; $60 for one-time rental.
In 1989 Charlene Teters, a Spokane woman and mother of two,
entered a graduate program at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This land grant institution,
situated amid the corn fields of the flat Midwest and three
hours south of Chicago, is a haven for intellectual pursuit
yet the campus life also breeds racism and hostility, all in
the name of athletic tradition. This racism is evident in
the selection of the sports mascot at UIUC, the Illini, an
extinct Native people for whom the state is names. Since
1926 the Illini sports spirit has been personified by a
fictional Chief Illiniwek, portrayed by a white UIUC
student, dressed in the buckskin and full headdress of a
plains warrior, whose routine at sports events is an
interpretive dance that incorporates stereotypical posturing
and movements. The non-Native students, alumni, and
boosters regard the Chief as an object of reverence and
dignity. They cheer at his stiff armed salute and bucking
bronco athleticism. To Charlene Teters, he is a mockery of
her culture and an inexplicable display of pain. Propelled
by the shame her children feel, Teters' pain converts to
anger. She begins to protest, one voice among a hostile
crowd, to make her point that "Indians are not mascots."
This one-hour video expertly portrays Teters' development as
a Indian activist who brings the mascot fight from the UIUC
campus to the Illinois legislature. Included are interviews
of Teters as well as interviews with several campus
supporters, Native American activists Michael Haney and
Vernon Bellecourt, UIUC trustees, and alumni. Also included
is footage from local television coverage and historic
photographs. Professionally narrated, well organized and
presented, and accompanied by music by Bill Miller, this
video is a powerful statement about the Indian mascot issue.
It should be viewed an discussed widely and is an essential
purchase for school, public, and academic libraries,
especially in communities seeking a response to the
persistence of Indian sports mascots, from the Washington
Redskins to the Florida Seminoles.
Loriene Roy
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