Poll Shows 9 In 10 Native Americans Aren’t Offended By Redskins Name

A new Washington Post poll finds that nine in 10 Native Americans are not offended by the Washington Redskins name.

9 In 10 Native Americans Aren’t Offended by Redskins Team Name

Despite a long-standing national controversy over the political insensitivity of the NFL team’s moniker, the new poll seems to hint that few Indians believe the name should be changed.

The survey of 504 people across every state and the District of Columbia reveals that the opinions of Native Americans have largely remain unchanged since a 2004 poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center found the exact same result. The Post’s questions regarding the issue were generally consistent across all demographics, regardless of age, income, education, political party or proximity to reservations.

Among the Native Americans reached over a five-month period ending in April, more than 7 in 10 said they did not feel the word “Redskin” was disrespectful to Indians. An even higher number — 8 in 10 — said they would not be offended if a non-native called them that name.

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder immediately celebrated the results, which team officials have already begun using as justification to keep the name. In the long term, polls like this one could potentially impact the ongoing legal dispute over the team’s federal trademark registrations, as well as the eventual destination of the Redskins’ next stadium.

“The Washington Redskins team, our fans and community have always believed our name represents honor, respect and pride,” Snyder said in a statement. “Today’s Washington Post polling shows Native Americans agree. We are gratified by this overwhelming support from the Native American community, and the team will proudly carry the Redskins name.”

Suzan Harjo, the lead plaintiff in the first case that challenges the team’s trademark protections, dismissed the results of the Post poll.

“I just reject the results,” said Harjo, 70, who belongs to the Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee tribes. “I don’t agree with them, and I don’t agree that this is a valid way of surveying public opinion in Indian Country.”

Two other key leaders in the name-change movement issued a joint statement that didn’t dispute the authenticity of the results, instead calling the responses from Native Americans “encouraging.”

“Native Americans are resilient and have not allowed the NFL’s decades-long denigration of us to define our own self-image,” wrote Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter and National Congress of American Indians Executive Director Jackie Pata. “However, that proud resilience does not give the NFL a license to continue marketing, promoting, and profiting off of a dictionary-defined racial slur — one that tells people outside of our community to view us as mascots.”

The pair also noted research showing the detrimental impact native imagery in sports can have on young Indians.

Ever since the nearly half-century-old debate recaptured national attention in 2013, opponents of the name have won a series of high-profile victories and garnered support from President Obama, 50 Democratic U.S. senators, dozens of sports broadcasters and columnists, several newspaper editorial boards (including The Post’s), a civil rights organization that works closely with the National Football League and tribal leaders throughout Indian Country.

Nevertheless, Snyder has vowed to never change the name and has repeatedly used the 2004 Annenberg poll to defend his position. Activists, however, dismiss the billionaire’s insistence that the name is intended to honor Native Americans, which represent about 1.7 percent of the US population (5.4 million).

Across every demographic group, the vast majority of Native Americans say the team’s name does not offend them, including 80 percent who identify as politically liberal, 85 percent of college graduates, 90 percent of those enrolled in a tribe, 90 percent of non-football fans and 91 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 39.

The most shocking part of the whole controversy is precisely that: the general public appears to find the moniker more offensive than Indians do.

In a 2014 national ESPN poll, 23 percent of those reached called for “Redskins” to be retired because of its offensiveness to Native Americans — more than double the 9 percent of actual Native Americans who now say they are offended by it.

A 2013 Post poll found that a higher proportion of Washington-area residents — 28 percent — wanted the moniker changed.

Halbritter, a key figure and financier in the fight against Snyder, has described the issue as one of the most important facing his people.

“It is critical,” he wrote in a 2013 Post op-ed. “Indeed, precisely because it is so critical, this campaign is not going away, no matter how much the NFL or Snyder wants it to.”

Nevertheless, the Native American population seems to overwhelmingly disagree, with just 1 out of 10 stating they consider the issue to be “very important.”

The poll, which has a 5.5 percentage-point margin of sampling error, was conducted by randomly calling cellular and landline phones. It asked questions only of people who identified themselves as Native American, after being asked about their ethnicity or heritage.

Those interviewed highlighted repeatedly other challenges to their communities that they consider much more urgent than an NFL team’s name: substandard schools, substance abuse, unemployment.

Although the Redskins have a lease at FedEx Field in Landover, Md., until 2027, team officials have acknowledged that they hope to relocate well before then.

PHOTO: LANDOVER, MD – SEPTEMBER 03: A detailed view of a Washington Redskins helmet before the Washington Redskins play the Jacksonville Jaguars at FedExField on September 3, 2015 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)