Have you ever thought something sounded wrong? That something was not right, and you felt hurt by it? This is how cultural appropriation makes most people feel. Cultural appropriation is when someone not of a culture takes aspects like ideas, customs, and practices from that culture, and appropriates it, or takes it without permission to use it for their own exploits. Cultural appropriation has a very unclear line, and heavily depends on a person’s opinion. However, it is also important to take into account the feelings of the ones who are being affected, in this case, Native Americans. Sometimes, like in the case of the Washington Commanders, it is very obvious, and sometimes, like with the Kansas City Chiefs, it is not totally clear. 

Who are the Washington Commanders? The Washington Commanders, formerly known as the Washington Redskins, changed their name from the Redskins to the Commanders on February 2nd of 2022. This was because it was offensive towards Native Americans. Suzan Harjo, a Native American who is a big part of the fight against slurs toward Native Americans, says “If it's permissible to say such things to us, such names, then it is permissible to do anything to us” (NPR news). As Harjo says, “You could be glib about it and say, well, you know, look how long it took, but at bottom, it is remarkable” (NPR news). 

Personally, I agree with Harjo that this is something remarkable. But, at the same time, I am also thinking: what did it take for them to realize that this was wrong? The main reason it was brought to their attention was George Floyd’s death, when Nike and other big sponsors started to pressure them.This is only one of many examples of people speaking up, and helping to fix some of the problems in our society.

A situation similar to the Washington Commanders, is Palisades Tahoe ski resort. Palisades, formerly known as Squaw Valley, was recently renamed in September of 2022. The resort officials renamed the resort because the term “Squaw” is both a “racist and sexist slur” (The NYT), towards Native Americans, and is “contrary to our company’s values” (The NYT). The resort did research on the term after George Floyd’s death, and then put out a survey that got more than 3,000 responses. While trying to come up with a new name, the resort asked the local Washoe Tribe, employees, and locals for their opinions and ideas.

This is also one step forward in the fight against offensive terms towards Native Americans, and even though there is still a long way to go, “A very little key will open a very heavy door” (Charles Dickens). This just goes to show that there are Native Americans fighting against cultural appropriation, but there are also things to be improved on.

There aren’t just obvious offensive slurs, there are also instances where it's not so clear whether or not something is offensive. There’s another football team, called the Kansas City Chiefs, that used to have a mascot of a white man dressed in traditional Native American clothing, riding a horse named “Warpaint”. Warpaint was retired in 1989, but was brought back in 2009 with a cheerleader riding it. In 2021, they once again retired war paint because of all the controversy. Because most of the other football teams had animals as their mascot, this portrayed Native Americans at the level of animals. 

This caused the problem of fans dressing up with headdresses and war paint, which is now banned inside the stadium. One problem that hasn’t been stopped yet is the tomahawk chop chant. The tomahawk chop chant is often used during sports games, and it is the action of moving your forearm back and forth, imitating a tomahawk chopping. This chant is often used by the Kansas City Chief fans, and also by Atlanta Braves fans. Gaylene Crouser, executive director of the Kansas City Indian Center, says the Kansas City Chiefs are “trying to placate the community” (NPR news).

Although they changed their mascot, the Kansas City Chiefs said they have no plan to change their name, which proves Crouser’s point that they are only trying to please the community. This is an example of when the line between cultural appropriation and appreciation is blurry, and not entirely clear. This is definitely also something that they can improve on.It is not entirely clear whether or not Kansas City’s name is offensive, but Harjo thinks it should be changed. “ Harjo thinks it's only a matter of time before more professional sports teams follow suit — namely the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Blackhawks.” (NPR news). This shows that the line between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation is pretty blurry, and also depends heavily on the opinion of the person. When it comes to cultural appropriation, it is often not just black and white, But it can sometimes also be gray.

When deciding whether something is cultural appreciation or not, you have to take into account the opinion and experience of the people it’s affecting. As shown in the examples before, it’s not always clear whether something is cultural appropriation or not. So how do we tell the difference? According to Research Gate, there are four main types of cultural appropriation: exchange, dominance, exploitation, and transculturation. 

These are the four types of cultural appropriation:

Cultural Exchange is the “reciprocal exchange” (ResearchGate) of symbols, rituals, etc., between cultures, normally with similar amounts of power.  
Cultural Dominance is basically what it sounds like. A dominant culture forces a not as significant one to adopt its culture, and is usually met with resistance.
Cultural exploitation happens when a dominant culture takes and appropriates aspects or elements of a less accepted culture without permission. 
Cultural transculturation is when two cultures create cultural elements. This causes problems when both cultures claim the element as their own. 

Cultural exploitation is probably the most common type of cultural appropriation. This is shown in the previous examples, where the dominant culture, (from the US), took elements from Native American culture without permission, and appropriated it. These are the main points that make up cultural appropriation, but these aren’t the only things. It also has a lot to do with the experience and opinions of the person, as well as how it makes the affected feel. No one likes getting their feelings hurt, especially in the case of oppressed minorities whose culture has been stripped away. So, when it comes to cultural appropriation, we try to be considerate of how other people feel, and also speak up and voice our own opinions. Because when people speak up, they are more empowered to join them, because in the end, all cultures are cultures, not costumes.

Works Cited

Bowman, Emma. “For many Native Americans, the Washington Commanders' new name offers some closure.” NPR News, Feb.6.2022

npr.org/2022/02/06/1078571919/washington-commanders-name-change-native-americans

Patel, Vimal. “Squaw Valley Resort, Acknowledging ‘Racist and Sexist’ Name, Changes It.” The New York Times, Sep.14.2021

nytimes.com/2021/09/14/us/lake-tahoe-resort-renamed.html

Martin, Luke. “Kansas City Chiefs Removed Their Offensive Mascot, But Have No Plans To Change Name.” NPR News, Jul.27.2021

npr.org/2021/07/27/1021373125/kansas-city-chiefs-removed-their-offensive-mascot-but-have-no-plans-to-change-na#:~:text=Transcript-,Kansas%20City's%20pro%20football%20team%20has%20retired%20a%20longtime%20on,the%20Chiefs'%20name%20be%20changed.

Rogers, Richard. “From Cultural Exchange to Transculturation: A Review and Reconceptualization of Cultural Appropriation.” Research Gate, Nov.2006

researchgate.net/publication/227630287_From_Cultural_Exchange_to_Transculturation_A_Review_and_Reconceptualization_of_Cultural_Appropriation

Snowhunter. “Squaw Valley Changes Name – Now ‘Palisades Tahoe’.” Snow-forecast.com, Sep.13.2021

snow-forecast.com/whiteroom/squaw-valley-changes-name-now-palisades-tahoe/

Chelsie. “7 MAGNIFICENT QUOTES FROM CHARLES DICKENS.” AllWomensTalk

books.allwomenstalk.com/magnificent-quotes-from-charles-dickens/#5

Bernstein, Dan. “What is the Chiefs' mascot? A history of KC Wolf's pioneering place in the NFL.” The Sporting News, Feb.2.2020

sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/chiefs-mascot-kc-wolf-nfl-history/1v9jdywt8j56u1850283czkwrq

“Cultural Appropriation Don’ts this Halloween” ZinnEd, sep.30.2019

zinned.com/cultural-appropriation-donts-this-halloween/

Dougherty, Jack. “Why Did the Washington Commanders Change Their Name From Washington Football Team?” Sportscasting, Apr.28.2022

sportscasting.com/why-washington-commanders-change-name-washington-football-team/