The Native Americans who are leading a viral petition demanding the Washington Commanders reclaim their historic Redskins name bristled with anger and resolve after a team representative called their organization “a fake group.”
“We’re not a fake group. We’re tribal-enrolled members from tribes across the United States,” Eunice Davidson, co-founder and president of the nonprofit Native American Guardians Association (NAGA), headquartered in North Dakota, told Fox News Digital during an interview.
Davidson calls herself “full-blooded Dakota Sioux.”
NATIVE AMERICAN GROUP CALLS ON COMMANDERS TO RENAME TEAM REDSKINS: ‘CANNOT ERASE HISTORY’
NAGA generated nationwide headlines this summer with its petition to bring the Redskins back to the NFL.
The effort now has some 128,000 signatures as of Monday (August 28).
“We’re in it to win it,” said NAGA co-founder and historian Andre Billeaudeaux.
“You understand the people that started this petition is a fake group, right?” Matthew Laux, a premium-seat sales manager for the Commanders and FedEx Field, wrote on August 18 in a text to a former luxury-suite season ticket holder.
“This name change WAS, IS & forever will be a major problem,” Christina King had texted earlier in the day, sparking what became a heated exchange between the two.
The franchise adopted the name Boston Redskins in 1933, before moving to Washington, D.C. in 1937.
King said she gave up her suite after three years when the franchise, under previous owner Dan Snyder, dropped “Redskins” as the team’s nickname in 2020.
“As a fan of the team I didn’t want it [the Redskins name] changed either,” Laux said at one point during the text exchange.
He appeared to grow increasingly frustrated as King dug in her heels in defense of the traditional Redskins name and in support of the petition, before he called NAGA “a fake group.”
NFL FANS TAKE JABS AT COMMANDERS OWNER JOSH HARRIS OVER AWKWARD HANDSHAKE WITH JOE BUCK
Fox News Digital reached Laux, but he declined to talk.
A Commanders spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Laux does not speak for the organization.
The Commanders also told Fox News Digital via an emailed statement from a spokesperson, “For nearly 90 years, this franchise had a different name, and many have fond memories of cheering for that team and watching it win three Super Bowls. This does not signify any shift in our approach nor does it change the valid reasons for dropping the name.”
Former suite owner King texted to Laux during their conversation, “We just signed the petition from NAGA … We will come back as suite owners when the name reverts back to the Washington Redskins.”
“The team never should have never been pressured into changing the name,” she also said.
Davidson of NAGA claimed the pressure to remove the Redskins from the NFL, as well as Native American imagery from high school, college and pro sports around the country, is led by “racist White woke” college professors and academics.
“People want to call us fake and they’ve done that before,” Davidson said. “They never tell our story and that’s their goal. To wipe out Native history. It’s discrimination when you go after one culture like this.”
“Toxic ignorance” has fueled the effort by woke professors and academics to erase Native American history from the nation’s sports and pop-culture lexicon, said Billeaudeaux, who is the author of the book “How the Redskins Got Their Name.”
“These people are just ignorant. It’s toxic ignorance,” said Billeaudeaux. “It’s group think. It’s the psychology of a group that has no idea what they’re doing, but they won’t listen to us, either.”
The original Redskins name and logo was inspired by 17th-century Lenni Lenape chief Tamanend, also known as Tammany.
He was celebrated by the Founding Fathers and the troops that fought in the American Revolution as the “Patron Saint of America.”
The “men spent the day in mirth and jollity … in honor of King Tammany,” an aide to George Washington wrote after the deadly winter at Valley Forge in May 1778.
Statues of “Saint Tammany” stand sentinel at the U.S. Naval Academy and watch over the dead of New York’s 42nd Volunteer Infantry Regiment, known the Tammany Regiment, on the Gettysburg battlefield.
The celebrated Lenni Lenape-inspired patriotic Tammany Societies sprung up around the nation in the early days of independence.
NATIVE AMERICAN GROUP TOUTS ‘OVERWHELMING’ SUPPORT TO RETURN REDSKINS NAME TO NFL
Tammany made his way into professional sports when James Gaffney, a member of New York City’s powerful Tammany Hall, purchased the Boston Rustlers of Major League Baseball‘s National League in 1912.
He rebranded the team the Boston Braves in honor of Saint Tammany and introduced the image of the chief as its logo.
The Tammany-inspired logo appeared on Braves uniforms as the franchise moved to Milwaukee and Atlanta.
The “Patron Saint of America” was erased from Atlanta Braves uniforms in 1989.
Businessman George Preston Marshall brought the NFL to Boston in 1932. As was the custom of the era, he named the upstart pro football club after the more established pro baseball team.
Marshall’s Boston Football Braves played at Braves Field and adopted the same Tammany logo as the Baseball Braves.
The following year, Marshall moved the team to nearby Fenway Park, home of the American League Boston Red Sox.
He renamed the team Redskins. It was a tribute not only to the Red Sox — but was deeply embedded in cherished Native American lore.
“Redskins is not about race. It’s a warrior who’s gone through the bloodroot ceremony,” said Billeaudeaux, the Native American historian.
“They shave their heads and surrender their souls to their Creator. They paint themselves red as if they were born new into the world.”
Marshall moved the Redskins to Washington, D.C. in 1937. He died in 1969.
The team freshened its original Tammany-inspired logo in 1971. The new version was designed by Blackfeet Native Walter “Blackie” Wetzel and was intended to represent Blackfeet Chief John Two Guns White Calf.
The new logo enjoyed overwhelming approval from Native American groups across the country when the Redskins stepped on the field wearing the redesigned uniforms in 1972.
“The Redskins were the only minority representation in the entire NFL and it was a real person, not a mascot,” said Billeaudeaux.
The Redskins name and its imagery remain popular among both longtime fans of the NFL team and Native Americans — representing a public relations nightmare for the new ownership.
The Facebook group “Redskins Fans Forever” includes 61,600 members who refer to the team only by its historic name.
Ninety percent of Native Americans around the country supported the Redskins name in a Washington Post poll in 2016, as the woke assault on the traditional name grew stronger.
Native American groups still support the Redskins name and image today, even after it was wiped from the NFL, said NAGA president Davidson.
The Red Mesa High School Redskins, on a Navajo reservation in Arizona, celebrated the unveiling of their new football field just last week.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
The field features the menacing image of a red-skinned Native warrior splashed across the 50-yard line.
“We’re Redskins fans, not Commanders fans,” King, the former suite owner, told Fox News Digital. “We’re not coming back until the name comes back. They’ve taken these images from sports. They bowed to the woke and they’re trying to erase Native American history.”
Said Billeaudeaux about the issue, “The name Redskins is a national treasure.”
He added, “And for that reason it should be protected. It’s a cultural treasure and deserves to be protected and understood. It’s not just about the football team. It’s about the DNA of the nation.”
