Poll: 90% Native Americans Not Offended by Wash. Redskins Name

Nine out of 10 Native Americans are not offended by the Washington Redskins name, according to a Washington Post poll.

The poll interviewed 504 Native Americans. Some results include:

• 90 percent polled said the Washington, D.C. football team using the name "Redskins" does not bother them.
• 9 percent found its use offensive.
• 1 percent had no opinion.

Most of those who took the poll do not feel the term "redskins" is disrespectful.

• 73 percent do not find "redskins" disrespectful.
• 21 percent believe it is disrespectful.
• 6 percent had no opinion.

If a non-Native American called the poll takers "redskins," 80 percent said they would not be offended, 17 percent said they would, and 3 percent had no opinion.

The Washington Redskins' team owner, Dan Snyder, praised the poll, saying, "The Washington Redskins team, our fans, and community have always believed our name represents honor, respect, and pride."

"We are gratified by this overwhelming support from the Native American community, and the team will proudly carry the Redskins name," Snyder said in a statement.

Suzan Harjo, the plaintiff in the case that challenges the team's trademark, was displeased with the poll's results, according to the Post.

"I just reject the results. I don't agree with them," she said.

Oneida Nation representative Ray Halbritter and National Congress of American Indians director Jackie Pata issued a statement that said Native Americans are "resilient," but their resilience does not call for the NFL "to continue marketing, promoting, and profiting off of a dictionary-defined racial slur."

The Post obtained quotes from several of the Native Americans who were interviewed for the poll.

"The people who are against this have come from a generation that is against everything," Michelle Anderson, who is not enrolled in a tribe, told the Post.

"Let's start taking care of our people and quit worrying about names like Washington Redskins," said Rusty Whitworth of the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana.

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