Legal Challenges of Native American Imagery in Sports

by Genene Engels

Introduction

Native American sports team names have been around since 1912, with the first major sports team called the Boston Braves (Brady, 2016). These names are not just in professional sports but also in high school and college athletics. This misrepresentation and dishonoring have continued throughout history and into current times. There has been a lot of controversy about the use of the names and whether schools should have them. This has caused teams to change their names, logos, and mascots. Teams that have a Native American name or mascot should be required to respectfully represent Native American culture. Teams should prohibit the use of Native Americans' names if they fail to show proper respect.

History

Since Columbus’ arrival in the United States, people have stereotyped Native Americans and forced Native Americans to give up their land. They forced Native Americans to continue to move farther and farther west and away from their tribal lands. Native Americans felt like white people thought that they were in the way and should move to get out of the way. During the Gold Rush era, there were mounties sent out to get Native Americans out of the way. The government and white people thought that Native Americans were in the way of the Gold Rush; to get them out of the way, they sent people out to kill them. If they brought back a body part, they would get money for it. For Native Americans, the Gold Rush was not a good time, but a bad time. The government was also against them and deprived them of the pursuit of happiness from the very beginning of American history. They deprived them by taking away their home and forcing them to move. They also did not help them at all throughout history (Kempner & West, 2023).

Early television shows were about Southern and Western culture, which featured the actions of cowboys and Native Americans. These shows would often have guns and weapons, and Native Americans were killing and acting violently towards white people. But these shows were not actually accurate and were disrespectful to Native Americans and cowboys. Instead of Native Americans shooting white people, it was the opposite way around. These shows started the misrepresentation of what Americans think about Native Americans. In the early days, the films used Native Americans for entertainment. Many of the Native American actors were not actually Native American. In fact, these shows were dehumanizing Native Americans; they made them look like they were unsociable. Cartoons also stereotyped Native Americans, just like the films, but sometimes said more racist things. For example, in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bugs Bunny was shooting Native Americans, calling them “Hiawatha" and "Geronimo” (McCann, 2024). This was very offensive, and the cartoon was canceled for re-broadcast in 2021. Through the years, there have been films that have benefited Native Americans and shown Native Americans in the right way. These films were written by Native Americans and not by white people. “Smoke Signals,” a 1998 movie written and acted by Native Americans, shows Native Americans in the modern world and how their culture is (Smoke Signals, n.d.).

Sports from the very beginning have been disrespectful towards Native Americans and have led to racism. Native Americans see the mascots and see the harsh history behind them. The Washington Redskins, an NFL football team, got its name when the franchise moved to their new stadium. There were some Native American names but there was not a professional team named the Redskins. The Redskins were one of the last teams to have a diverse roster. Throughout the years, there have been a lot of different Native American mascots including the Cleveland Indians, Syracuse Chiefs, Toronto Tecumsehs, Chicago Blackhawks, Florida State Seminoles, Utah Utes, and much more.

Native American sports teams have also had their different traditions and cultures at the games. Some teams, early on, allowed fans to wear face paint and Native American headdresses. The Washington Redskins made the team wear Native American face paint for the first game as the Washington Redskins (Hylton, 2014). The Atlanta Braves had a Tomahawk chop that was created by white people to make the fans look scary (Kempner & West, 2023). Non-natives have also treated Native Americans at games disrespectfully and have been racist towards them.

Legal Analysis

Trademark and Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is any work, designs, symbols, name, and images that are created by the mind. They are protected by patents, copyright, trademarks, industrial designs, and more. It depends on what kind of work it is, such as a logo, thoughts, inventions, etc., which will determine what type of protection it needs (Kenton, 2025).

Anyone that wants to protect their brand no matter what company their business is will trademark their logo and names. Trademarks are not just for logos and names, but they also include designs, symbols, and phrases. The purpose of trademarks are to identify the original source of a product or business (Sharp et al., 2017). It allows customers to know that the product they are getting is in fact the brand that it comes from and protects them from confusion. To see if a company has registered for a trademark, you will see an “R” in a circle next to the logo or name. This means that they have registered but have not been approved yet. Once a trademark is approved, you will have a “TM” next to the logo. This means that the trademark is registered, and no one else can use the logo or name without approval from that business. Trademarks are protected through the Lanham Act 43 (a) and several different acts (Moorman, A. M., Sharp, L. A., & Clausen, C. L., 2021).

Trademarks are important in professional sports, as most or all teams are trademarked. Most professional sports teams have more than one trademark because logos have changed over time, and each of the logos need a trademark. For merchandise, trademarks are also needed as they will protect the style and merchandise that a team has.

In recent years, people have brought up the case that they do not like the names of teams that have a name that references Native Americans, as they are offensive or racist to a certain group. This was the case with both Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo and Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse. These were the cases for the Washington Redskins Football team.

Title IV of the Civil Rights Act and the 14th Amendment

The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 to prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to create equal rights for everyone, no matter what race, color, religion, sex, or national origin someone is. It also prohibits segregation and discrimination in public and federal places. There are eleven different titles in this act. Title IV prohibits discrimination in schools and allows the Attorney General to file actions if it is not being enforced (Sandroff, 2025).

The Fourteenth Amendment defines what a United States citizen is, and it is the Fourteenth Amendment that makes anyone who is born in the United States a citizen. It makes all the states unable to “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without a due process” (AMDT14.S1.5.2 Liberty deprivations and due process). It also allows for each person within a jurisdiction to have equal protection from the law, including at the federal and state levels.

These laws are important as Native American mascots are in schools, and many of these schools have violated both the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment. This is seen in the NCAA, where schools changed their names, and Marez et al. v. Polis et al a case about Colorado enforcing a law to change any K-12 school's name that references a Native American (Marez et al. v. Polis et al, 2021).

Case Law and Laws

Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo

In 1999, Suzan Harjo went to court to try and get the Washington Redskins name changed. The United States Patent and Trademark Office canceled six of the Redskins trademarks. Harjo still wanted the name to be changed. The court ruled that there was laches barred, meaning that the plaintiffs were too old and should have brought the case in front of the court sooner. The youngest plaintiff was one year old in 1967. With them not bringing the case to court sooner, they were not able to rule in their favor. But years later, Amanda Blackhorse would be the right age to bring the court case Pro Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse into court (Griggs, 2014).

Pro Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse

Blackhorse wanted the Washington Redskins to change their name, as “Redskins” was the most racial word you could call a Native American. In early history, with whites and Native Americans, whites were hunting Native Americans; they were told to bring back the “redskins” to prove they did kill a Native American. The skin was not just red because of the color of their skin but also was red because of the blood when they were killed. Redskins remind Native Americans of the cruelty that happened to their ancestors (Dunbar-Ortiz, 2014).

Blackhorse went to a Kansas City Chiefs game versus the Washington Redskins. At the game, the fans were being disrespectful, not only by wearing Native American attire inappropriately, but also by being racist towards Native individuals, including Blackhorse. Blackhorse and the other Native Americans who attended the game did not like the culture at the game. The sports teams were not keeping the Native American names alive in the correct way. They were being racist and not providing enough to the Native Americans to make them feel like they belonged at the games (Kempner & West, 2023).

Pro Football, Inc. v Blackhorse went to court in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The plaintiff, Blackhorse, was able to dismiss the case because Pro Football, Inc. did not have a case. They should have gone to court against the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They also found that the First Amendment is irrelevant, as trademarks are government speech and the government can say whatever it wants (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse, 2018).

The defendants then applied to bring the case to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. While this case was going on, there was another case, Matal v. Tam, going on, which ended up going to the Supreme Court (Matal v. Tam, 2017). The band “The Slants” wanted to use their name, which was offensive to the Asian community. The band wanted to reclaim the word and change its meaning. The court found that speech cannot be banned because it offends others, using the First Amendment. This caused the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to vacate and remand Pro Football, Inc. v Blackhorse back to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse, 2018).

Overall, this case found that trademarks are protected against other private parties. The Washington Redskins did not have to change their name as a result of this case. They changed their name because sponsors such as Nike, PepsiCo, and FedEx said they did not want to sponsor them anymore unless they changed their name (Brinkerhoff, 2025). At the time, FedEx was the stadium name sponsor of the Northwest Stadium and had its name on the outside of the stadium where the Washington Redskins played. FedEx said that if they did not change their name, they did not want their name on the stadium anymore (McGarry, 2020). The owners then decided to name the team after the military, becoming the Washington Commanders (Mondal, 2025).

Marez et al. v. Polis et al.

Colorado passed Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-1-133 and Colo. Rev. Stat. § 22-1-137, which prohibited and was going to force schools K- 12 to change their name if they reference Native Americans. If the schools did not change their name, they would be fined $25,000 each month. Two students and the Native American Guardians Association did not like this and wanted to keep the names. The plaintiffs, Marez et al., and the Native American Guardians Association saw that Colorado was making the same mistakes “in its paternalistic assumption that it must protect Native Americans by erasing cultural references to them and to their heritage”. The plaintiffs are trying to teach others what it is like to be Native American. The plaintiffs claimed that Colorado was going against their First Amendment rights and Title IV of the Civil Rights Act (Marez et al. v. Polis et al., 2021).

The case violated their First Amendment rights because of the due process clause that states, “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” (AMDT14.S1.5.2 Liberty deprivations and due process). Everyone has the right to publicly express beliefs, practices, rituals, and actions. In this case, Colorado is taking away the students' rights not to have the Native American names at schools, which is taking their right to publicly express their beliefs, practices, rituals, and actions.

This case also violates Title IV of the Civil Rights Act, which states that a person can not discriminate based on race, color, or national origin. Taking the names away is targeting the Native Americans based on their national origin. The schools are discriminating and dishonoring Native Americans. They are depriving them of being able to honor their past.

This is still an ongoing issue, as the Illinois House of Representatives passed H.B. 1237 (Ortiz, 2025). This law is very similar to the one that Colorado tried to pass, which would ban mascots, logos, and names that depict Native Americans in public schools. The last stage that this bill needs is approval from the State Senate and the Governor of Illinois JB Pritzker. They are allowing schools to keep a Native American name if they get written consent from a tribe.

National Collegiate Athletic Association

In 2005, the National Collegiate Athletic Association made a ruling that eighteen colleges and universities that have Native American mascots would not be able to participate in postseason competition (Williams, 2005). Of these names, were Central Michigan University Chippewas, Florida State University Seminoles, Mississippi College Chocktaws, and the University of Utah Utes. All of these universities were receiving support from the Native American tribes, so the NCAA reversed its ruling for these four schools (Vile, 2023). The other fourteen schools removed all references to Native American culture. A lot of the NCAA rules were enforced on championship and postseason games. Championship and postseason games are very important to colleges, as a lot of people watch these games, and fans want to go to these games. If a university is unable to host or play, then it could and will lose a lot of revenue (Williams, 2005). The NCAA enforced four policies, three of them being enforced on February 1, 2006, and one of which was enforced on August 1, 2008. Policies A and B were focused on the mascot and not allowing host schools for championship games to have a mascot, nickname, or imagery. If a host school had a championship game and had Native American imagery, they would not be able to host that event until they changed their name or mascot. Policies C and D were focused on the uniforms of athletes. Athletes were not allowed to wear uniforms that had Native American imagery, which includes players, mascots, cheerleaders, dance teams, and band (Williams, 2005).

Other Sports teams

There are still professional sports teams with Native American names, such as the Atlanta Braves, Chicago Blackhawks, and Kansas City Chiefs. The tomahawk chop that the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Chiefs do was not used by Native Americans but was invented for white people's purposes. Teams used to allow face paint and headdresses but no longer allow them at games. Teams have also started to change their name (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2025).

Impact on Native American Communities

Native American Culture

Native Americans have a unique culture, just like everyone; it is important to keep the culture alive. In professional sports, especially seen through Pro-Football, Inc. v. Harjo and Pro-Football, Inc. v. Blackhorse et al., the Washington Redskins were “honoring” Native Americans. They had the mascots, logo, Native Americans who attended the game, and more. These things were run by white groups. Even though they could have had the best intentions of honoring the Native Americans at games, the culture at the games was not honoring but dishonoring. Fans would dress up as Native Americans, say bad things, and treat Native Americans badly. The culture at games was very disrespectful for Native Americans, which caused Blackhorse and other Native Americans to go to court with the Washington Redskins.

On the other hand, in schools, they are trying to honor and teach students about Native Americans to preserve what it is like to be Native Americans. The purpose of a school is to teach, learn, and gain information that is useful and necessary for the present and future. Schools teach history and educate the youth about it in schools around the United States, and students learn about Native Americans and their importance.

Recommendation

By doing research and looking at different cases, it is hard to have one recommendation, as not all Native Americans agree on whether Native American mascots, names, and logos should be used or not. One thing that is true, no matter who it is, is that no one is a mascot, which is one reason why there are no more mascot performers or any caricatures that mock Native Americans (Mountain States Legal Foundation, 2023).

Professional sports teams should try to do something to benefit and teach the public about Native Americans positively. If they are benefiting or teaching the public, then they should be able to keep using the name. If they have permission from the tribes, then they should also be able to keep the names, but find a way to honor them and keep the culture at the game in a positive light.

Positive change is happening and will continue to happen. Some changes are that the Washington Redskins changed their name to the Washington Commanders. The Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Blackhawks banned face paint and headdresses. The Spokane Indians, a minor league baseball team, added Salish to their jerseys, which is a language that is spoken by the Spokane Indian Tribe. The Spokane Indians are the only baseball team in the United States to have non-English lettering (Brandiose, n.d.). They are also willing to change anything that the tribes want so they can honor the Native Americans. The University of Utah, which uses the Ute for its sports name, has permission and encouragement from the Ute Indian Tribe (Memorandum of Understanding Between the Ute Indian tribe and The University of Utah, 2020). The University of Utah hosts a football game each year to honor the Ute Indians and Native Americans. The Chicago Blackhawks, who are named after Chief Black Hawk of the Sauk tribe, play a land acknowledgement video each time before the start of the games. The video shows that they support the tribes and honor them, but also recognizes the tribes that call and used to call the Chicago area their homes. They also give grants and collaborate with the local Native Americans. They are also trying to preserve the Native American language and give out scholarships to Sac and Fox high schoolers (Native American initiatives: Chicago Blackhawks, n.d.). Many other teams are trying to do something similar to each of the teams above.

Conclusion

Native American names have been used in sports for a long time and will continue to be used for now. New laws are continuing to be considered and passed, just like in Colorado and Illinois. Some sports teams try to honor and educate the public about Native Americans, such as the Chicago Blackhawks and the Spokane Indians, while others lack this and are disrespectful, like the Washington Redskins did. Teams should be able to keep their name if they are trying to educate non-Natives or help Native Americans. No team should be able to keep its name if it is racist or disrespectful towards Native Americans.

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