Lawsuit highlights dispute over Washington team’s identity and the ramifications of cancel culture.
A lawsuit advocating for restoring the name Redskins to the National Football League (NFL)’s Washington team alleges that a rival Native American organization improperly prompted the change to the team now called the Commanders.
The Native American Guardian Association (NAGA) filed its complaint in the U.S. District Court of North Dakota against the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) and Josh Harris, who acquired the team in July for $6.05 billion.
“NAGA’s members were huge Redskin fans precisely because they were the Redskins,” the complaint states. “It was the only team in the NFL to honor an actual Native American.”
After accusations that Redskins is indicative of systemic racism, the team dropped the name in 2020 and renamed itself the Washington Football Team—then changed it again to the Washington Commanders in early 2022. All this despite the logo of Chief John Two Guns White Calf’s image was gifted to the team by the Blackfeet tribe in the early 1970s to help educate Americans about Native America.
“I really appreciate the history and tradition that came with the name,” author M. Andre Billeaudeaux told The Epoch Times. “I was disappointed to see that they folded without much of a fight.”
Mr. Billeaudeaux—who wrote “How the Redskins Got Their Name”—is also on NAGA’s leadership committee.
NAGA alleges in the lawsuit that Mr. Harris, through his team executives, solicited NCAI to selectively discriminate against Native Americans who continue to support the Redskins name.
A Washington Post poll in 2016 found that nine in 10 Native Americans weren’t offended by the Redskins name.
“For Native Americans, their culture, history, and identity are at stake, but this lawsuit also impacts every American because it challenges the elites trying to alter American history,” New York attorney Chad LaVeglia told The Epoch Times.
Mr. LaVeglia represents the plaintiffs in “Native American Guardians Association v. Washington Commanders et al” alleging defamation, civil conspiracy, and conspiracy to violate civil rights.
William Dieckman, a member of the Kiowa tribe of Oklahoma, was devastated by the name change because he felt represented by the name Redskins.
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