In Whose Honor? Indian Mascots and Nicknames in Sports. Color, 57 minutes. Written, produced and distributed by Jay Rosenstein, P. O. Box 2483, Champaign, IL. 61825-2483. 1996. $30 for individuals; $100 for high schools; $195 for libraries and universities; $60 for one-time rental.
In 1989 Charlene Teters, a Spokane woman and mother of two, entered a graduate program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This land grant institution, situated amid the corn fields of the flat Midwest and three hours south of Chicago, is a haven for intellectual pursuit yet the campus life also breeds racism and hostility, all in the name of athletic tradition. This racism is evident in the selection of the sports mascot at UIUC, the Illini, an extinct Native people for whom the state is names. Since 1926 the Illini sports spirit has been personified by a fictional Chief Illiniwek, portrayed by a white UIUC student, dressed in the buckskin and full headdress of a plains warrior, whose routine at sports events is an interpretive dance that incorporates stereotypical posturing and movements. The non-Native students, alumni, and boosters regard the Chief as an object of reverence and dignity. They cheer at his stiff armed salute and bucking bronco athleticism. To Charlene Teters, he is a mockery of her culture and an inexplicable display of pain. Propelled by the shame her children feel, Teters' pain converts to anger. She begins to protest, one voice among a hostile crowd, to make her point that "Indians are not mascots." This one-hour video expertly portrays Teters' development as a Indian activist who brings the mascot fight from the UIUC campus to the Illinois legislature. Included are interviews of Teters as well as interviews with several campus supporters, Native American activists Michael Haney and Vernon Bellecourt, UIUC trustees, and alumni. Also included is footage from local television coverage and historic photographs. Professionally narrated, well organized and presented, and accompanied by music by Bill Miller, this video is a powerful statement about the Indian mascot issue. It should be viewed an discussed widely and is an essential purchase for school, public, and academic libraries, especially in communities seeking a response to the persistence of Indian sports mascots, from the Washington Redskins to the Florida Seminoles. Loriene Roy
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