The Richmond Times-Dispatch reached out to the chiefs of some of Virginia’s Indian tribes to gather some thoughts about the Redskins name and find out whether those tribes are offended by the name controversy that launched a thousand blog posts.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Green said. “About 98 percent of my tribe is Redskins fans, and it doesn’t offend them, either.”
Kevin Brown, chief of the Pamunkey Tribe of Virginia, said that his tribe generally feels the same way.
“I’m a Redskins fan, and I don’t think there’s any intention for (the nickname) to be derogatory. The majority of the people in my tribe don’t have a problem with it. There are a few who do, and we respect their feelings.”
Perhaps the most adamant on the issue was G. Anne Richardson, chief of Virginia’s Rappahannock Tribe, who may be more offended by the controversy than by the name itself.
“I don’t have an issue with it,” she said. “There are so many more issues that are important for the tribe than to waste time on what a team is called. We’re worried about real things, and I don’t consider that a real thing.
“We’re more worried about our kids being educated, our people housed, elder care and the survival of our culture. We’ve been in that survival mode for 400 years. We’re not worried about how some ball team is named.”