Blackfeet Chief's Descendants Fight to Restore Redskins Name & Logo
Blackfeet Chief's descendants fight to restore Washington Redskins name and logo
The descendants of the Blackfeet chief who inspired the former Washington NFL team's logo are now fighting to restore the Redskins name and image that were removed in 2020 because it was deemed a slur.
Chief Two Guns White Calf was born on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and inspired the team's mascot. The logo was created in 1971 by Walter "Blackie" Wetzel to honor the chief.
"He was such a leader and he had a hold on the National Football League for 50 years," Morningstar Gopher said.
Washington Redskins name and logo
Native American activist groups fought to have the "Redskins" name removed, but descendants of the chief say the former logo brings a lot of pride — and that they want him to be remembered, not erased.
"They tried to erase us, like we didn't exist anymore," estate lead Kenneth Conway said.
The descendants of the chief claim their thoughts weren't even considered when the movement behind changing the team's logo and name began.
"They did not even ask our family for approval. They didn't ask for nothing from us. I mean, we literally got erased," historian Brock Conway said.
Gopher decided to rally other direct descendants of the chief, like herself, to make the change they want to see.
"We're hopeful for a meeting with President Trump in order to help get this pushed forward," Gopher said.
Along with attorney Denise Rosado, the estate is hoping to restore the former name, the logo of the chief, and get the team stadium renamed after their grandfather.
"It would be a big win in his pocket in terms of helping the Native people in securing the first-ever NFL stadium named after a Native American," Gopher said.
The family says that restoration of their grandfather's image and name would be a huge win for everyone.
"There's a lot of diehard Redskins fans down in Washington, D.C.," Gopher said.
"This would be a win-win, I think, for everybody. It would be a win-win for the family because it would be so honored and the history of their ancestors," Rosado said.
The family hopes to have a seat with the team to discuss the importance of restoring the former mascot soon.
"We symbolize him with honor by, you know putting his picture on our walls," Brock Conway said.
This story was originally published by Grace Stewart with the Scripps News Group in Montana.
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Fantastic! I’ve seen this before (thanks for posting) and now it appears to be gaining legs again. Hopefully, they figure this out and reverse the beyond absurd decision to move away from the Redskins name.
Rich with history, completely wiped away as a result to snowflakes thinking they know better and waste time creating problems that were never there in the first place.
Next up after this gets fixed, the freaking Guardians…
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