The Nepean Redskins Football Club should change its name because it is marginalizing and dehumanizing, says Ian Campeau, a member of the Ojibway First Nation. The logo for this minor league team is a drawing of a native man.
The Human Rights Tribunal in the province of Ontario should order a name change, he thinks, and he has filed a claim on behalf of his five-year-old daughter. “If my daughter wanted to play football, or even watch it, she wouldn’t feel welcome,” wrote Campeau in a news release.
The use of native names and symbols was banned 10 years ago by the US National Collegiate Athletic Association. However the professional National Football League in the US does not have such a rule and the Washington Redskins team still exists.
Campeau wants a policy drafted in Canada on the use of indigenous identities and imagery in sports.
The president of the Nepean Redskins says the football team doesn’t think its name is offensive and that the club has received permission from the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition to continue using the name.
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