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“Redskin” In Historical Perspective

Our Indigenous people spoke in many languages. Since the beginning of time, Indigenous languages have used visual and personal descriptions to convey the people, places and ideas within our original lands. It was the first visitors to what is now known as North America who translated these descriptions into French, English and Spanish. Some of those early descriptions of our people and our visitors were translated as: white skin, red skin and black skin. Throughout those times the Indigenous people learned those same languages and accepted the use of those words on both sides of the translation. Throughout the decades a growing acceptance of negativity and ignorance was born for countless unjustified reasons. It is that ignorance that laid grounds to adding descriptive words used to express the hate for our Indigenous people. “You dirty redskin” and “You drunken redskin” are only two of the examples that began a journey into hundreds of years of negative connotations for our Indigenous people.

However, Indigenous communities throughout North America continue to use the original meaning of Redskin in many areas of contemporary culture. Contemporary use of the word “skin” refers to our recognition and identification as being from an Indigenous people. The word “red” expresses pride in our Indigenous strengths. Redskin Magazine fully supports the work of activists who advocate for the discontinued use of the word Redskin for sporting purposes. We also believe the word Redskin used during sporting events promotes prejudice and does nothing to honor any Indigenous group. But we also believe its time to reclaim the word Redskin and create a positive outlook for all Indigenous people around the world. We cannot erase a word from negative minds, but we can change how a word is used.