Washington NFL Team Name-change Warrior Suzan Harjo Named a Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient
Suzan Harjo, Cheyenne & Hodulgee Muscogee, moderated a symposium in February at the National Museum of the American Indian on “Racist Stereotypes and Cultural Appropriation in American Sports.”
Breaking News
WASHINGTON — The White House announced early Monday evening, November 10, 2014, Dr. Suzan Harjo will receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama on November 24 at the White House.
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.
The awards will be presented at the White House on November 24th.
Dr. Harjo is Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee, and a tribal citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.
Among her many accomplishments, Harjo has worked tirelessly for decades to get sport teams to drop names that promote negative American Indian stereotypes. For three decades, Harjo has worked to have the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revoke the Washington Redskins filed in September 1992.
In addition to her vast activitism on behalf of American Indians, Dr. Harjo is also a writer and curator who has advocated for improving the lives of Native peoples throughout her career.
As a member of the Carter Administration and as current president of the Morning Star Institute, she has been a key figure in many important Indian legislative battles, including the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.
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About The Author
Editor
Levi Rickert, a tribal citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, is the publisher and editor of Native News Online. Previously, he served as editor of the Native News Network. He is a resident of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
I protest the Vikings cause they are NOT VIKINGS either and that is stereotyping them too. Boooooo leave my Skins alone.
twila get a life
You, sir, are a speaker of nonsense
Nobody objects to the name on the grounds that the players are not Native Americans. The Cowboys aren’t cowboys; the Panthers aren’t panthers; the Bears aren’t bears… but none of those . are racial epithets.
congratulations suzan harjo. good work.
hmmm….. well I protest being called american indian im not an Indian and I do not come from India, I prefer Native American!
“speaksenseratherthannonsense” – sense or dense?
Twila Small, idiots won’t protest your using your label, you aren’t usurping anything ! Let us all extend Congratulations to Suzan Harjo !
I applaud the efforts to rid America of “Indian” stereotypes. In that regard, I am surprised that so many institutions, acts and even text in the above news release still refer to the first nations natives of the USA as “Indians”. Canada, by contrast, refers to it’s first peoples as First Nations and now even acknowledges their connection with Aboriginal peoples across the world. When will the US catch up with Canada?
I agree with the movement to eliminate negative stereotypes of indigenous people. It’s a no brainer! When are indigenous people going to speak in unison on important issues as such! We move so slowly on important issues. I’ll need several lifetimes to see any real change in indigenous communities. Open your closed minds and stop silent passive behavior.
My team is doing well. Keep it up!