Redmen Debate Continues in Calgary: Bird’s Eye View (Opinion)

After a Saskatoon high school was forced to change its Redmen name and logo, a High school in Calgary is following suit.

After immense pressure from the community, Western Canada High School was forced by the Calgary Board of Education to scrap its Redmen name and logo and will now look to rebrand (reports Global News: http://globalnews.ca/news/1193040/wester-canada-scraps-redmen-moniker/)

You would think by now this issue was over, but it appears First Nations in Calgary are still spilt on the issue, according to a Metro News article; “Calgary-area First Nations appear divided on Western Canada High School’s Redmen brand”)

“3 expressed favour for changing the Redmen brand but the exact same number also opposed the move or deemed it much ado about nothing. Jason Goodstriker, former regional chief of the Alberta’s Assembly of First Nations, parked himself square in the middle of the debate, claiming he sees merit in both perspectives” writes Jeremy Nolais of Metro.

Meanwhile others have protested against changing the name, like Canada Western student, Brent Farrell who started the facebook page; https://www.facebook.com/KeepWesternRedmen

“It’s never been used as a derogatory (term), it’s always been about strength and pride…I just think it’s a non-issue. We’ve had it for so long and we take such pride in being Redmen and we’ve never used the name in a bad way,” said Ferrell (Metro News). 

Of course some Indigenous people find little to no issue, here is why (it’s psychological).

1. They never see enough images of themselves anywhere in society – so some feel this is an image of them in society; they want to keep it.

2. Now the image is pure stereotype, that’s irrelevant to people that don’t understand how imagery affects children’s minds (which is most everyone). They don’t understand the consequences of said imagery so see no issue.

3. People want to be patriotic to something, and this imagery invents that imaginary feeling that makes people want to defend it (namely for the 1st reason).

The people that defend it, I would argue; A) don’t actually understand the effects of said imagery on their community; B) don’t know the pride found in their history; C) are afraid to rock the boat of Canadian society (which they feel has treated them ‘oh so well’).

I’ll leave you with a quote from Aaron Tootoosis, who is known for his facebook posts on First Nations issues.

“Suddenly after the fact, the press is engaging with maybe a few of our people that are going against the current – namely people of importance; elders, chiefs, councillors, etc. Makes it look important once published, but then again these “people of importance” are probably only 1% of our people.”

– Jay Bird, Bird’s Eye View