Good news out of Washington: Local NFL team owner Dan Snyder reflected on the challenges facing Native Americans, and, in a letter released Monday, promises to change the team’s n—
Wait, sorry. Snyder actually defends the team’s name as “rooted in pride.” After traveling the country and hearing from tribal leaders, though, Snyder says the real problem is that keeping the team’s racial slur name is just too small an honor. “It’s not enough to celebrate the values and heritage of Native Americans,” he writes. “We must do more.” Enter the Original Americans Foundation.
The foundation is meant to “provide meaningful and measurable resources that provide genuine opportunities for Tribal communities.” Its work has already started: Snyder writes that the charity purchased a backhoe for the Omaha Tribe in Nebraska and donated coats and shoes to several other tribes. “Because I’m so serious about the importance of this cause, I began our efforts quietly and respectfully, away from the spotlight,” Snyder notes in the four-page letter, which was quietly and respectfully posted on the front page of the team’s website, away from the spotlight.
See the whole letter, which Indian Country Today called “rife with self-satisfaction and misdirection,” below:
