University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations August 2016 Skin in the Game: Providing Redress for American Sports' Appropriation of Native American Iconography Geraud Blanks University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the History Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, and the Law Commons Recommended Citation Blanks, Geraud, "Skin in the Game: Providing Redress for American Sports' Appropriation of Native American Iconography" (2016). Theses and Dissertations. 1254. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1254 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. SKIN IN THE GAME: PROVIDING REDRESS FOR AMERICAN SPORTS' APPROPRIATION OF NATIVE AMERICAN ICONOGRAPHY by Geraud Blanks A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Media Studies at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee August 2016 ABSTRACT SKIN IN THE GAME: PROVIDING REDRESS FOR AMERICAN SPORTS' APPROPRIATION OF NATIVE AMERICAN ICONOGRAPHY by Geraud Blanks The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016 Under the Supervision of David Pritchard To date, legal efforts to eradicate the use of Native American iconography in American sports have focused on the concept of Indian nicknames as disparaging terms, and Indian mascots as harmful images. But subjective claims of harm are hard to prove and are often thwarted by First Amendment protections, because judges remain reluctant to regulate expressive and commercial freedom of speech based on offense.