Reflecting on Supreme Court ruling and NFL team name change
After a narrow 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling this month declaring that a large portion of eastern Oklahoma remains Native American land. The McGirt v. Oklahoma decision, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, upheld the rights of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to govern its lands and affirmed tribal sovereignty and treaty rights. Days later, the NFL franchise in Washington, D.C., decided that it would drop the team name of Redskins, which Native Americans have long criticized as racially offensive and demeaning. We asked members of the Harvard community to reflect on the significance of these developments, which come amid the wider national reckoning on the historical mistreatment of communities of color. Shawon Kinew Citizen of the Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation, Treaty 3 Anishinaabe Nation Assistant Professor of History of Art and Architecture Shutzer Assistant Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard file photo This is...