In his statement, Chief Hoskin alluded to the mainstreaming of racial justice concepts following the Black Lives Matter protests last summer, as well as those sports stories. In December,
Cleveland's Major League Baseball team made the decision to drop its nickname and mascot. Last July,
Washington D.C.'s NFL teamannounced it would stop using a nickname long considered a racial slur. The team spent last season known only as the Washington Football Team.
Both changes were a long time coming. The National Congress of American Indians began working to address issues of Native American imagery in 1968. In 2005,
the National Collegiate Athletic Association began prohibiting colleges and universities from displaying hostile or abusive nicknames, mascots, or imagery.
"I think we're in a day and age in this country where it’s time for both corporations and team sports to retire the use of Native American names, images and mascots from their products, team jerseys and sports in general," Chief Hoskin said in his statement.