A new Washington Football Team name feels hollow to us Native people

The team’s fight against Native dignity stretches as far back as the 1960s, when the National Congress of American Indians first asked for a name change. Indigenous peoples’ efforts continued over the years, and in 1992, Cheyenne-Hodulgee Muscogee advocate Suzan Shown Harjo first filed suit requesting that the team’s trademarks be canceled. I joined Suzan as lead plaintiff more than a decade ago. At every turn, the Washington Football Team demonized us.