List of sports team names and mascots derived from indigenous peoples

There is not total agreement on the definition of indigenous peoples, but there are some criteria used by the United Nations and the International Labour Organization:

Contents

• Other ethnicities
• American football
• Association football
• Australian rules football
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Canadian football
• Ice hockey
• Lacrosse
• Rugby union
• Rugby league
• Other
• Prior pro usage
• Pop Warner Little Scholars
• YouthJunior football
• Ice Hockey
• Wrestling
• References

This definition in international law is not identical to the American English dictionary definition of the word indigenous, which is broad enough to include native and born as synonyms. The additional criteria of a people both colonized or invaded and reduced to a marginalized minority is however part of the current majority understanding of the terms First Nations, Native American and Indigenous peoples of the Americas as referring to the decedents of pre-colonial peoples of the Americas, not everyone born there.

While the history of colonization and marginalization is not unique to the Americas, the practice of deriving sports team names, imagery, and mascots from indigenous peoples is a significant phenomena in the United States and Canada. The rise of indigenous rights movements in these counties has also led to controversy regarding the continuation of practices rooted in colonialism. Such practices maintain the power relationship between the dominant culture and the indigenous culture, and can be seen as a form of cultural imperialism. Such practices are seen as particularly harmful in schools and universities, which have the a stated purpose of promoting ethnic diversity and inclusion. In recognition of the responsibility of higher education to eliminate behaviors that creates a hostile environment for education, in 2005 the NCAA initiated a policy against "hostile and abusive" names and mascots that led to the change of many derived from Native American culture, with the exception of those that established an agreement with particular tribes for the use of their specific names. Other schools retain their names because they were founded for the education of Native Americans, and continue to have a significant number of indigenous students. In other former colonies in Asia, Africa and South America, the adoption of indigenous names for majority indigenous teams is also found. However, there are also a number of teams outside the Americas with team names derived from Native Americans.

The trend towards the elimination of indigenous names and mascots in local schools has been steady, with two thirds having been eliminated over the past 50 years according to the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). In a few states with significant Native American populations, change has been mandated by law, such in Wisconsin, Oregon, and Washington.