Native American Group Pushing For Return Of The Redskin Name BLASTS The Washington Team For Claiming They're A 'Fake Group'

A leader of the Native American group that is pushing a petition for the Washington Commanders to restore their name to the Redskins slammed the northern football franchise for dismissing the notable support of the petition as being led by a “fake group.”

As previously reported by the DC Enquirer, the Native American Guardians Association (NAGA) has a petition that has surpassed 100,000 signatures asking that the Washington football team restore its name as the Redskins. The petition states that the name “carries deep cultural, historical, and emotional significance” that honors “the bravery, resilience, and warrior spirit associated with Native American culture.”

Eunice Davidson, co-founder and president of the nonprofit group, spoke with Fox News where she hit back against the organization for attempting to dismiss the petition. "We’re not a fake group. We’re tribal-enrolled members from tribes across the United States," she said. 

"People want to call us fake and they’ve done that before," Davidson said. "They never tell our story and that’s their goal. To wipe out Native history. It’s discrimination when you go after one culture like this."

She clarified that she herself is a “full-blooded Dakota Sioux.” She is far from the only pure Native American in the group with many others that are fully direct descendants of the group participating with NAGA. 

Andre Billeaudeaux, another co-founder of the group, slammed the people who pushed for the name change. "These people are just ignorant. It’s toxic ignorance," said Billeaudeaux. "It’s group think. It’s the psychology of a group that has no idea what they're doing, but they won’t listen to us, either."

"The Redskins were the only minority representation in the entire NFL and it was a real person, not a mascot," he added.

The specific person who was attacking the organization was Matthew Laux, a premium-seat sales manager for the Commanders and their stadium, who claimed during a text exchange with Christina King, a former premium-seat holder, that “As a fan of the team [he] didn’t want [the Redskins name] changed either” but claimed that he only supported the team because of their location. 

Fox News reached out to the Commanders football team who responded with “For nearly 90 years, this franchise had a different name, and many have fond memories of cheering for that team and watching it win three Super Bowls. This does not signify any shift in our approach nor does it change the valid reasons for dropping the name." The football team also clarified that Laux does not represent the views of the Commander's football team.

While the team may claim that Laux doesn’t represent their views, considering that they refuse to address a petition that has garnered such a massive amount of support, they aren’t far from it. The support to restore the Redskins name is growing every day but nonetheless Washington football will only respond when there’s a controversy but not to address the root issue.