Alas.). They already have the mascot in place. His diverse interests are reflected in his interviews including: President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (1999-2001), animal scientist and autism activist Temple Grandin, inventor Ern Rubik, comedian Bill Burr ("F Is for Family"), novelist James Patterson ("The President's Daughter"), epidemiologist Monica Gandhi, theoretical cosmologist Janna Levin, voice actor Rob Paulsen ("Animaniacs"), mRNA vaccine pioneer Katalin Karik, philosopher of science Vinciane Despret, actor George Takei ("Star Trek"), climatologist Michael E. Mann, Washington Gov. And building a better future. Perhaps the clearest throwback to the inspiration, though, is the team mascot, Sourdough Sam. Jul 19. Over a period of 10 months in 1851, three agents of the Indian Affairs Office negotiated 18 treaties of peace and friendship with the Native Americans of California. Americans (of all cultural backgrounds) are woefully uneducated or, worse, miseducated about anything pertaining to Indigenous history or our modern lives. The actual name San Francisco 49ers is relatively simple to unpack in terms of meaning, especially if you compare it to other more obscure names like the Green Bay Packers. And yes, it all connects: According to legend, French prospectors were the first to bring the chewy, tangy sourdough recipe to northern California during the gold rush, and it was first popularized in San Franciscos Boudin Bakery in you guessed it 1849. The origin of the Kansas City Chiefs' team name may not be what you think: The team was named after former Kansas City mayor H. Roe Bartle. These are all mainstays of a Kansas City Chiefs game. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., the Mexican-American War hero Zachary Taylor swept into the White House with fresh vigor. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Similarly,Muhammad Ali declaringhimself a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War and refusing to register for the draft became a flashpoint of both the anti-war and civil rights movements, but it was the regulatory bodies stripping him of his heavyweight title and licenses as a result that made his personal politics an issue within the sport. NFL Week 4 recap: From Tottenham to Tom Brady. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2016. So why are we still fair game? It will be hard to hide. On January 24, 1848, gold was discovered at Sutters Mill on the American River in Northern California. 8 of the Worst (or Weirdest) Video Game Adaptations, Sporcle Events Newsletter Bonus Questions Week of 2/27. Maybe not all the way back to 1849, but the story begins in 1946, when the 49ers were first founded as a football club. Despite the Senates formal rejection, federal and state officials in California carried on as if the treaties were in forceand apparently nobody bothered to inform the tribes of their true status under the law. Its also understandable. 49er, the lowest initiated rank in a Triad. But this name is part of our teams heritage! scream the bad-faith Dan Snyders of the world. As white people continued to swarm into Native American land and consume their resources, it became difficult for communities that had once thrived to find the materials necessary to sustain themselves. As a result, while gold technically was discovered in 1848, the Gold Rush didnt hit full swing until 1849. A relic of the stone age which, yes, represented weaponry used during the previous millennia but also helped solidify in peoples minds that the Indigenous people of the western plains were stone-age savages. The wars between the U.S. and the settlers who wouldnt stop moving west and the Kiowa, Missouri, Osage, Kansa, Pawnee, and Arapaho nations in the 1800s were famously brutal. As the league prepares for the first game of the season on Thursday, an N.F.L. Laws were passed that made it possible for whites to kidnap Native American children or arrest Native Americans for minor crimes and then force them to work off their fines, resulting in effective servitude. Originally, they played at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco before relocating to Candlestick Park in 1970. That mascot was phased out in 1988 and a completely innocuous mascot, The K.C. Around this period of US history, the government reportedly armed local militiasto kill Native American men and seize women and childrento besold to miners and used as free labor. Still, there are a lot of them. What Is the Real Meaning Behind Ring Around the Rosie? ", The devastation wrought to Native American communities wasn't limited to outright violence. That excuse is gone, folks. ", She added, "The Nisenan Maidu just happened to be right in the middle of this whole chaotic event. The California Gold Rush began in 1848 but it took a year for the word to get out, and so by the time 1849 rolled around, thousands of fortune hunters had . The team responded . It is why there was so much fuss when it seemed that the Kansas City Chiefs' star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, had defended George Zimmerman over Trayvon Martin (the full story of the tweets, and Mahomes' views, is more complicated). Indeed, the Gold Rush was made possible by Native Americans, including the Mewuk and Maiduwho built Sutter's Fort in what's now Sacramento. Any able-bodied Indian who shall be found loitering and strolling about, the law decreed, shall be liable to be arrested on the complaint of any resident citizen of the county. Once arrested, the Indian would be brought before a mayor, magistrate, or county clerk and put up for auction. The wide receiver generated a lot of offseason chatter by expressing his displeasure regarding his contract . Copyright 2019-2023. Lets end by taking this out of the theoretical. And the 49ers are certainly not the only professional team to use a historically problematic or controversial figure as a mascot. With Super Bowl Sunday fast approaching, the rumbles have been growing on Native Twitter. . (Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images/NFL/Salon), ------------------------------------------, exploited, enslaved and even murdered the indigenous people in what's now the state of California, 80 percent of California's Native Americans were wiped out, April Moore from the Nisenan Maidu told PBS. The old 49er has long been a beloved figure in the states lore. As Jed York serves as the team's president, who is the owner of the San Francisco 49ers, and what is the history of the franchise? Let's start with the 49ers named after the Americans who came to California in 1849 during the Gold Rush specifically, and more generally after the Gold Rush pioneers since the problem with their name is not as well known as the issues with the Chiefs. There are more historic parallels between the team and the historical context of its name: The 49ers were the first NFL team, and, in fact, the first major professional sports team to originate on the West Coast. This slave trade lasted well into the 1870s with slave markets in San Francisco still functioning until they simply ran out of people to sell. Heres Our Review Of Cocaine Bear: Oh Hell Yes! Where African slaves were seen as a chattel-based equity investment, Indigenous Californians were being enslaved to be worked to death and replaced until they were all gone. There were alsono taxes or land rights disputesat the time as California had yet to become a state. There was actually a write-in contest for local Kansas City denizens to name the team. Sorry, pal, our heritage predates the NFL by a few millennia. Its the U.S.s responsibility to educate people on this but some of that falls on you, too. The California Gold Rush began in 1848 but it took a year for the word to get out, and soby the time 1849 rolled around, thousands of fortune hunters had arrived in Northern California to mine for gold. The sleeping Indians werent even members of the same Maidu tribe, but to the miners, it didnt matter: Indian was Indian. The Forty-Niners, a group of shjo manga artists also known as the Year 24 Group. But it was not until DeBartolo Jr. took over that the 49ers found the success that redefined the modern NFL. Congress created a new omnibus federal agencythe Department of the Interiorand transferred Indian affairs to its care from the War Department. They were the 49ers from the start. The 49ers went west with hearts full of greed for the riches of the land. Harriette Cole: I don't want the neighbor's kids at my house, Ask Amy: I'm your cabin housekeeper, and you apparently have no idea what I do, Pac-12 media rights: Our (final) predictions for the revenue, media partners, expansion decisions and more. Having spent most of his military career fighting Indians, Old Rough and Ready Taylor declared himself keen to move the country into an era of peace and prosperity. Yes, this is about recognizing the past. Names like the Giants, Jaguars, or Cowboys are generally pretty self-explanatory in terms of connotations. Shannon Keller O'Loughlin, a Choctaw and the Executive Director of the Association on American Indian Affairs, doesn't excludepro teams like the Chiefs from having that kind of impact, too. The census of 1880 recorded just 16,277 Indians in California, a 90 percent decline from preGold Rush days. After a 2-14 season in 1978, he made two moves that helped reshape the team and the NFL. However, in those days, it could take as long as a year for people to get from the major population hubs on the East Coast to California. That levy produced its intended effect: an exodus of nonwhites from the mining region. It barely makes a blip on the national consciousness. Since 2014, theyve been playing at Levis Stadium in Santa Clara, around 45 miles from San Francisco proper. And then, I have to ask, are we so blind to our own history that we want to cheer on a team that is, at the very least, covering up genocide and, at the very worst, celebrating one? From 1991-1998, the 49ers averaged a staggering 13 wins per season, further cementing their legacy in the pantheon of all-time dynasties in professional sports. On Monday, 24-year-old Baker posted a . The area consisted of several hundred Americans; about 6,500 Californios (people of Spanish or Mexican descent); and roughly 150,000 Native Americans. Its called a genocide, Newsom said. Top 10: The Forty-Niners, a novel by Alan Moore and Gene Ha. Thats the easiest fix there is. Enjoy live and on-demand online sports on DAZN. If they win it all, they will tie with the New England Patriots for the most Super Bowl victories in NFL history. All the property acquisition required was a little terrorism practiced on the countrys original inhabitants. This explains the name, but theres a lot more to delve into when it comes to the overall history of the San Francisco 49ers team. While the Kansas City Chiefs have in recent years taken steps to improve their relationship with Native American communities, they have not banned offensive regalia from their games, ended their problematic rituals or seriously considered changing their name. Will it be believed that he was almost immediately released from custody, because our laws will not allow an Indian to testify against a white man? California, at this time, was still a part of Mexico, but in just a few days, the United States and Mexico would sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending their two-year war and transferring a huge swath of territoryincluding present-day Californiato the Americans. An arrowhead was chosen. "The name Chiefs on its own by itself may not be offensive, right? Sourdough Sam has been the teams rootin tootin unblinkin mascot since the 1970s (though the image of a wily, trigger-happy prospector goes back to the early days of the team). Some have called for a change to the teams name in recent years. Defenders of the teams and the status quo in general might be tempted to fall back on an oft-repeated line:Why can't they just leave politics out of football? The name was in place, the team was in town, and logos needed to be made. Just where did the Rams get their name? A Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved. Well, before we start discussing the topic, lets first recognize that a caste system is [], (Last Updated On: July 28, 2020) Youve probably heard this in reference to movies with absurdly poor writing. So understand this: when Indigenous people see Sourdough Sam, the 49ers mascot, they may very well think of the sheer audacity it takes to whitewash an actual genocide with a smiling, blue-eyed miner rather than a folk hero. The 49ers theme also ties in with Californias nickname as The Golden State. Rejecting the treaties, Lea wrote, would be hazardous and unwise., Read: One way to help Native Americans: property rights. 1:30 PM EST, Sat February 1, 2020, A look inside the stadium hosting Super Bowl LIV. Aaron Rodgers reaches 500 career touchdowns, to kill Native American men and seize women and children, How did the Los Angeles Rams get their name? Who is the owner of the San Francisco 49ers? 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