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There
are two attitudes people have toward Native Americans, and both
of them bother Sienna Burgess, who is Commanche. "One minute
they call us savages or make fun of us, the next minute they want
to be us," said the 17-year-old from Rockville, who wishes
the Washington Redskins would change their name. The football
fans that go to games in face paint and feathers are just like
the jokester-wannabes that she meets day-to-day: Sometimes they
seem pathetic, sometimes hurtful.
Just
recently, for example, some kids at school were making that "woo-woo-woo"
fake Indian sound. Sienna and a Native American friend listened
and fumed. "It's really offensive, I hate it," she said.
Meanwhile, kids also seem eager to claim that they are part-Indian.
"It's because Indians get 'mad props,' " she said. "Indians
found the country first and had it taken from them. Kids think
that's cool." The Redskins' team name, she said, "used
to really bother me a lot, when I heard it, but now I try not
to let it bother me. I don't let those fake Indians bother me."
Sienna's
cousin Paige Burgess, meanwhile, who also lives in Rockville,
has decided "it's pretty good we have the [Redskins team]
name." "At least it lets other people know we're still
here. I take it kind of proudly," said the 15-year-old, who
is Commanche and Pawnee. "When you think of team names, they're
mostly taken from something strong, like the Denver Broncos--a
bronco is something strong." Paige said he cheers for the
Kansas City Chiefs. Both Paige and Sienna say they have had to
learn to deal with people's stereotypes about Native Americans.
Paige encounters people who think he should be low-key and smoke
a peace pipe, even though he's outgoing and a Christian. Sienna
was afraid to even admit she was Indian when she moved from Oklahoma
to the D.C. area eight years ago.
"There
were a lot of Indians back there, and none here. I was ashamed,"
said Sienna. But gradually she met others. There are two Indian
families, one Crow, one Navaho, in her Rockville neighborhood.
She goes to the Indian Education Center in Rockville and dances
in pow-wows all around the region.
"Now,"
she said, "I'm proud."
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