Amanda Blackhorse

Photo credit: Ryan Redcorn

Amanda Blackhorse

Our Goddess this season represents the power of Indigenous women and what is possible when we unite for our People. We honor and celebrate Amanda Blackhorse, who has worked endlessly to eradicate harmful Indigenous imagery.

Photo Credit: Carly Henry/Cronkite News

Photo Credit: Az To Rally Against Native Mascots

Image from Az To Rally Against Native Mascots

Amanda is Dine’ and a member of the Navajo Nation, from Big Mountain and Kayenta, Arizona. She is Ashihii born for Tachinii. Her maternal grandfather was Tsinagjinii and her maternal grandfather was Ashinii. She is a mother and licensed clinical social worker.

Amanda has been fighting for years with Indigenous accomplices to advocate against Native American mascots and costumes. She also speaks nationally about how colonization and historical trauma contribute to the legacy of Native American mascots.

Amanda and other Natives founded the group, Arizona to Rally Against Native American Mascots, to spread awareness about the harmful effects of offensive Native mascot and Native cultural appropriation.

In June 2014, Amanda and four other Native petitioners, organized by Suzan Shown Harjo, won their 9 year long case before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board under the US Patent Office in Blackhorse et.al vs. Pro Football to cancel the federal registrations of the NFL team, the Washington R*dsk*ns. These registrations include the racial slur r*dsk*ns and their logo.

As a result of that decision, Pro-Football sued Amanda Blackhorse and her co-plaintiffs in federal court but on July 8, 2015 a federal judge upheld the TTAB decision to cancel the teams registrations on the grounds of disparagement – the team lost their appeal. Pro Football appealed again, but the case was drastically affected by a similar case on cultural names which was ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court on the grounds that it violates Free Speech. The team name change case was then dropped in 2018.

Amanda has continued her fight through protest and advocating for awareness on racist logos and their negative impacts on Native communities.

On July 13, 2020 Amanda’s efforts saw a huge victory when the N.F.L. team in Washington announced that it would drop its logo and team name, yielding to the activism led by Amanda and others.

This a a big win in the fight for Native representation and as we celebrate Amanda, we also take a moment to regroup to tackle the next team alongside her.

Learn more about Amanda and her work at:

http://www.nomorenativemascots.org/take-action/