Deep in the forest outside Accokeek, Maryland, lives Billy “Redwing” Tayac, 80, leader of the Piscataway Indigenous Tribe.
His family, as he likes to say, is from Maryland, Virginia or Washington, D.C., they’re from the Chesapeake Bay Area.
Problems such as calling it home in aboriginal terms are just one of many that Chief Tayac has fought for what he claims to have been his whole life.
Coming from five generations of activists, if you live in the area, Chief Tayac may be familiar to you. Since the mid-1980s, Chief Tayac has been at the forefront of protests for the Washington NFL team to replace his call. On July 13, the team announced that it was converting its call-up to the Washington football team in the 2020–2021 season.
“The call is racist, that’s what you have to understand,” Chief Tayac said. “Don’t do as I’m telling you, look it up in the Webster dictionary on the Washington football team. I don’t like to utter the word, but it’s Redskin. Look what that means. It’s a racial slur for Native Americans. It’s derogatory.”
For boss Tayac, it’s hard to be a football fan, especially when his home team’s call and mascot “hurts” him. He doesn’t have D.C. football team products, one thing, a magnet in his refrigerator that says “I love the team, I hate the call,” and that’s exactly what Chief Tayac says.
Growing up in the area, he says it’s hard for him to celebrate victories like the Super Bowl or attend fashion shows when all you see is the term written on hats, jackets and other accessories.
“Like I said, I led the protests in the 1980s and was one of the first plaintiffs for the call here and it hurts,” Chief Tayac said. “It’s a racist term. Let’s bury all those racist terms once and for all. We are all young of God, let us treat everyone equally.”
And while Chief Tayac might not be protesting on the floor as he would in his youth, the next generation of activists like Mary Phillips of the Laguna Pueblo/Omaha tribe has carried the torch and continues to fight for the call change. Phillips refers to the call as the word “R” and doesn’t need anyone to say it or use it, even if it’s said about the football team.
“Because it’s a word that evokes so many terrible thoughts, ” said Phillips. “And it’s an insult to Native Americans for those who haven’t heard that yet, but it’s an insult.”
Phillips adds that it is very difficult to teach enthusiasts or other people who celebrate football in Washington because enthusiasts do not perceive or do not know the story of the word.
“And so it’s been, you know [difficult], looking to teach other people to perceive this word, that this outstanding team really celebrates the color of my skin by saying it’s red,” Phillips said.
“And as a result, we can call this story call that proves the $200 value,” Phillips said. “Your head, your scalp is worth $200 and other people would chase you for it. And before today, why is this term used?”
As far as the D.C. football team is concerned, some say that progress has been made slightly. The statue of former team owner George Marshall, who opposed deregregation and whose team was the last to integrate the black players, was eliminated and the team designated the team as the Washington football team for the time being. A war that owner Daniel Snyder has been waging for years. Snyder then sought to keep the team’s original call despite what some enthusiastic and Aboriginal citizens like Chief Billy felt. According to Chief Billy, it wasn’t about “political pressure” or how other people felt, Snyder was about wasting ads. Companies such as Nike, FedEx and Pepsi Cola threatened to withdraw the ad, and Snyder and the team left nickcall a few days later.
“With Mr. Snyder, what prompted you to replace your name? Money talks and that’s what it does. And he realizes he’s waging a futile battle. And that’s the bottom line,” Chief Tayac said.
In July, the team issued a statement regarding its resolution to prevent the use of the call and logo until a new one was selected.
“On July 3, we announced the start of a thorough review of the team’s call. This review has really begun. As a component of this process, we need our sponsors, enthusiasts and the network to be informed of our minds as we go along.” said the team in a month ago. “… we announce that we will remove the Redskins call and logo at the end of this review.”
But for Phillips, she says there’s still a lot to do to complete the term.
“It’s not debatable, ” said Phillips. “And it has never been used as an informal word, let alone for the name of a team, then it was held and then stuck all over that building, in the FedEx building, in each and every hallway where you move to a grocery store, see the face, the lopass, the word.”
“In the broadest sense of things, it evaporates so much from people’s minds that they don’t even realize how racist it is,” he said.
Chief Tayac said he looked for others to know that even after the call change, the fight is not over. For local Americans, their struggle will continue, he says.
“We didn’t die in 1890 as a race of people. We’re still here. It’s God’s will. Like it or not, I’d like to say this is our country. That’s where God put us there. And no one will walk away from him, ” said Chief Tayac.
“We have survived the genocides of the United States government, the cultural genocide of people. And you know what, we’re still here? That’s what I can say. And I’m proud to be an Indian.”
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