We like to go to the Rockies for vacations. We often stop at the tribal museums and talk to the locals while viewing the exhibits. I have had many conversations with tribal members from Northern Sioux to Apaches in Arizona. We talked about culture, history, and how they see themselves being treated today.

            A Navaho man who retired after 20 years was the most eloquent and open. We stopped at his wife’s shop that was a little more than a lean-to with shelving and a counter displaying silversmithing craftwork. He and I talked about many subjects. One was his life as a rancher on a small ranch we could see from the back of the shop. It was in a canyon just off the little Colorado about 300 feet down from the shop. He is a retired 20-year Army Veteran.

            This is the essence of his and his tribe’s viewpoints. One, they like the term Indian and not “First Nation” or “Indigenous peoples,” which they oddly consider names invented by the white man to further eliminate their culture. (The only Indian I talked to who liked those two names was a young Sioux.) On the subject of sports teams using Indian names, he said villages played other villages and tribes played other tribes. He said using their Indian names and logos kept their culture alive outside the tribes and shows respect. Eliminating their name from teams and logos is another way of forgetting them.

            He thought the movie “Ghost Whispers” helped to make the Navaho more visible by fighting with instead of against the white man.

            If Indians have no problem with the names and logos, why do white people? Do we want to bury them farther?