In San Francisco's 24-20 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, safety Budda Baker tackled 49ers star George Kittle's and the tight end wound up leaving with a sprained left knee. The influx of opportunists was a boon for California's economy, and. Why Is it Called Death Valley? And the 49ers are certainly not the only professional team to use a historically problematic or controversial figure as a mascot. 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. It barely makes a blip on the national consciousness. Redface. San Francisco 49ers v Chicago Bears Nick Bosa has been at the center of a social media storm ever since footage emerged of him ignoring an African-American fan in the stands. Political reality demands it. 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? The Forty-Niners, a group of shjo manga artists also known as the Year 24 Group. In 2008, Jed became president of the franchise, with his parents transitioning to co-chairmen. At a time when President Donald Trump has brought vilification of Mexico to a fevered pitch in the United States, it is important to recall that the future American state was originally owned by the Mexican government. They were relatively early compared to the competition that would follow over the next six years; they could put a pan in the river and pull out gold. (Salon reached out to both the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers organizations and did not receive a response.) Moreover, the eastern reaches of Missouri were home to one of the more advanced agricultural and metal-working societies on the planet around 1500. The symbolism of the modern Olympics celebrates nations working together peacefully in athletic competition. When the California Gold Rush began in 1848, American football didnt exist. That mascot was phased out in 1988 and a completely innocuous mascot, The K.C. The "49ers" is the nickname for those who flocked to northern California in 1849 hoping to take advantage of the gold rush. between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City . 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. Perhaps the clearest throwback to the inspiration, though, is the team mascot, Sourdough Sam. Blind fury! The team, of course, is not alone in casting the old gold miners in a friendly light. When New Jersey prospector James Marshall "discovered" gold at Sutter's Mill, it was because Native Americans brought the nuggets to his attention without recognizing their commercial value. Chapter 133s most abhorrent clause stated, In no case shall a white man be convicted of any offence upon the testimony of an Indian, or Indians. With those 20 words, California effectively legalized the rape, robbery, and murder of any Native American within the boundaries of the state. "The name Chiefs on its own by itself may not be offensive, right? Teams with names like the Cowboys, Miners and Vikings also celebrate white settler colonialism. The San Francisco 49ers drafted Ohio State pass rusher Nick Bosa with the second overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft, but a number of left-leaning 49ers fans were not happy. Before 1850 (when California became a state), the gold was free. Technically, the San Francisco 49ers are registered as the San Francisco Forty Niners, but that definitely wouldnt fit on a football helmet. I know they starve; I know they perish by hundreds It is a crying sin that our government, so wealthy and so powerful, should shut its eyes to the miserable fate of these rightful owners of the soil.. The "49ers" is the nickname for those who flocked to northern California in 1849 hoping to take advantage of the gold rush. Being unseen or unconsidered on the national stage is clearly harming the Indigenous community. But those aggressive gold miners would give their nickname to a football team one hundred years later. It took until 1970 for the 49ers to win their first divisional championship. All the property acquisition required was a little terrorism practiced on the countrys original inhabitants. (Last Updated On: April 18, 2019) What Is a Caste? Yet the reality of the men behind the legend is not quite so lovable and comic. When the first Northern California football team was founded in 1946, the name came logically. O'Loughlinnoted that "there's a lot of oil companies who've come into areas of Indian country where they have these man camps, and there's a lot of girls that have gone missing, [and] there's no data, law enforcement doesn't respond or act.". They then took the extraordinary measure of ordering the treaties filed under an injunction of secrecy and transferred to an obscure federal archive, which held them for more than 50 years. Denises father, Edward DeBartolo Sr., purchased the organization for $13 million in 1977. ", The devastation wrought to Native American communities wasn't limited to outright violence. The Indians in this part of the State, in the main a harmless race, are left entirely at the mercy of every ruffian in the country, and if something is not done for their protection, the race will shortly become extinct. Thats not to say that everything is the worst. Things are changing in some regards. 49er, the lowest initiated rank in a Triad. While the team colors of red and gold are certainly a nod to the whole gold rush aspect of the 49ers name, their official mascot takes the NorCal representation to new heights. After settling a QB controversy between Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick, the 49ers played their way into Super Bowl XLVII. Matthew Campbell, staff attorney at the Native American Rights Fund and enrolled member of the Native Village of Gambell on the Saint Lawrence Island in Alaska, made a similar point. Origin and meaning The San Francisco 49ers scored a stunning upset against the top-seeded Green Bay Packers, earning themselves a shot at the NFC Championship. They would go on to win three in a row. All rights reserved. Which Continent Is Russia Part of Europe or Asia? Bickering over the nacho plate! Originally, they played at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco before relocating to Candlestick Park in 1970. Of the 32 teams in the NFL, two of three teams with overtly and covertly bigoted names that target Indigenous Americans are going to the Super Bowl. But shortly afterward, the tomahawk chop started making its way out of Florida and catching on with teams from Cleveland to Atlanta to Kansas City. The nation is coming to grips with that. So for me, this can only boil down to education, or a lack thereof. There was actually a write-in contest for local Kansas City denizens to name the team. Yes, this is about recognizing the past. Is that still who we are? Pro Football Network strives to passionately deliver purposeful, captivating, and exceptional football content. Laws by the U.S. government like Greaser Act in the 1850s sought to ethnically cleanse Spanish Indians from California. So the use of the word 'American Indian' in and of itself is not necessarily problematic.". So why are we still fair game? He was called from his house by a [local white man], whose name we did not learn, and who without any provocation whatever, plunged a knife into his heart, killing him instantly. By the mid-1850s, more than 300,000 people had poured into California. Names like the Giants, Jaguars, or Cowboys are generally pretty self-explanatory in terms of connotations. Zachary Taylors Indian affairs commissioner embraced reservations as the answer to the Indian problem in the West. That excuse is gone, folks. A lot of the people who first came to the region would end up being known as 49ers as a result. And this campaign of exploitation and genocide against the 150,000 people who had originally lived in what's nowCalifornia was hardly accidental. The influx of opportunists was a boon for Californias economy, and hastened its admittance into the union in 1850. To get a full view on the horrific nature of the war on the plains, listen to Daniele Bolellis amazing recounting on his History on Fire podcast focusing on the Sand Creek Massacre (one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history). Fittingly, it's deeply tied to the history of the San Francisco area. But this name is part of our teams heritage! scream the bad-faith Dan Snyders of the world. That cheer still hasnt died to this day. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2016. 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 huge influx of new arrivals helped speed up Californias admittance to the Union as the 31st state in 1850, a mere two years after the U.S. had been awarded the territory under the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War. President Millard Fillmore, Taylors successor, appointed a superintendent of Indian affairs for California, a man named Edward Beale, and charged him with moving the states remnant Native American population onto reservations that encompassed roughly one-one-hundredth of the statenot the one-seventh promised. 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). The rest was history. The 49ers are not the only professional franchise the York family has shaped In 1978, DeBartolo Sr. purchased the Pittsburgh Penguins of the NHL and established Denise as the owner and president of the team. In addition, Campbell drew attention to the ways in which Native Americans are disenfranchised at the polls. Gidget Alikpala G_Alikpala. It was a single-generation system. With Super Bowl Sunday fast approaching, the rumbles have been growing on Native Twitter. "It is not just heartbreaking, but it's spiritually and emotionally harmful," O'Loughlin explained. The average American simply has no clue to the horrific nature of the actions taken by the United States and its citizens against Indigenous people from sea-to-shining-sea. America only achieved possession of it through imperialism in part by having white settlers colonize the land and eventually declare that a section of it should be "independent" of Mexico. And building a better future. Some have called for a change to the teams name in recent years. 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. "Like I call myself an American Indian and I run the National Congress of American Indians. If more voices come out to protest the connotation of the franchises moniker andits relationship to the genocide that took place during this period, San Francisco might just be the next team to see a change in their name. The 49ers would go on to have some success in the following years. To a 49er miner, an Indigenous woman or child was nothing more than a pick-ax when it broke, you simply had to buy a new one. The federal government, Lea added, should supply Indians there with farming tools, cloth, and livestock; assist them with housing; and secure for them intellectual, moral, and religious education. Established in 1944, they are one of the oldest teams in the league. spokesman said that players would be allowed to choose a decal with one of six messages to place on the back of their . But fans and consumers have the power to convince NFL team owners to do the right thing. The miners who arrived in 1849 encountered a number of fortunate coincidences. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! An athletic and mobile quarterback, Kaepernick attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where he set several. Meeting in a closed-door executive session on July 8, 1852, a majority of senators voted to reject all 18 treaties. With Montana, they became the standard against which every QB/WR duo would be judged. They were founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and joined the NFL in 1949 when the two merged. Gold was first found in Northern California in January 1848, and it took about a year for the news to travel and inspire thousands of fortune seekers to head west. Published January 31, 2013 When the California Gold Rush began in 1848, American football didn't exist. Associated Press articles: Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. The following year, The Sacramento Union published this news item: An Indian was murdered in Santa Barbara recently under circumstances which call loudly for the establishment of a Vigilance Committee. All Rights Reserved. It has also been a place where geopolitical conflicts have heated up, such as during the Cold War when the United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics and the Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. They were the 49ers from the start. San Francisco came up just short, losing to the Baltimore Ravens in the Harbaugh Bowl as Jims brother John coached the Ravens. 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. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. While he was kept there, Sutter worked him hard and then fed him in troughs. Sports have political meaning because we, as consumers of entertainment, have chosen for decades to idolize athletes, identify with teams and invest greater social significance in the games themselves. Besides, would a single person in Kansas City be any less stoked if the Kansas City Wolves were going to the Super Bowl? While not quite as obviously racist as those of other franchises, it is said that the term 49ershonors a generation of fortune seekersthatexploited, enslaved, and killed native Americans. Whats causing this dust-up? How are players selected for the NFL combine? The influx of opportunists was a boon for Californias economy, and hastened its admittance into the union in 1850. The white men of the Golden State exercised their homicidal liberty. Why is this behavior offensive? The 49ers are not the only professional franchise the York family has shaped. Native Americans aren't the only victims associated with the Gold Rush. Until 2019, when the 49ers went 133 and advanced to Super Bowl LIV, they had losing seasons every year following Harbaughs departure. He would go on to say, I didnt leave the 49ers. The renamed arrowhead chop. Whopping and chanting. In fact, James Marshall and John Sutter, the two men linked with the start of one of the most pivotal events in California history, never got rich. Credit: Spencer Weiner/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images. 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? Whats the Difference Between Formula 1 and NASCAR? The original 49ers carried out one of the most horrific campaigns of genocide in the history of North America. NFL Week 4 recap: From Tottenham to Tom Brady. Activate your account. This is the history you need to know to understand exactly who you are. Companies are refusing to broker Redskins merchandise. The winner that shook out was an honorific for a local mayor whose nickname was Chief. This is due to said mayor starting a Boy Scout club that ripped off Native American rituals and paired it with Hollywood-inspired iconography, but thats another fight for another day. When the news of gold in California became common knowledge, people started coming from all over the country in order to stake their claim. This influx of people was also a major reason why San Francisco and other Californian cities would end up becoming major population centers. After James W. Marshall, whod been overseeing the sawmills construction, found the gold nuggets he and his boss, John Sutter, attempted to keep the discovery a secret. 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. Also, California was still disputed territory. Sorry, pal, our heritage predates the NFL by a few millennia. After the game . In early February, the Washington football team announced their new name, the Washington Commanders. They're suffering from being in a community where they see that that behavior is OK.", O'Loughlin also noted that there are a lot of pressing issues facing modern Native American communities that get overlooked, even as our culture focuses on offensive simplifications about Native American peoples. Maybe not all the way back to 1849, but the story begins in 1946, when the 49ers were first founded as a football club. The 49er represents brutal manifest destiny and wealth capture at the expense of an entire population. 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. Given this unique cultural moment, people are taking to their social media and journalism platforms to share takes, educate, and reflect on the state of not only the NFL in 2020 but the greater issue of our nebulous-but-supposedly-lofty American values.. After keeping a small portion for the Indians, the justice held the power to sell or grant the excess property to any chosen white man, who could, with the same magistrates permission, kidnap Indian children and adopt themor keep the youths as unpaid houseworkers and field hands until they reached the age of majority. "There's a growing body of research out there that discusses the harm that these images cause and the effects that they have on self-esteem and the awareness of the students in the school setting. And not anybody in an American Indian community can wear an eagle feather headdress. Alas.). The influx of opportunists was a boon for California's economy, and. Origin and meaning, San Fran's defense shuts down Stafford and Rams. John York, her husband of nearly 44 years, serves as the current co-chair. Essentially, the question at the root of the issue boils down to this: Why is it still okay for Americans to wear redface and mock Indigenous pain in 2020? Despite its negative history, the word is regularly used by various races. To a 49er miner, an Indigenous woman or child was nothing more than a pick-ax when it broke, you simply had to buy a new one. Lets dive right into why this name is baffling. Naturally, it being the 1960s, the mascot the team chose was an Indian in a loincloth and face paint with feathers riding a horse named Warpaint. The Super Bowl is coming up, and in these days of anticipation we often get so caught up worrying about little things like What teams are playing? and Whos going to win? that we lose sight of the bigger question: Why on earth are the San Francisco 49ers called the San Francisco 49ers? The old 49er has long been a beloved figure in the state's lore.. "I think most problematic when we see them used in the school setting is that they actually cause harm to students, native students and non-native students alike, and that they have this real negative impact on the students," Campbell told Salon. If you dont live near there youve probably still heard of the environmental extreme Death Valley. Think pieces are being written on liberal and conservative outlets. The bigoted behavior is so off-putting that the team asked TV broadcasters not to show these fans. Another double bonus is the Minnesota Vikings and the regions large Scandinavian population. 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 conditions in the mining camp were rough and crude. Theyve nabbed five Super Bowl titles and were home to several NFL legends, including Steve Young, Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. ", He added, "Let's go back to the scenario featuring African Americans. 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). While the team colors of red and gold are certainly a nod to the whole gold rush aspect of the 49ers name, their official mascot takes the Northern California representation to new heights. They were early at the scene and there remained a lot of gold to be had. No other way to describe it. 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. Stephen A. Douglas, the Illinois senator whose seat would later be challenged by Abraham Lincoln, proposed extinguishing Indian land ownership in the far West by establishing expansive plots of land where Indians may be permanently located and protected. (This proposal was the beginning of todays reservation system.) 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. Even in that image above, from a Chicago Blackhawks game, shows a single fan in a sea of fans who are not in fake headdresses. What was Georgias Jalen Carters role in a fatal car crash that killed his teammate? The "49ers" is the nickname for those who flocked to northern California in 1849 hoping to take advantage of the gold rush. Theres no way you could go wrong. Lea noted, with some chagrin, that there was violent opposition to [the California treaties] in the legislature of that State, but he nonetheless requested their adoption by the U.S. Senate. Updated The Anaheim Mighty Ducks, anyone? Read: The future of Native American imagery in sports, Sutter and others tried to keep the discovery a secret, but word spread quickly, and soon the population of California swelled. When the team was initially founded, there werent really any other alternate name ideas. The NFL Has Always Been Racist. They would also have some of the most recognizable and acclaimed players ever to take the field during this period, like wide receiver Jerry Rice, quarterbacks Joe Montana and Steve Young, and cornerback Ronnie Lott. Through the indiscriminate use of terrorism and murder, Californias 49ers carried out one of the most successfuland, until recently, largely unacknowledgedcampaigns of ethnic cleansing the world has ever seen. Martin O'Malley (2007-2015), computer engineer and Internet co-inventor Leonard Kleinrock and right-wing insurrectionist Roger Stone. The reality of the early gold-rush prospectors was not nearly as benevolent as the mascots wide smile may suggest. Still, seeing someone in redface or a fake headdress denotes colonial bigotry. In 1991, she made history, presiding over the 1990-1991 championship season, becoming just the third woman to serve as the president of a Stanley Cup-winning team. As mentioned above, teams and broadcasters are refusing to show redface. Top 10: The Forty-Niners, a novel by Alan Moore and Gene Ha. The San Francisco 49ers name, which refers to the Gold Rush, is also problematic, said Schilling, a former 49ers fan himself. No laws governed the growing population in the new territory. O'Loughlin also reflected on the fact that America's education system shortchanges Native American history, particularly in completely neglecting what has happened to indigenous communities in recent years. And the end product was that they were almost obliterated as a group of people.". What Do Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, And Lent Mean? 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