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Non-profit

Not Your Mascots

Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Type:

Advocacy Group
Founded:

2014
Co-Founder:

Tara Houska
Budget:

Unknown

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Not Your Mascots is a left-of-center advocacy group that pressures schools and professional sports teams to change Native American-themed mascots. The organization views Native American mascots as racist and demeaning to Native Americans.

The organization also works to promote other issues of interest to left-wing Native American activists such as radical environmentalism and radical identity politics issues such as replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day. 1

The organization describes itself as a 501(c)(3) 2 but it appears to have never filed a public tax return, despite being around since 2014. 3 The co-founder and public face of the organization, Tara Houska, has been accused of financial mismanagement of her other political organizations by former allies. 4

Not Your Mascots’ former website appears to no longer be under the organization’s control and is now under the control of a completely unrelated organization. However, it is still sporadically active on both Facebook 5 and Twitter as of late 2021. 6

Overview

Not Your Mascots is a left-wing advocacy organization that works to improve the representation of Native Americans in American culture. Its primary focus is to pressure public and private schools and professional sports teams to change their Native American-inspired mascots. The organization has claimed that representations of Native Americans as sports and school mascots harm the self-esteem of Native American youth. 7

The organization was founded in Washington, D.C., by Native American lawyer Tara Houska and other Native Americans online. It was originally founded as a loose organization of online Native American activists who wanted to change the name of the metropolitan area’s professional football team, at the time known as the Washington Redskins. 8

Washington Redskins Name Change

In November 2014, Not Your Mascots led a protest outside a Washington Redskins game against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The organization drew 3500 supporters. But the protest was counterprotested by some Native Americans who believed that the Redskins nickname honored the bravery of Native Americans. 9

In 2016, a Washington Post poll showed that the vast majority of self-identified Native Americans surveyed did not find the “Redskins” name offensive. Houska blasted the poll as unrepresentative of Native American opinion because 56% of the respondents were not enrolled in a tribe. She also attacked the poll as disregarding those Native Americans who supported a name change. 10

In July 2020, Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder announced that there was going to be a review of the name which led to the temporary renaming of the team to “Washington Football Team.” Houska tied the name change into other racial strife that was occurring. “The George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter movement for Black lives has been all over and these monuments and celebrations of genocide and slavery are coming down. Then on top of that you have a situation where a group of folks have basically went after the investors and really got them where their money’s at.” said Houska.

“So I think the combination of all, everything you see on top of where we’re at with race in this country and you know going after the money it’s all added up to getting someone to do something about this.” 11

Other Teams

Not Your Mascots has since targeted other teams. Among the teams mentioned were the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians baseball teams, the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team, and the Kansas City Chiefs football team. 12

In January 2018, the Cleveland Indians announced that it was retiring the “Chief Wahoo” logo by 2019. Houska described the logo change as “too little, too late.” She said Native American mascots should’ve been immediately removed after 2005 when the American Psychological Association reported they were harmful to the self-esteem of Native American youth. 13 The Cleveland Indians would change their name to the Cleveland Guardians for the 2022 Major League Baseball season.

Leadership

The co-founder and public face of the organization is Native American attorney and far-left activist Tara Houska. Among Houska’s other work is working as a Native American advisor for the socialist Sanders 2016 presidential campaign. 14

Houska has also been involved in far-left environmentalist activism and protesting oil and gas pipelines, including the Dakota Access Pipeline. Houska reportedly has a strong relationship with the left-wing “Squad” of U.S. House members. 15

She even established a bail assistance fund in Minnesota for protesters called the Freshet Collective. She has been accused of financial mismanagement related to the collective by former allies including not filing tax returns and not filing audited financial statements to Minnesota authorities. Another former volunteer claimed the collective was not paying anyone’s bail or legal bills. 16

Finances and Organization

According to information posted on its store and its social media pages, the organization is registered as a 501(3)(c) nonprofit with the IRS. But the organization appears to have not filed a public tax return according to searches on both Guidestar and ProPublica. 17

A website formerly identified with Not Your Mascots is no longer active and is currently being used by an unrelated organization. The group’s Facebook 18 and Twitter accounts are sporadically active. 19

References

  1. “Not Your Mascots”. 2021. Twitter. Accessed December 13. https://twitter.com/notyourmascots.
  2. “Not Your Mascots”. 2021. Twitter. Accessed December 13. https://twitter.com/notyourmascots.
  3. Not Your Mascots, accessed January 4, 2022, https://www.linkedin.com/company/not-your-mascots/about/.
  4. Daley, Kevin. 2021. “Green Activist Tied To Top Dems Can’t Account For Millions Given To Her Bail Fund”. Washington Free Beacon. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/green-activist-tied-to-top-dems-cant-account-for-millions-given-to-her-bail-fund/.
  5. “Not Your Mascots”. 2021. Facebook. Accessed December 13. https://www.facebook.com/notyourmascots.
  6. “Not Your Mascots”. 2021. Twitter. Accessed December 13. https://twitter.com/notyourmascots.
  7. “‘Stop Caricaturing Us’: Why Removing Chief Wahoo As Cleveland Indian Mascot Matters”. 2018. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-thursday-february-8-2017-1.4524990/stop-caricaturing-us-why-removing-chief-wahoo-as-cleveland-indian-mascot-matters-1.4525007.
  8. Marsh, Steve. 2020. “Tara Houska On Racist Mascots, Fighting Pipelines, And Being The Only Native Person In The Room”. Mpls.St.Paul Magazine. https://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/tara-houska/.
  9. Jackson, Carissa. 2014. “Thousands Rally Against Redskins Name”. KARE11. https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/89-105685295.
  10. “Tara Houska: Mascots Hurt Native Youth Despite Results Of Poll”. 2016. Indianz. https://www.indianz.com/News/2016/05/23/tara-houska-mascots-hurt-native-youth-de.asp.
  11. “Not Your Mascots Co-Founder Says Review Of Washington Team Name ‘A Long Time Coming’”. 2020. APTN News. https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/not-your-mascots-co-founder-says-review-of-washington-team-name-a-long-time-coming/.
  12.  “Not Your Mascots Co-Founder Says Review Of Washington Team Name ‘A Long Time Coming’”. 2020. APTN News. https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/not-your-mascots-co-founder-says-review-of-washington-team-name-a-long-time-coming/.
  13. “‘Stop Caricaturing Us’: Why Removing Chief Wahoo As Cleveland Indian Mascot Matters”. 2018. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-thursday-february-8-2017-1.4524990/stop-caricaturing-us-why-removing-chief-wahoo-as-cleveland-indian-mascot-matters-1.4525007.
  14. Daley, Kevin. 2021. “Green Activist Tied To Top Dems Can’t Account For Millions Given To Her Bail Fund”. Washington Free Beacon. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/green-activist-tied-to-top-dems-cant-account-for-millions-given-to-her-bail-fund/.
  15. Daley, Kevin. 2021. “Green Activist Tied To Top Dems Can’t Account For Millions Given To Her Bail Fund”. Washington Free Beacon. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/green-activist-tied-to-top-dems-cant-account-for-millions-given-to-her-bail-fund/.
  16. Daley, Kevin. 2021. “Green Activist Tied To Top Dems Can’t Account For Millions Given To Her Bail Fund”. Washington Free Beacon. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/green-activist-tied-to-top-dems-cant-account-for-millions-given-to-her-bail-fund/.
  17. [1] “Not Your Mascots”. 2021. Twitter. Accessed December 13. https://twitter.com/notyourmascots.
  18. “Not Your Mascots”. 2021. Facebook. Accessed December 13. https://www.facebook.com/notyourmascots.
  19. “Not Your Mascots”. 2021. Twitter. Accessed December 13. https://twitter.com/notyourmascots.
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