Native American rodeo cuts ties with Redskins organization over name

Rachel Axon | USA TODAY Sports

One of the nation’s largest all-Native American sporting events has cut ties with a foundation started by Washington’s NFL team.

In a letter sent to the Washington Redskins Original Americans Foundation (OAF) last week, the Indian National Finals Rodeo (INFR) declined to continue its largest sponsorship because of concerns over the team name and the division it was causing among its members.

“(A)fter much soul searching, we have decided that we cannot in good conscience accept resources from you on the terms you have offered, no matter how desperately we need it,” Bo Vocu, vice president of the INFR, wrote. “That is because, as you know, the resources you are offering are not truly philanthropic — they come with the expectation that we will support the racial slur that continues to promote your associated professional football team’s name.”

That leaves the INFR facing a significant shortage before its largest event of the year. The $200,000 from the OAF represented its largest donation last year. Its budget is around $900,000 for this year’s event.

Vocu said the INFR accepted a sponsorship initially because it thought its mission aligned with that of the Original Americans Foundation, which was started in March 2014 to help tribes.

Vocu said the INFR discussed concerns over the logo with the OAF and Gary Edwards, chief executive officer of the foundation, in a conference call last month. The OAF’s signage at last year’s event consisted of large white banners with the team logo, and the foundation donated team T-shirts and footballs with the logo and name to throw in the crowd.

He said OAF officials did not seem receptive to de-emphasizing the logo in its signage and offering more information on how it can help Native American communities.

Maury Lane, spokesman for the foundation, said it was in talks with the INFR to increase its funding and he did not know about any conversations to reduce the signage at the event.

Sam Bird, president of the INFR, said the organization had not been negotiating with the OAF since its unanimous vote on Aug. 21 to end the sponsorship.

Lane alleged the end of the partnership was because the INFR accepted a sponsorship from the Oneida Nation.

“We’re thrilled that the Oneidas are funding projects like these that we have vetted and funded in the past,” he said in a statement. “Our common goal of bettering lives on Indian lands is a worthy one. We hope they will join us on many other types of projects like these in the future. Even better their investment today will allow us to fund many other projects that have long been in need of support.”

Bird, Vocu and representatives from Oneida tribes in New York and Wisconsin denied that any money had been given to the INFR contingent on it ending its relationship with the OAF or that any had been promised.

With the Indian National Finals Rodeo running Nov. 3-7 in Las Vegas, the organization is hoping to make up some of the ground in the next two months.

“Every year we start off at ground zero and we’ve got to raise this million-dollar budget, give or take a little, but when the day is over, we decided as a board that it’s just not the route we want to take and we’ll put our faith in other avenues,” said Vocu.

“We would rather keep our relationships with Indian Country than we would with the Redskins organization.”

The INFR hosts several events throughout the year and culminates in a final event featuring around 500 contestants competing for $40,000. All contractors, competitors and personnel are Native American, ensuring the money from the event remains within the community.

Vocu said the INFR heard from contestants, fans and other sponsors who were unhappy with the sponsorship last year.

“The main reason (for ending the sponsorship) is it was too much controversy among our members and our other sponsors,” said Bird. “Some people were for it, it didn’t bother them to be sponsored by the Redskins, and some it offended very badly.”

In a joint statement, National Congress of American Indians executive director Jackie Pata and Oneida Nation representative Ray Halbritter said, “We applaud the organizers of the Indian National Finals Rodeo for having the moral courage and strength of conviction to turn away badly needed resources from the Washington football team’s foundation. We only wish the team itself would demonstrate a fraction of that same willingness to put principle over profit and finally stop slurring people of color.”

That a tribe would decline to sponsor an event based on the sponsorship of the OAF is not unheard of. Last year, Notah Begay, a four-time winner on the PGA Tour who is Navajo, Isleta Pueblo and San Felipe Pueblo, spoke out against the foundation.

The Notah Begay III Foundation, which promotes healthy kids in American Indian communities, withdrew its support from a charity golf tournament in Arizona when it found out OAF was a title sponsor.

Bird said some tribes pulled sponsorship from last year’s event, but he declined to name them.