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Back to To the Point

To the Point

Was Washington Redskins Namesake a Native American Imposter?

For 20 years, Native Americans and others have been trying to get the NFL's Washington Redskins to change the team's name. But the owner, Dan Snyder, says it's meant to honor the team's first coach, Lone Star Dietz, who claimed to belong to the Sioux Nation.

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By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

For 20 years, Native Americans and others have been trying to get the NFL's Washington Redskins to change the team's name. But the owner, Dan Snyder, says it's meant to honor the team's first coach, Lone Star Dietz, who claimed to belong to the Sioux Nation. President Obama has joined the debate over the name saying, if he were the owner and it offended "a sizeable group of people, he'd change it…even if it had a storied history." Well, it does have a storied history all right, but the story itself might not be true. Richard Lieby has covered it for the Washington Post, since it first became controversial.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Evan George

    Director of Content, News

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Anna Scott

    Former KCRW Housing and Homelessness Reporter

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Gideon Brower

    Independent Producer

  • KCRW placeholder

    Richard Leiby

    Wall Street Journal

    NewsNationalPolitics
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