Virginia Film Festival

Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting chronicles the movement to end the use of Native American logos, mascots, slurs, and names in the competitive sporting world and in society at large. The documentary details the uprising against appropriation of Native American culture in a time of reckoning about racial injustice in the United States, particularly following the removal of Confederate imagery, removal of statues of figures like Christopher Columbus, and the pressure that was placed on the Washington, D.C. NFL team to change its controversial name. Imagining the Indian explores what motivates those who have fought to erase these harmful stereotypes from the sports world and the impact that racial and exploitative stereotypes of Native Americans have had on members of Native communities.

Discussion with director Aviva Kempner and subject Rhonda LeValdo, moderated by Adriana Greci Green (VAFF)

This film is part of the Indigenous Cinema of the Americas Series presented by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.