"Indian Symbol" - Examples
Description
This file contains photos, illustrations, pamphlets, and ephemera from the early to late 20th century depicting racist stereotypes of Indigenous people known as the Dartmouth “Indian symbol” or “Indian mascot.” As the student activist group Native Americans at Dartmouth explained in a policy statement in 1971, “Dartmouth College has long been thought of as a school for the education of Indian Americans. This dream has never been realized… Rather than... actual commitment, Dartmouth has, for 200 years, nourished only a romantic notion of being an ‘Indian’ school through the creation and retention of a Dartmouth ‘Indian’ mascot and assorted caricatures of Indian Americans.” In 1972, President John Kemeny formally rededicated Dartmouth to the charge of Indigenous education, and over the course of the 1970s, Native students were largely successful in their push to end of widespread use of the symbol.
See: "'Indian Symbol' - Policy Statements" Vertical File
Dates
- 1900 - 2018
Conditions Governing Access
Unrestricted
Extent
From the Collection: 119 linear ft. (File drawers)
From the Collection: 242 Digital File(s)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Reparative Description Change(s)
- This file was assessed for reparative description. The term "Indian symbol" was retained, with quotes added to indicate that it is the commonly used name for the symbol as reflected in the primary sources. This file contains material from the "Indian Head Insignia" file, which was reorganized and merged with the "'Indian Symbol'" files, as the insignia is considered a form of the Dartmouth "Indian symbol." This description was last revised based on the Harmful Content And Reparative Description Statement workflow on 2024-10-19.
Part of the Rauner Library Archives and Manuscripts Repository