Sports

Watch The Anti-Redskins Ad That Will Play Tonight

Sarah Hofmann Contributor
Font Size:

A California tribe, The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, has paid to run an ad against the Washington Redskins team name in seven cities during the halftime of Game 3 of the NBA Finals Tuesday night.

The ad, entitled “Proud to Be” shows different members of various tribes both past and present. The narrator lists a number of words including, “proud, forgotten, Indian, Navajo, Blackfoot, Inuit, Sioux, survivor, spiritualist, patriot.” The ad ends with, “Native Americans call themselves many things. The one thing they don’t…” and then they show a close up of a Washington Redskins football helmet.


The tribe did not disclose how much they spent on the ad and the placement, but did say it was a “significant investment,” reports The Washington Post. The National Congress of American Indians released a two minute video at the end of January.

NCAI Executive Director Jackie Pata and Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter released a joint statement saying, “We applaud the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation for having the vision and commitment to ensure that the American public receives the message loud and clear that Native Americans strongly oppose the use of this disparaging slur. By airing this ad during the NBA Championships, this message for change will be brought into the living rooms of millions of American all across the country.”

Follow Sarah on Twitter