In defense of the Indian mascot

Jon Wisniewski ’07 defends the Indian mascot in the Daily D:

Opponents would have us believe that Dartmouth Reviewers and others who sport
the villainized Indian head are complacent with and supportive of the actions of
our national predecessors who engaged in what amounts to genocide and theft on
an epic scale. The truth, however, is that those of us who wear or support such
a mascot do so with absolutely no connection to those unfortunate and repugnant
actions. We do so as individual actors, entirely separate from all of history
and modern society, because we have made a choice that on some level, aesthetic
or otherwise, the mascot is pleasing to us. This is not because it looks down on
Native American culture, a culture as deserving of respect and admiration as
any, but rather for the exact same reasons that we support a fighting Irishman
mascot or a minuteman mascot. No amount of blame-placing or waxing eloquent will
ever change this fact.

Update: This is notable only because it is a defense of the Indian mascot in the Daily D. It is not a particularly good defense of the traditional symbol, though.