The many fans of the Washington Commanders who long for the return of the team’s former name and logo got a big boost from the family of the tribal chief who inspired both.
The team caved to activist pressure to drop the name and logo in July 2020 over accusations that both had racist connotations. For a brief time, the team took the name “Washington Football Team,” then switched to the Washington Commanders in 2022.
‘White Calf’s name was dropped from the Redskins narrative. His life story was erased from history. Even worse: Uncle Two Guns was dehumanized.’
According to Thomas White Calf, the team was named after his late uncle Two Guns White Calf, who was a chief of the Blackfeet tribe. Thomas told the New York Post the storied history of his uncle and called for the team to restore the name to honor his family and the Native American community.
“White Calf defended tribal traditions in our Blackfeet homeland in Montana, where many of us still live today,” Thomas wrote. “He went to Washington, D.C., where he forced the U.S. government to honor Indian treaties. He served as a model for the U.S. Mint’s famous 1913 ‘Indian head’ nickel. White Calf’s face is still a collector’s item.”
Thomas White Calf said his uncle was friends with Teddy Roosevelt Jr. and made President Calvin Coolidge a member of the Blackfeet Nation. His death in 1934 was front-page news.
He went on to criticize the left-wing movement that led to the removal of his uncle’s visage from the team logo.
White Calf became the proud warrior face of the Redskins in 1972, championed by Blackfeet leader Blackie Wetzel and with support of Native Americans across the country.
Cancel-culture racists decided at some point they wanted to get rid of Indian images in the public domain. The Redskins and Two Guns were their No. 1 target.
White Calf’s name was dropped from the Redskins narrative. His life story was erased from history. Even worse: Uncle Two Guns was dehumanized. He was ridiculed as a “savage and clownish mascot.”
Thomas White Calf went on to link the group that opposed his uncle’s presence on the logo to billionaire leftist George Soros. He also thanked President Donald Trump for using his influence to pressure the team to change the name back.
“We ask that the American Indian never be erased, dehumanized or forgotten again,” he wrote. “God Bless the Blackfeet. God Bless President Trump. And God Bless the United States of America.”
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The issue was revived by comments made in July by football linebacker Von Miller, who had signed on to the team and referred to it by its former name rather than the Commanders.
“The Washington Redskins called me a month and a half ago and started talking and agreed to come here to Washington about a week and a day ago. And here I am, so excited to be here,” he said at an introductory press conference.
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Washington redskins, Washington commanders, Thomas white calf, Two guns white calf, Politics