No human culture should be reduced to a costume, a chant, or a flaming spear at midfield. Florida State's "Seminoles" tradition is younger than our grandparents — and it's time to write a new one we can all be proud of.
The Florida State Seminoles tradition is often defended as something old, sacred, and untouchable. It isn't. It is younger than the Polaroid camera, younger than the ballpoint pen, younger than the Slinky. It was selected by a student vote in 1947, beating out names like "Crackers" and "Tarpons."
The position of People Not Mascots is straightforward: no living human culture should be performed as a sports symbol. Not at games. Not at halftime. Not by a non-Native student in costume planting a flaming spear into a football field. This isn't a fringe view. More than 115 professional organizations have formally called for the end of Native American mascots — including the American Psychological Association, the American Sociological Association, the American Counseling Association, the National Congress of American Indians, and the National Indian Health Board.
What those organizations are responding to is a substantial body of research, not a feeling. Studies have repeatedly shown measurable harm — to Native youth, to non-Native students, and to the broader culture of the schools where these mascots live. The "honoring" defense doesn't survive contact with the data, because stereotypes don't become harmless when the stereotype is flattering.
Plenty of teams have already moved on without losing their fanbase, their wins, or their identity. The Seminoles can too — and the next chapter of FSU should be one its students, alumni, and the wider community help write.
The APA's formal resolution, drawing on more than a decade of psychological research, called for the retirement of all Native American mascots in sports and education. The APA's finding: the imagery damages the self-concept of Native students, and it teaches non-Native students that culturally abusive behavior toward minority groups is acceptable.
Landmark studies by Dr. Stephanie Fryberg found that Native high school and college students briefly shown Native mascot imagery reported lower personal self-esteem and a diminished sense of what their community could achieve. The harm appeared regardless of whether the mascot was framed as positive or "honoring."
Experimental research has found that non-Native participants exposed to a Native mascot subsequently showed greater stereotyping of unrelated minority groups. The imagery doesn't just affect how people see Native Americans — it normalizes the act of stereotyping itself, training everyone who watches.
The NIHB resolution frames Native mascots as a contributor to mental health disparities in Native youth — a population already facing disproportionate rates of depression and suicide. Retiring the imagery is treated as a health intervention, not a symbolic gesture.
Sources: APA Resolution Recommending the Immediate Retirement of American Indian Mascots (2005); Fryberg, Markus, Oyserman, & Stone, Of Warrior Chiefs and Indian Princesses (Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 2008); National Congress of American Indians, Ending the Era of Harmful "Indian" Mascots; National Indian Health Board Legislative & Policy Agenda, 2022.
FSU has changed its Native American imagery repeatedly — quietly admitting, every time, that what came before was indefensible. The current symbol is the most polished iteration of a pattern, not a sacred constant.
Major college and professional teams have retired Native American mascots without losing their history, their fans, or their place in the sport. Each one was told it would be the end. Each one is still here.
Public pressure works when it's specific, sustained, and counted. Sign the petition. Get the updates. Show up.
FSU's identity is set by people who answer phones and read mail. Reach the ones whose decisions matter — your state legislator, the FSU Board of Trustees, and the Florida Board of Governors that oversees the state university system.