Dan Snyder, The Redskins, and the Curse of the Chimariko

DAN SNYDER, THE REDSKINS, AND THE CURSE OF THE CHIMARIKO

Richard Rubenstein

As I sat before my TV set watching the Washington Redskins lose again, this time suffering an ignominious shutout at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals, I decided that enough was enough. Whatever innocent sports fans may think, the disastrous Redskins’ performance of the past few years is no accident. Before a poor season gives way to something worse, perhaps even to some lethal “accident,” it is time to tell what a few other scholars know about the real source of these shattering defeats.

I am an old man now – a college professor near the end of a long teaching career. But in my younger days I did field work among the Native Americans, especially on the Chimariko, a Northern California tribe that has since become extinct. One of its members, as aged then as I am now, showed me a faded editorial from a local newspaper, the Yreka Herald, that I remember to this day. The editorial demanded government aid to “enable the citizens of the north to carry on a war of extermination until the last redskin of these tribes has been killed.” “Extermination is no longer a question of time,” it continued. “The time has arrived, the work has commenced, and let the first man who says treaty or peace be regarded as a traitor.”

“The white men cursed us,” my native informant told me. “And so we cursed them.”

“What was the curse?” I asked.

“We sacrificed a perfect animal – a snow-white heifer – to the Great Spirit and declared that those who call us ‘redskins’ would never again know lasting success or happiness.”

I am a social scientist, not a believer in the supernatural. Yet, I can’t help asking why, after the millions poured into the Washington football team by owner Dan Snyder, a near-total revamp of managerial systems, heroic recruitment efforts, and dedicated efforts by the players themselves, the Redskins continue to suffer defeat after demoralizing defeat. The answer, I fear, lies in the mouth of owner Snyder, who stated last May, “We’ll never change the name. It’s that simple. NEVER — you can use caps!”

Here are some more caps, Mr. Snyder. BEWARE THE CURSE OF THE CHIMARIKO! This capital city bears a special responsibility for wars of extermination against indigenous peoples. I have a hunch that the curse will pursue us until the name of the team is finally changed.