Even polls disagree. A survey conducted in 2002 by Sports Illustrated found that 81 percent of Native Americans who live outside traditional Indian reservations and 53 percent of Indians on reservations did not find the images discriminatory.
The journal concluded that "Although most Native American activists and tribal leaders consider Indian team names and mascots offensive, neither Native Americans in general nor a cross section of U.S. sports fans agree. According to the article, There is a near total disconnect between Indian activists and the Native American population on this issue." An Indian activist commented on the results saying "that Native Americans' self-esteem has fallen so low that they don't even know when they're being insulted."[94][95]
In 2004, a poll by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania had a similar result to the Sports Illustrated poll's findings, concluding that 91% of the 768 American Indians surveyed in the 48 states on the mainland USA found the name "Redskins" acceptable.[96] The Associated Press reported a telephone survey conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications in April, 2013 that 4 out of 5 Americans would keep the Redskins name while only 11% would change it. However, only 2 of the 1,004 persons interviewed identified themselves as Native American.[97]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_mascot_controversy#Argument_supporting_the_use_of_Native_American_mascots
The possible flaw in random and anonymous polls of Native American's opinion is that they must rely upon self-identification to select the target group. In an editorial in the Bloomington Herald Times, Steve Russell (an enrolled Cherokee citizen and associate professor of criminal justice at Indiana University), states that both SI and Annenberg's samples of "self-identified Native Americans... includes plenty of people who have nothing to do with Indians".[98] The problem of individuals claiming to be Native American when they are not is well known in academic research, and is a particular problem when non-natives claim Indian identity specifically to gain authority in the debate over sports mascots.[99]
