In December 2013 when the Washington Redskins played the Kansas City Chiefs an employee of a Sonic Drive-In in Missouri placed a message outside that used scalping , reservations and whiskey to disparage the " Redskins " . It was quickly removed with the owner 's apologies . A rubber severed " Indian " head impaled on a knife has been used by a sports fan in Philadelphia to taunt rival teams with Native American mascots . There have been a number of incidents of rival high school teams displaying banners or signs referencing the '' Trail of Tears '' , which have been criticized for both insensitivity and ignorance of history . Although the Central Michigan Chippewas have the support of the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Nation of Michigan , a student at rival Western Michigan University designed a T-shirt showing a Native American behind bars with the legend " Caught a Chippewa about a week ago " . It was quickly condemned by both university presidents , who agreed that anyone wearing the shirt at a game would be ejected . In spite of the University of North Dakota changing their nickname from the Fighting Sioux to the Fighting Hawks , students at rival North Dakota State University ( NDSU ) continue to chant " Sioux suck shit " whenever their football team makes a first down . The NDSU president , along with the presidents of the student body and faculty senates , have called for an end to the practice , which they describe as hateful , and coming from a misplaced sense of tradition . Some NDSU fans also wear T-shirts with graphics depicting variations on the " Sioux suck " theme
Trail of Tears
Trail of Tears
Native American mascot controversy