Eni Faleomavaega: “Just yesterday on the cover page of The Washington Post newspaper, there was an article written by journalists Jon Cohen…”

“Just yesterday on the cover page of The Washington Post newspaper, there was an article written by journalists Jon Cohen and Rick Maese that, according to a recent poll taken among the sports fans of the Washington, D.C. area: A large majority of area sports fans say the Washington Redskins should not change the team name, even though most supporters of the nickname feel the word ``redskin'' is an inappropriate term for Native Americans. Mr. Speaker, not only is the term ``redskin'' inappropriate, but it is just plain offensive and derogatory towards Native Americans. And I want to share with my colleagues in Congress, and especially the American people, how the word ``redskin'' came about and its history. In 1749, it was a standard procedure among settlers who lived in what is now known as Maine and Nova Scotia to kill and scalp as many of the Indians as members of the Micmac Tribe. The same policy was also implemented in 1755 by settlers who lived in what is now known as the State of Massachusetts--that their object was to kill and scalp members of the Penobscot Indian Nation. Mr. Speaker, the policy was you get paid for killing and/or scalping Native American Indians. And if you kill an Indian boy, you get paid 50 pounds. If you get a scalp of an Indian, you also get paid 40 pounds. For any female, Mr. Speaker, under 12 years old that you killed or scalped, you also get paid 25 pounds. Mr. Speaker, I submit that these scalps were also called ``redskins.'' Mr.…”