On Thursday, February 7, the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC will host "Racist Stereotypes and Cultural Appropriation in American Sports"—a symposium that promises to prove interesting given the current debate over the name of the city's NFL franchise.

The all-day event will feature some opening remarks by Kevin Gover, director of the NMAI, and three panel discussions: "Mascot Origin Myths," "Case Studies," and "A Community Conversation About the Washington NFL Team Name." For that last chat, sportswriters from the Washington Post and USA Today will join Robert I. Holden, Deputy Director of the National Congress of American Indians, and author and professor Philip J. Deloria, who will moderate.

Overall, the roster of participants is drawn heavily from academia. Suzan Shown Harjo will moderate the "Case Studies" discussion, and one of the panelists is former U.S. Senator Ben Nighthhorse Campbell.

Growing up in Norman, Oklahoma, where the University of Oklahoma is located, Gover experienced the Native-mascot phenomenon early in the form of Little Red. He told the Smithsonian blog that he was puzzled by the character (played by a student in costume). “I couldn’t quite understand why an Indian would get up and dance when the Sooners scored a touchdown.," he said. Gover added that mascot issues are "a much more loaded proposition" than they might seem at first glance, but that "the mood is changing ... and I have no doubt that in a decade or two, these mascots will all be gone.”

The symposium begins at 10:15 and will be webcast at nmai.si.edu/multimedia/webcasts.