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The family of the Blackfeet chief who served as the face of the Washington Redskins for 48 years want his image back on the fields of the NFL, relatives told Fox News Digital.
The descendants of John Two Guns White Calf also want his incredible life story retold, too, to a new generation of Americans who seek unity and value multiculturalism.
The White Calf family has support in Washington, D.C., from one of their Montana senators and, it appears, from the NFL franchise itself, now known as the Washington Commanders.
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"The fans want him back and we want him back," Thomas White Calf, a great nephew of the celebrated early-20th-century native, said this week by phone, hours after the family met with Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana.
Two Guns White Calf’s proud portrait adorned Redskins helmets, T-shirts, playing fields and marketing materials from 1972 until 2020.
Blackfeet chief John Two Guns White Calf, left, who served as the inspiration for the Washington Redskins logo that represented the NFL franchise on the field from 1972 to 2020. (Getty Images)
"Our ancestor was the most famous and most photographed native in history," said White Calf, who was joined on the call by his mother, Delphine White Calf, a niece of the late Blackfeet chief.
"Two Guns was also the face on the Indian head nickel. I’m proud of him. The Blackfeet are proud of him."
"I’m proud of him. The Blackfeet are proud of him." - Thomas White Calf
White Calf's portrait and the name Redskins were erased from the NFL in 2020 following years of mounting public pressure, much of it fueled by the George Soros-funded cancel-culture group, National Congress of American Indians. ,
The celebrated Blackfeet chief and his life story were canceled even as polls showed that 90% of Native Americans supported the team name and White Calf portrait.
A Washington Redskins helmet sits on the grass during a preseason game against the Cleveland Browns at FedExField on Aug. 18, 2014, in Landover, Maryland. (TJ Root/Getty Images)
Thomas White Calf, who lives on a Blackfeet reservation in Montana, says his family was never consulted and never supported the removal of Two Guns White Calf's image from the NFL.
"This is about righting a wrong," Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said in an email sent to Fox News Digital.
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"It’s a point of pride and represents the rich Native American history that helped make our nation great, and it should be enthusiastically celebrated across our culture."
The Washington Commanders were purchased in 2023 by a group of investors led by Josh Harris. They inherited the controversy over the team name and image.
Sen. Steve Daines speaks at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 18, 2024. (Reuters/Mike Segar)
It appears the franchise is open to the return of White Calf’s image.
"We are collaborating with Sen. Daines to honor the legacy of our team's heritage and the Native American community," a Commanders spokesperson said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.
"This is about righting a wrong." - Sen. Steve Daines
"At the senator’s suggestion, we have developed a positive relationship with Ryan Wetzel, the grandson of Walter ‘Blackie’ Wetzel, who designed the logo. We look forward to honoring that legacy."
Blackie Wetzel is the late Blackfeet tribal leader credited with creating the portrait of Two Guns White Calf in 1971, with widespread support from Native American groups, that the team adopted in 1972.
Blackfeet chief John Two Guns White Calf was celebrated for his role aiding Native American causes in the early 20th century. He was the face of both the Indian head nickel from the U.S. Mint and the Washington Redskins NFL franchise. (Courtesy Thomas White Calf/White Calf family)
White Calf was born in Montana in 1872 and achieved international acclaim by fighting to preserve Native American culture.
He championed Native issues in Washington, D.C. – rubbing elbows with President Calvin Coolidge – and appeared to bridge cultures long at odds.
White Calf was, according to multiple sources, the inspiration for the face that appeared on the U.S. Mint's famous 1913 Indian head nickel and was so prominent in the United States that his death in 1934 earned a New York Times obituary.
The tribute noted that he helped make Coolidge "an honorary chief of the same Blackfeet tribe."
The celebrated Blackfeet leader was steamrolled by the National Congress of American Indians in 2013, when it published a dubious report titled "Ending the Legacy of Racism in Sports & The Era of Harmful ‘Indian’ Sports Mascots."
Donald Wetzel Sr., whose father Walter designed the Redskins logo, holds an autographed Washington football on June 27, 2014, in Great Falls, Montana. (Larry Beckner for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The 29-page dissertation included a caustic 3,650-word history of the Redskins and its "legacy of racism" that critics note included a major oversight. The report failed to once mention Chief Two Guns White Calf, even though he was the face of the Redskins franchise for 48 years.
"Two Guns White Calf was a real person, not a mascot and he was canceled," historian Andre Billeaudeaux, the author of "How the Redskins Got Their Name," told Fox News Digital earlier this year.
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It appears the return of White Calf’s image is under consideration – but the Redskins name remains too politically toxic, a person close to the issue told Fox News Digital.
The team "went too far" removing the White Calf image along with the name, the source said.
"The legendary Blackfeet logo that was championed by Blackie Wetzel and based on the likeness of Chief Two Guns White Calf must be restored to a place of honor," said Daines.
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While the Wetzel family is being recognized by the NFL franchise for its role honoring Two Guns White Calf, the Blackfeet chief's family says the organization has ignored them for decades.
"We want a seat at the table," said Thomas White Calf.
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