Native American group touts 'overwhelming' support to return Redskins name to NFL

Native American Guardians Association's Billy Dieckman argues ‘Redskins’ is not offensive amid a push to bring back the team name.

A Native American group demanding the Washington Commanders bring back its "Redskins" name says they have received a "tidal wave" of support in their fight against the NFL team.

The Native American Guardians Association (NAGA) petition to "put an end to cancel culture and #ReclaimTheName ‘Redskins’" is nearing 100,000 signatures as the NFL season approaches.

"The deep, rich history behind the name, the myth that it means bloody scalps or something derogatory is what we're trying to dispel," NAGA adviser and Kiowa Tribe member Billy Dieckman told "Fox & Friends First" Tuesday. "It's a status symbol for elite warriors."

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A Washington Redskins helmet sits on the grass during a preseason football game between the Redskins and Cleveland Browns at FedExField on August 18, 2014 in Landover, Maryland. The Redskins logo was originally inspired by King Tammany, a Lenni Lenape chief known to the men who fought the American Revolution as "the Patron Saint of America." (Photo by TJ Root/Getty Images)

Last week, the group sent a letter to Commanders leadership "formally requesting the team revitalize its relationship with the American Indian community and rightfully change their name back to ‘the Redskins.'"

Former team owner Daniel Snyder changed the team’s name from the Redskins to the Washington Football Team and later the Commanders amid a summer of racial unrest in the U.S. in 2020. Snyder said the name had "increasingly become a distraction from our primary focus of football" and the change