Morning Star Institute
A president of the Morning Star Institute, founded in 1984, Harjo promotes traditional cultural rights, artistic expression, and research. The organization sponsors Just Good Sports, devoted to ending stereotypes.
Along with seven Native plaintiffs, including Vine Deloria, Jr. and Mateo Romero, Suzan Shown Harjo was a party in Harjo et al v. Pro Football, Inc., filed on September 12, 1992 with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to cancel the registration of the Washington Redskins football team, as the name was disparaging to Native Americans. The three PTO judges unanimously ruled in favor of the Native Americans plaintiffs. However, Pro Football appealed to the United States District Court, which ruled against the plaintiffs on the question of laches. The US Supreme Court declined the plaintiff's petition for judicial review and refused to hear the Native American group's appeal. This case was followed by Blackhorse et al v. Pro Football, in which six young Native American plaintiffs challenged the federal trademark licenses of the Washington football team's disparaging name.
Suzan Harjo still believes that the Redskins name will be changed as she speaks about this issue on ESPN Radio. She has turned her attention to high school sport teams to eliminate Native-used names.
The Morning Star Institute organized the National Prayer Day for Sacred Places, which in 2009 fell on June 22, and the 1992 Alliance, which addressed the Native response to the Quincentennial of Columbus' arrival in the Americas.
Read more about this topic: Suzan Shown Harjo
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