In July 2020, the NFL’s Washington Redskins announced they would retire their name and Native American logo, which many considered offensive. The team rebranded as the Commanders in 2022. However, the family of the man whose image inspired the logo — Blackfeet tribal chief John Two Guns White Calf — says they were never consulted. Below, his nephew Thomas White Calf tells The Post that former President Trump’s recent acknowledgment of the team’s Blackfeet heritage gives the family hope that their voice may finally be heard.
Blackfeet Chief Two Guns White Calf was my great uncle and a remarkable American figure. His image was widely recognized: he represented the Washington Redskins for 48 years, until the logo was retired in 2020.
Americans once knew his story.
White Calf was a staunch defender of tribal traditions in our Blackfeet homeland in Montana, where many of us still live today. He traveled to Washington, D.C., to ensure the U.S. government honored Indian treaties. His likeness also inspired the U.S. Mint’s iconic 1913 “Indian Head” nickel, which remains a prized collector’s item.
Chief Two Guns White Calf’s family is calling for his image to be reinstated by the NFL team.
Uncle Two Guns counted Teddy Roosevelt Jr. and New York Governor Al Smith among his friends and even inducted President Calvin Coolidge into the Blackfeet Nation. White Calf was so prominent in his time that his death in 1934 made front-page news nationwide
White Calf became the proud warrior face of the Redskins in 1972, championed by Blackfeet leader Blackie Wetzel and supported by Native Americans across the country.
Over time, cancel-culture activists sought to remove Native American imagery from public spaces, and the Redskins — along with Two Guns — became their primary target.
As a result, White Calf’s name was removed from the team’s story, and his life was largely erased from history. Even worse, Uncle Two Guns was dehumanized, portrayed as a “savage and clownish mascot.”
The National Congress of American Indians Fund, which spearheaded efforts to erase and ridicule Uncle Two Guns, received partial funding from the George Soros Foundation.
They reduced a hero to a caricature to justify removing American Indians from American history.
Polls by the Washington Post and others showed that 90% of Native Americans supported the Redskins, yet their voices were ignored, and the White Calf family was never consulted.
The family of Blackfeet Chief John Two Guns White Calf expresses deep gratitude to President Donald Trump for his outspoken support in restoring the Washington Redskins and highlighting the racial injustice involved.
The NFL team in Washington is currently called the Commanders.
President Trump cares, and so do we. In our view, it is time to set history right and confront racial injustice.
We urge the Washington Redskins — still the Redskins to us — to work with President Trump to restore their rightful name and honor the legacy of American hero John Two Guns White Calf.
We call for the White Calf family to have a meaningful voice in the process.
We also propose establishing a Hall of Honor in a new Redskins stadium, where the public can celebrate Two Guns White Calf, the Blackfeet Nation, and the contributions of Native Americans to the founding of the United States.
Finally, we call for the American Indian to never again be erased, dehumanized, or forgotten.
God bless the Blackfeet. God bless President Trump. And God bless the United States of America.
