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The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas does not support the Washington NFL team's racist mascot despite claims from a former player.

Chairman Ronnie Thomas issued a statement that said the tribe was happy when Mark Moseley, who grew up near the reservation, joined the team. But the tribe never supported, and does not support, racist mascots.

"The tribe has more pressing demands such as providing our Tribal people adequate health care, higher educational opportunities, struggling with unemployment and preserving our culture," Thomas said in the statement, The Washington Post's Sports Bog reported. "While Mr. Moseley once associated with the Tribe, it is incorrect to say that the Tribe supports his efforts to maintain the mascot name.”

Thomas further noted that the National Congress of American Indians and the United South and Eastern Tribes oppose the team's name. The tribe belongs to both organizations and "supports the position that NCAI and USET has taken.”

Moseley is being paid by the team to promote the mascot. He claims the team interviewed over a "thousand Indians" and no one objected to it.

"No red men have said anything derogatory to me about it," Moseley said on WJLA.

Get the Story:
DC Sports Bog: Alabama-Coushatta Tribe responds to Mark Moseley, saying it does not support the Redskins name (The Washington Post 8/7)

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