Interesting discussion. I haven't weighed in on this myself but if anyone is interested, here are some books that examine use of Native imagery in white society:
1. Terry Goldie,
Fear and Temptation
http://books.google.ca/books/about/F...d=LXqWxhKaoikC
2. Edward Bushcombe,
Injuns! Native Americans Movies (look it up esp. if you like Westerns!!)
http://books.google.ca/books?id=Rzee...ed=0CC8Q6AEwAA
3)
The Ecological Indian: Myth and History
http://books.google.ca/books?id=on7t...ed=0CDIQ6AEwAA
Main idea of all of these is that often what we say about others says more about us than it does about them. Something to think about.
To my knowledge nobody has yet studied the specific use of Native American imagery in sports but it is definitely an interesting topic.