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Another Stereotype of the Month entry:
American Indians oppose Nevada brothel name
RENO, Nev. (AP) -- American Indians are opposing the name of a proposed brothel near here, saying it degrades a heroic 19th century Oglala Sioux warrior.
Local and regional American Indian Movement members plan to attend a Storey County commission meeting Wednesday in Virginia City to protest The Crazy Horse Resort and Spa.
"It is real inappropriate to use the name of such a great American Indian for a brothel," AIM spokesman Rocky Boice of Carson City told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
Crazy Horse led the defeat of Lt. Col. George Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876.
Reno developer Lance Gilman and partner Susan Austin, who are seeking a license to open the brothel, did not immediately return phone calls.
Storey Commissioner Bob Kershaw said he hoped they would respect the wishes of AIM leaders.
"If this is offensive to Native Americans, I don't see any problem in asking the prospective owners if they could change it," Kershaw said. "Everyone is pretty sensitive to Native American issues and I know the brothel applicants don't want to have anybody object to its name."
Gilman and Austin could face a lawsuit if they don't change the name, said AIM spokesman Russell Redner of San Francisco.
Earlier this year, a company settled a lawsuit brought by American Indians over the marketing of Crazy Horse Malt Liquor.
A lawsuit against another company in the case is still pending.
"They can't use the name legally," Redner said. "The family didn't give them permission and I doubt if this guy (Gilman) even talked to anybody about it."
Gilman wants to build the bordello along Interstate 80 about 10 miles east of Reno.
The site is a little east of the infamous Mustang Ranch brothel, which has been padlocked since 1999 guilty verdicts against the brothel's parent companies and manager in a federal fraud and racketeering trial.
"AIM has no objection to the brothel itself because brothels in Storey County can be good for their economy," Boice said.
County officials estimate the brothel would bring in as much as $280,000 a year in tax revenues to the financially strapped county.
Name for Nev. brothel changed
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2002
After receiving complaints from Native American activists, the owners of a Nevada brothel have changed the name to "Wild Horse."
The Storey County brothel was originally going to be called "Crazy Horse Resort and Spa." But the operators received complaints and decided to pick another name.
Rob's comment
Naming anything after Crazy Horse is meant to suggest the wildness, savagery, and pure animal lust associated with Indians. Both his name and his career evoke the classic Indian warrior image—at least in ignorant minds. For most people, Crazy Horse (along with Geronimo) is the epitome of the untamed and implacable Indian.
In reality Crazy Horse got his name from a vision he had, not because he was a heaving hunk of wild stallion. He was a bold, courageous, military leader and strategist—something like an Indian version of George Washington or Robert E. Lee. Would anyone name a malt liquor or a brothel after these respected figures to suggest the idea a wild and crazy place? No, of course not.
That the brothel changed its name "Crazy Horse" to "Wild Horse" shows the owners did indeed associate Crazy Horse with a wild stallion. We can only be thankful they were more sensitive than most Americans to the predictable response. And that Sitting Bull wasn't named Raging Bull.
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