In the topsy-turvy debate over the use of Indian mascots, no sports team has been at the wrong end of the proverbial scalping more often than the Washington Redskins.

* In the topsy-turvy debate over the use of Indian mascots, no sports team has been at the wrong end of the proverbial scalping more often than the Washington Redskins. Inveterate Indian activist Suzan Shown Harjo has been on the warpath for 13 years, repeatedly suing the Redskins in an attempt to deprive the team of hard-earned wampum. Yet even in war, hope springs eternal, and a peace pipe may soon be in the offing: Ives Goddard, senior linguist at the Smithsonian Institute, powwowed with the term redskin for seven months and came to the conclusion that it originated in the 1700s as an Indian term, one used by both red skins and white skins as an expression of respect. Harjo refused to bury the hatchet, and responded instead with forked tongue: This is just another instance, she said, of a white man's upholding the "judicious speech of white men." We don't expect to see Harjo and Goddard doing the White Deer Dance at the same canticoy anytime soon, but the Great Spirit tells us not to lose hope: The life of man is spread out over many, many moons.