The letter quotes Pueblo of Zuni Governor Arlen Quetawki, saying "I appreciated your sincerity to learn about our culture and the real life issues we face on a daily basis".
Prior to the official announcement of the foundation, there had been news reports of meetings by Snyder with tribal leaders in Alabama and New Mexico to discuss charitable donations and economic development; which received mixed responses from Native Americans.
"[10][11] Gary L. Edwards (Cherokee), the chief executive of the National Native American Law Enforcement Association (NNALEA) was named director of OAF.
"However, this Foundation will only contribute to the problems in Indian Country if it does not also address the very real issue of how Native people are consistently stereotyped, caricatured, and denigrated by mascot imagery and the use of the R-word slur," the statement read.
"For Mr. Snyder and the Foundation to truly support and partner with Indian Country, they must first change the name of the D.C. team and prove that the creation of this organization isn't just a publicity stunt.
"[21] In The New York Times, author David Treuer (Ojibwe) places the creation of the foundation in the context of the long history of Native American being given gifts rather than real change that would make a difference.
[22] In an editorial Rick Cohen, a former executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) notes that there are signs that any assistance given to Native Americans will be contingent on silence, if not support of the team name by the recipients.
[26] For recipients of one of the initial donations, the Lame Deer, Montana public schools on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, there is a range of opinion regarding the name of the Washington team, but the tribe's Economic development administrator Steve Small, said "We had to weigh need against principle."
The publisher of the reservation newspaper called the foundation "...a slick PR move to gain support from poor Native Americans to keep the Redskins mascot.
First was the National Indian Gaming Association, whose chairman, Ernest Stevens, said his organization finds the NFL team's name to be offensive and is skeptical about the motives of the foundation".
[28] Next was the Notah Begay III Foundation, its executive director Crystal Echo Hawk stating: "I find it underhanded and despicable that the Washington football team would co-opt this event.
[34] The Zuni Pueblo tribe sent notice to Native artists that representatives of the OAF would be visiting on August 11, 2014 to buy artwork, in particular anything that incorporated the team logo or colors.
[39] The chairwoman of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Gari Pikyavit Lafferty, has been removed from office by a majority vote of the tribal council for accepting personal gifts in exchange for her support of the OAF and the Redskins team name.
[44] With the announcement in July, 2020 that the Redskins management is doing a review of the team name, Sports Illustrated investigated the foundation and found that funding was cut back after the resolution of the trademark cases in 2017.