Raven Ziegler from Minneapolis protests the name nickname of the Washington team. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

The Oneida Indian Nation—the Native American tribe that spearheaded a massive campaign this season to get the Washington football team to change their name—met with officials from the United Nations to discuss the name controversy as a human rights issue.

According to a release, Ray Halbritter, the leader of Oneida’s Change the Mascot Campaign, met with Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Šimonović to discuss the impact of the team’s name and how it has negatively affected Native American populations across the country.

“I am both humbled and heartened by the opportunity to have a dialogue with the UN regarding the important moral, human, and civil rights issues raised by the Washington NFL team’s continued use of the R-word racial slur,” Halbritter said in a release. “It is extremely encouraging to see people across the country, as well as national and international leaders, recognizing the harmful impacts of using this term that denigrates Native peoples.”

Since the Oneida Indian Nation started their campaign urging owner Dan Snyder to change the team’s name, their efforts have grown, gaining the support of many high-profile figures, including President Barack Obama. Snyder has famously said that he’ll “NEVER” changed the team’s name.

In a statement provided to the Post, team spokesman Tony Wyllie said that “given all the wars around the world, starvation, famine and the nuclear proliferation problems the UN is dealing with, surely they have more important things to worry about than a football’s team name that is supported by the vast majority of the American people.”

But Halbritter and the Oneida Indian Nation’s remain steadfast in their goal. “This issue is not going away until the offensive name is retired,” Halbritter said. “It’s time for the NFL and Washington’s team to stop profiting from the continued use of a dictionary-defined racial slur and to place themselves on the right side of history by changing this offensive name.”