Both those teams could theoretically keep their names, just get rid of the Native America iconography. The Braves could be like the Athletics-- a noun derived from an adjective. And the Chiefs uniforms are already “fire engine red.”
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The Blackhawks name too, could just refer to a black bird.
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The joke was that the Washington football team could have done this too, just make the iconography about potatoes.
That is good loophole finding, but even with the old racist logo gone, there were still people doing terribly racist stuff in support of the team in Cleveland. While it doesn’t seem like much more of a step, I think changing the name does far more to separate the existing concept from the team than just changing the imagery.
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I think even with the total name change a lot of those people are going to be doing their racist BS for a long time.
“Owning the libs” has become the real driving force for lots of people.
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I’d vote for Spiders, just because they could do cool things with a web-motif in the stadium. Even mow the grass into that pattern…
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I’ve mentioned this before but the Minor League Spokane Indians did a lot of work with the Spokane Tribe to include the Tribe in how the team represented it and particularly did more to promote Salish, the language, even to the point that (apparently) signage at the park is in both languages, and the Tribe liked this kind of interaction to promote giving the Tribe a bit more visibility in the community.
Plus, the Salish language uni looks pretty damned awesome. It can be done, but teams ought to go back and figure out a way to make it work, if it can be made to work.
(That said, Chief Wahoo is inexcusable)
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They play at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Field
My vote would be for the “Cleveland Progressives”
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Do not google that!
(the images section is not your friend in this case!)
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And compensates the tribes for their input by funding scholarships and reservation infrastructure projects…
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Good riddance, Wahoo. One less mistake on the lake.
I spent 10 years working with Indians in New Mexico and Arizona, becoming as incorporated into the Pueblo culture as I could, then living on the Navajo reservation. I maintain ties to these communities as best I can nowadays.
Changing the names and mascots of sports teams does absolutely nothing to improve the lives of those still living on their lands, upholding their traditions. These efforts don’t feed anyone, provide care, or move anything forward out there.
Cleveland is the only team that has zero representation on these reservations. KC Chiefs, Atl Braves, and even the Washington Redskins were the most commonly represented on hats, clothing, bumper stickers, etc. Only the Dallas Cowboys were more popular by this metric. I spent some time in Red Mesa, home of the Redskins. They chose that name and the locals I knew either laughed about the efforts to change Washington’s team name or they asked me why anyone bothered.
Obviously, there are Natives who feel strongly about this, including a lady originally from Red Mesa, but they do not speak for all.
A good friend is a Pueblo Medicine Man. I asked him about this topic a while back. “Indians who care about that crap have spent too much time in cities with white people” was the response. He then went back to practice for an upcoming Buffalo dance.
I’m not Native. It’s not for me to choose to be offended by mascots. I’m offended by the historical treatment and present disregard of Indians by the USG, big corporations, and the well-meaning but errant (IMO) efforts to “elevate their status” by fixing things in a world far away from their daily concerns. Instead of rallying for more mascot bans, I’m donating food and other goods in the time of Covid, which is hitting the Navajos a lot harder these days than any mascot could. Yes, let’s fight racism, but I think there are better ways to help Indians than canceling mascots and patting ourselves on the back.
Yeah but Indians/indigenous people who don’t care about this issue don’t speak for all other indigenous people either.
Anyway, the normalization of these mascots does matter. They’re part of a more generally white supremacist cultural atmosphere. And the less filled with noxious stereotypes that atmosphere is, the better. True, it’s not the best way to help ground-down indigenous people, but it seems to me that it’s still a fight worth fighting.
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Not that I pay attention to sports but the Seattle Seahawks may have the coolest logo. And it was done by an appropriate artist. A fewyears ago there was a story in Indian Country Today about the relationship between the team and the fans. People like to root for their team, and it helps when the logo and name not only doesn’t alienate fans, but gives some even more reason to cheer the team on.
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That other Cleveland team already has that covered!
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It’s complicated. It’s really important to know that no group is a monolith. Sure, some issues are so important that it would hard to find people against it, but there is division about many other things, not just importance but how to deal with them. Too often there is a window, framed by white peiple, for viewing Black or native people.
It is important to know that some people aren’t troubled by team names, not as an excuse to justify the names, but to see the depth of people affected.
Some people have put a lot of effort into campaigning for sports teams to change their names.
And some people are more concerned with other matters.
It’s like anyone else.
A key is to let people speak for themselves. They can, but too often it’s over there, because they don’t get much access to mainstream press. (Hence the popularity of twitter.). Someone may get an opinion piece, but like any opinion, it may not reflect what others are thinking. Likewise, other people react to the few stories they see and it becomes the most imoortant thing, but onky bevause it is the only story that hits mainstream.
Of course, I’ve also seen people denounce calls to change team names, dismissing it as “liberals”, as if the people directly affected are “brainwashed”.
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Right? How long did they have the old moniker? They should spend an equal amount of time as the Cleveland Clueless.
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Man, I love the West Coast First Nations art. Many years ago got to see Norville Morisseau do some drawings. He’s actually an (checks wiki) Anishinaabe from central Canada, but he produced works inspired by West coast motifs. Another time, was in Vancouver with a friend and encountered a guy at the UBC museum working on a totem pole for display. In one of those “how about that” moments, the carver was from the same village as my friend’s wife, and was probably a cousin of hers. It was fascinating to watch him work. But, back to the Seahawks logo, it’s a little diverged from the original sadly, but still striking . The Vancouver Canucks have a Haida inspired whale logo that’s pretty cool, don’t know who did it though. Here’s an interesting piece the Canucks have on display:
Jello and Mojo had a series of new names
"The New York Muggers
Detroit Murders
And Chicago Mob
Boston Bigots
Texas Swindlers
And the L.A. Cops
…
Pittsburgh Polluters
Houston Drive-Bys
Don’t stir near the fear
When the Florida Abortion Bombers
Meets the San Francisco Queers"
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