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So after this much thrilling post season race for my Cleveland Indians, the discussion and debate on chief wahoo has come to national attention--after years of being a rather local issue. This is a serious debate that has been going on among columnists and writers throughout Northeast Ohio for sometime, with many bantering back and forth on the true origins on how Cleveland got the name the indians.
You may hear some of our fans claim that it was made to honor an obscure native american minor league player, that was not even remotely relevant way back in the early 1900s, but this isn't really the case. If you look into how Native American players were treated during the late 1800s and early 1900s you would see that, they were mocked with wooping calls when they would come to bat, and was often a crowd favorite back during these times. In all reality, the Cleveland Naps were going bankrupt after the departure of Nap Lajoie in 1914, so the owner at the time had a poll for what the new name should be and we ended up with the indians. Proponents of the name and logo, will often cite that the logo was to honor an obscure native american player, that played for a former Cleveland Minor League team, the Cleveland Spiders--who's nickname was the Indians, because well fans would cheer and woop at that particular player.
While, we can't really ever know the true story on the origin of the name and if it was really genuine in it's claim to "support and honor native americans", it is clearly evident that they have made a somewhat stereotypical character of what people thought Native Americans were. I have a deep love for the Indians and Chief Wahoo, due to memories of my childhood and growing up around baseball. But, as I've gotten older and learned about my own native american roots from my father's side, and the plight that Native Americans not only faced throughout the united states, but also Northeast Ohio, and the present day struggle in ND, that it is time to retire the indians for good. I am personally not offended by the logo, but I just feel like it spits in the face of Native American's struggles and mistreatment to continue to sell merchandise and glorify the character of what Indians are, while not treating our real live brethren with actual decency.
There are discussions on changing the team to the Cleveland Barons, which was an old Hockey team in Cleveland, or the Spiders. Which I would support. But, there are some native american's that would simply like to see a name change and more cultural appropriate representation of native americans with the team--which I fully support. Northeast Ohio has a rich history, of Native American culture that could be tastefully represented, and I feel that if we want to keep that sort of theme and concept then we should make amends to change our logo, or lose the native american theme completely. This was just something that I had been contemplating after this series, thoughts?
You may hear some of our fans claim that it was made to honor an obscure native american minor league player, that was not even remotely relevant way back in the early 1900s, but this isn't really the case. If you look into how Native American players were treated during the late 1800s and early 1900s you would see that, they were mocked with wooping calls when they would come to bat, and was often a crowd favorite back during these times. In all reality, the Cleveland Naps were going bankrupt after the departure of Nap Lajoie in 1914, so the owner at the time had a poll for what the new name should be and we ended up with the indians. Proponents of the name and logo, will often cite that the logo was to honor an obscure native american player, that played for a former Cleveland Minor League team, the Cleveland Spiders--who's nickname was the Indians, because well fans would cheer and woop at that particular player.
While, we can't really ever know the true story on the origin of the name and if it was really genuine in it's claim to "support and honor native americans", it is clearly evident that they have made a somewhat stereotypical character of what people thought Native Americans were. I have a deep love for the Indians and Chief Wahoo, due to memories of my childhood and growing up around baseball. But, as I've gotten older and learned about my own native american roots from my father's side, and the plight that Native Americans not only faced throughout the united states, but also Northeast Ohio, and the present day struggle in ND, that it is time to retire the indians for good. I am personally not offended by the logo, but I just feel like it spits in the face of Native American's struggles and mistreatment to continue to sell merchandise and glorify the character of what Indians are, while not treating our real live brethren with actual decency.
There are discussions on changing the team to the Cleveland Barons, which was an old Hockey team in Cleveland, or the Spiders. Which I would support. But, there are some native american's that would simply like to see a name change and more cultural appropriate representation of native americans with the team--which I fully support. Northeast Ohio has a rich history, of Native American culture that could be tastefully represented, and I feel that if we want to keep that sort of theme and concept then we should make amends to change our logo, or lose the native american theme completely. This was just something that I had been contemplating after this series, thoughts?