chief wahoo
Whatever one thinks of Chief Wahoo, the face of the Cleveland Indians, one must find remarkable that so few people talk about a “Curse of Chief Wahoo” here in Cleveland, the city suffering the longest and arguably most painful championship drought in major American professional sports. [1]
The first Chief Wahoo logo seems to have been drawn just after World War II. [2]
The persistence of Chief Wahoo “really speaks to how invisible native people are in this country,” said Teters, a member of the Spokane Nation. [3]
But one little-noticed development was the near-total absence of Chief Wahoo from team signs around the park, a nod to the ongoing debate about the logo and the large number of Native American tribes in Arizona. [4]
Chief Wahoo is a trademarked mascot for the Cleveland Indians baseball team. [5]
So this version of the story goes that in 1915, less than two years after the tragic death of Louis Sockalexis, the baseball team named itself the “Indians” in his honor. [2]
Many people see Wahoo as an affectionate symbol of the Cleveland Indians, a harmless caricature that is threatened only by protesters who represent an attitude of political correctness run amok. [3]
CLEVELAND — Observant visitors to spring training this year to see the Indians in their new complex in Goodyear, Ariz., may have noticed that something was missing. [4]
Although the club had adopted the name “Indians” starting with the 1915 season, there was no acknowledgment of this nickname on their uniforms until 1928. [...] The character’s initial incarnation made its first appearance as a shoulder patch on Cleveland uniforms in 1947. [5]
I read The Cleveland Plain Dealer everyday! [...] And thanks Tom Hamilton and the Indians broadcast team for calling the game like it should be, with excitement! [6]
Cleveland has had an odd and somewhat comical history when it comes to sports nicknames. [2]
They would start to squirm, for many of them were Indians baseball fans and had themselves owned memorabilia of the team and its “mascot.” It’s telling that we have come to the point in this country that African American caricatures are unacceptable but ones of Native Americans still generally unobjectionable. [7]
But to many American Indians, and a large number of their supporters who see the issue as a matter of moral conscience, the mascot, with its toothy grin, hooked nose and fire-engine-red complexion, is a demeaning symbol whose acceptance should be a source of shame in 2008. [3]
Sources:
[1] Cleveland Frowns: The Curse of Chief Wahoo
[2] Wahoo … ” Joe Posnanski
[3] Chief Wahoo should go - Cleveland Lifestyles ‘ Living, Food, Health …
[4] MLB Insider: Wahoo in decline? New spring base latest sign of de …
[5] Chief Wahoo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[6] MySpace.com - Chief Wahoo - 104 - Male - CLEVELAND, Ohio - www.myspace …
[7] Blue Corn Comics — Little Black Sambo and Chief Wahoo