PHOENIX (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs are the reason Rhonda LeValdo is in Arizona for the Super Bowl. But he won’t be here to see the match.
LeValdo and other Native Americans will once again push for the Chiefs to drop the team name, mascot and fan-driven “tomahawk chop.” It’s the same goal they had in 2021, when the Chiefs were fighting for their second consecutive Super Bowl victory in Tampa, Florida.
“People are trying to be really positive about Kansas City and what it’s doing and how it’s like, ‘Yeah, sports connect us all,'” said LeValdo, founder of the Kansas City-based indigenous activist group Not In Our Honor, here’s a news. . Thursday’s conference. “Do not bring our people together on this holiday. It hurts more because now he’s in the spotlight, where you see him all over the world.”
LeValdo will be joined by other tribal members from Kansas City and Arizona in demonstrations outside State Farm Stadium in Glendale. The president of the Kansas City franchise says he respects their right to protest.
The struggles against the appropriation of tribal cultures and images have been going on for decades, not just with leaders. Native Americans say the use of iconography and words with Native connotations demeans them and perpetuates racist stereotypes.
“The anti-native mascot movement has always been about bettering our natives, not hating others who are football fans,” said Amanda Blackhorse, who is Diné. “We want to live in a world where our kids can go to school and feel included and not encounter mock war dance re-enactments on the football field.”
Some major sports teams have contested that mascots are meant to honor and respect tribes. But the racial reckoning and protests of 2020 after the killing of George Floyd have forced some franchises to self-examine.
The Cleveland Indians baseball team officially switched to the Guardians in November 2021. The team also dropped Chief Wahoo, a logo that was a caricature of a Native American.
A significant victory came when Washington dropped the “Redskins” name, which is seen as a racial slur, and logo after nearly nine decades. The team later became commanders.
Chiefs chairman Mark Donovan has given no indication there is room for change.
“We also respect that we need to continue to educate and raise awareness of Native American culture and the things we do to celebrate, that we’ve done more in the last seven years — I think — than any other team to to raise awareness and educate ourselves. Donovan said.
The Super Bowl takes place in a state that is home to 22 Native American tribes that collectively control about a quarter of the land. The NFL has increased its partnerships with Native and Indigenous people in Arizona.
The Chiefs recently released long snapper James Winchester, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and center Creed Humphrey, who hails from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation of Oklahoma.
Lucinda Hinojos, who was born in Glendale and is of Apache and Yaqui descent, became the first Native American and Chicano performer to be associated with the NFL. His painting is featured on all Super Bowl tickets and during the NFL Experience.
Colin Denny, University of Arizona researcher and member of the Navajo Nation, will perform “America the Beautiful” during the pre-show. Denny, who is deaf, will use both American Sign Language and North American Indian Sign Language.
The Chiefs worked to address concerns about cultural insensitivity a decade ago, but they don’t always stop short of changing the team’s name or fan-favorite gestures and chants. In 2013, the team created the American Indian Community Task Force, which has Native Americans serve as advisors to the Tribal Cultures Promotion Team.
“I go to them and say, ‘What do you think about this?’ How does it make you feel?” Donovan said. “I’m very proud of the things I’ve done and the people I’ve worked with.”
This led to invitations for Cheyenne spiritual and ceremonial leaders to participate in some games. In 2020, the Chiefs banned fans from wearing helmets, war paint and clothing at Arrowhead Stadium.
The team also changed the “tomahawk chop” to cheerleading, using a clenched fist instead of an open palm, a move Kansas City Native American organizations called a “pick up.”
The Kansas City team started out as the Dallas Texans. When the franchise moved to Kansas City in 1963, it became the Chiefs.
Mayor H. Roe Bartle received permission from the Northern Arapaho at the time, and the team recently documented tribal officials confirming it, Donovan said.
“We haven’t released it yet. We’re waiting for the right moment to tell the story properly,” Donovan said.
LeValdo, who is a friend of a former Northern Arapaho leader, called that claim “false.”
He said native organizers would not give up trying to rid major sports of offensive mascots, names and images.
“There are also young people who come with us,” said LeValdo, of Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. “We can’t wait for the next generation to wear this. There will always be natives against it. It won’t stop.”
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