1991 Indian nicknames create little debate in state [note: most are STILL using the names, if not the imagery and live mascots)

1991 Oct 23 The Indianapolis Star 

      Is the state name next?

      Angered by the "tomahawk" chop" -- the chopping cheer executed by fans of the Atlanta baseball team -- some Indian rights groups are demanding that sports teams and other organizations drop the Indian-inspired names group members find offensive.

      In Indiana, that could be a tall order.

      Besides the Indianapolis Indians baseball club, we've got dozens of high school teams throughout the state with Indian names. 

To name a few: Braves at Brebeuf Preparatory School on the Northwestside and Indian Creek in Johnson County; 

Redskins at Emmerich Manual on the Southside and at North Side High School in Fort Wayne; 

Warriors at Warren Central,

Whiteland

and Scottsburg high schools. 

      Perhaps the most famous are those from Milan, whose quest for the 1954 state basketball championship was the basis of the movie Hoosiers. 

      At Anderson High School, the Indians basketball team plays in a gym called the Wigwam. Pregame ceremonies include a dance involving an Indian mascot and a fair maiden.

     "I've been in the school system 28 years, and I don't recall a single complaint," says assistant principal Jim Ray. Students who perform the roles are regarded as being in "an enviable position" by their peers, he adds.
      The Indianapolis Indians do not encourage such stereotypical activities, says Max B. Schumacher, president and general manager since 1969 - nor does the team have any intention of changing its name.
      "We play in Indianapolis, Indiana," says Schumacher. "What else should we call ourselves?"
      When the team name came under scrutiny in the early 1970's, Schumacher discussed the issue with then outfielder Gene Locklear, a full-blooded Indian from Lumberton, NC.
      "He said it didn't bother him at all," he recalls. "What did bother him was all those movies and TV shows that made it look like all Indians ever did was get drunk and massacre people."

      Unlike Atlanta Braves fans, Schumacher says Indianapolis Indians followers have never created a cheer anything like the tomahawk chop -- a demonstration of spirit he considers as innocuous as the Minnesota Twins' home run hankie or the "wave."
      For one season, in 1967, the team had an Indian mascot who entertained fans. Fans still beg Schumacher to get a new resident for the permanent outfield tepee, but he says he will never bring back the mascot.
      "We went through three mascots in one season. It was too difficult to find someone who would do the job right," he says.

      Today, he says, the Indianapolis Indians do not use any potentially offensive Indian gimmickry to promote events. The team's logo, however, still shows a grinning brave winding up for a fast ball.
     But in Indiana, it's not just sports teams that are vulnerable. In 1981 the Indian State Fair promoted its event with "Injun Andy," A buckskin-clad bungler with a bull's-eye nose. While recognized as a harmless caricature by some Indian groups, others were outraged by the negative image the cartoon figure represented.

      The subject of two national awards for creative advertising, Injun Andy was gradually withdrawn from use.

      But at least the state's name seems safe. Indiana has never provoked controversy among Indian groups, says Christopher Klose, press secretary for Joseph H. Hogsett, secretary of state.

      "No one has ever suggested that the name Indiana be changed in defense to Native Americans," says Klose. "I would hope that it - or that great suffix of Indianapolis - is not taken pejoratively in any sense."

      Just in case anyone points a wary finger at the official state seal, Klose confirms that the frontiersman depicted as cleaning his land is wielding an ax - not a tomahawk. 

 Baseball's tribute to American Indians - LAtimes.com

1991 Oct 23 The Indianapolis Star